The Girl You Want Me To Marry?

The Girl You Want Me To Marry?


Collins’s POV

I had left her with her mother, knowing she needed the comfort, but walking away even occasionally made me feel as though I had abandoned her. My hands curled into fists, the rage I had barely controlled in that room boiling just below my skin. Amelia was home and out of danger, but the war still wasn’t finished. Richard and Jenny and whatever other poor fools had dared to lay a hand on her—they’d pay. I’d make sure of it. I stepped out to see Felix leaning against a lamppost.

I wanted to kill him, the scene of him with Amelia in that hotel burning in my brain. I walked towards him, my clumsy boots meeting the ground with vigor, my voice a low growl. “What the hell are you doing here, Felix?” My hands itched to press him against the wall and wipe that calm, contemptible look off his face. “Of all the things you’ve done, you’re here.”

Felix stood up straight, his brown eyes dark but his voice was leveled. “I’m here to check up on Amelia,” he said, folding his arms. “She’s been through hell, and I just want to make sure she’s okay. That’s it.”

I laughed, a hard and arrogant sound bouncing in the empty parking lot. “Check on her? You’re shameless, Felix. Here to stand and look at another man’s wife like you have any right to.” I curled my lip, every word filled with disgust and betrayal. “You think you can just waltz in?”

Felix’s jaw set and his eyes grew hard. “Collins, you are not married to her yet,” he shot back, his tone laced with a challenge. “That ring doesn’t mean she’s yours. I’m into Amelia, and I’m not going to leave her because you tell me to.”

I took a step closer, looming in the shadows over his smaller form, and retrieved my phone, swiping to the image I’d kept close since we’d signed the papers. On the screen, our marriage certificate, certified and binding, shone. I thrust it into his face, my smile nasty. “Not married? Take a look, Felix. Amelia’s my wife, in every sense, legal and existential. You’re nothing to her. Stay the hell away.”

Felix's eyes bulged in his face with shock as he read the document retracting the smirk from his lips. He opened his mouth, then shut it, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. I didn’t give him a chance to answer. I turned, my coat flapping in the wind, and crossed to my car, leaving him in the shadows. The scene was distasteful to me, leaving a bad taste behind, yet it was a point for the boy, a token that Amelia belonged to me, and always would. I’d had Felix to distract me, and there were more important fights to have.

As I navigated my way through the city, my thoughts remained focused on what remained to be done. Richard. Jenny. Grandpa. They were all parts of this nightmare and I had to face what was at the centre. There, in my grandfather’s estate, a place I’d been avoiding ever since the family’s power struggles began. He’d always favored Jenny, blind to her madness, and his unawareness about Richard’s plots had allowed this madness to flourish. I couldn’t let it stand. Amelia deserved justice, and if necessary, I’d carve it out myself.

The butler hesitated the moment he saw me, his glances uneasy. “Mr. Collins, your grandfather isn't looking for you,” he said, preventing me from entering. “He’s … not receiving visitors right now.

“Tell him it’s for Richard,” I said in a low, hard voice. “He’ll see me.” The butler swallowed, and nodded, vanishing back into the mansion. I stood in the grand foyer, my patience running thin. As the butler returned and motioned for me to the study, I entered without a word.

Grandpa was sitting behind his mahogany desk, his silver hair glinting in the light of the lamp, his face furrowed with the fatigue of age and authority. He did not look up, pen skittering across a document.  “Collins,” he said, in a gruff voice. “This is unexpected. I told you that I didn’t want to see you.”

“It’s about your son,” I said, my voice cold. “About Jenny. You need to hear this.” I didn’t stay for permission, but simply brought out my tablet, laying it across my desk. The video of Jenny pleading for forgiveness was cued up next, her tearstained face taking up the whole screen as she confessed about—faking that injury for Grandpa, coordinating Amelia’s abduction, and ruining lives all because she was obsessed with me. I saw Grandpa’s face as the truth unfolded, his eyes narrowing, and his hand gripping the pen.

I didn’t stop when the video came to an end. “She’s a monster,” I said, my voice steady, but with disgust clearly lacing it. “She lied to you, she’s used you, she’s hurt people to get what she wants. And Richard—he’s worse. He made Amelia a pawn, a gift for some high ranker to get favor. He had her kidnapped, beaten, drugged and put out in a situation only to be filmed to try to break us apart. I leaned forward, my hands on the desk, eyes boring into his. “Those are the people you are protecting, grandpa. This is what your silence caused.”

His face whitened and the pen fell from his fingers, yet I saw the flare of disbelief in his eyes, the stubborn loyalty to his son. I stood up, my voice growing cold. “Is this the girl you brought me here to marry?” Pointing at the tablet, Jenny’s confession paused on the screen, I questioned. “A liar? A psychopath who'll hurt people to have me? Look at what they’ve done to Amelia — my wife, the woman I love. And you did nothing.”

I began to walk away, my anger carrying me to the door, but then I halted, one final truth stirring in my chest. I turned to him again, my face unaccommodating. "By the way I am not going to leave them this time," I said. “Richard, Jenny — they’re going to pay for what they did. I will not kill him out of respect for you, but do not expect leniency beyond that. And one more thing.” I stopped, giving myself some time, letting the truth of what I’d just said sink in. “I’m married to Amelia. Legally, fully, and forever. As soon as she gets back on her feet, we’re having our wedding. You are welcome to come but think of any mischief and you will regret it. Bye, Grandfather.” I left, the door closing behind me.

(Don't Forget To Check Out my other book, “Substitute Desire”)