EMILY

The man in front of me? Damn, I would do anything he asked me to.

I took time to remember every detail of his face. His beautiful steel gray eyes, which I was sure no one could ever look away from, His perfectly shaped nose should be an example for anyone who wants to get nose surgery. His lips. Those lips. That was the one that knocked off my final breath. I had seen a fair share of beautiful men in my 25 years of living, but this man was at a higher level.

My eyes fell on the expensive and quality material of his suit. The wristwatch around his wrist? It was more than enough to tell me just how wealthy he was.

"Do you mind taking a picture?" He asked a bit irritatedly, but I could sense the hint of arrogance in his tone.

I smacked my thigh lightly when I realized I had been staring not too discreetly at him. Would you blame me, though?

"No, thank you," I quickly replied.

Well, way to go,Emily. You should just shut up.

"I'm Alexander"

I noted the way he didn't say his last name, so when I told him my name, I didn't say my last name either.

"I'll cut to the chase," he said sharply.

"I have no interest in love."

I forced a smile. "So do I."

He paused instantly and took in my face. For a few seconds, he said nothing, and the next thing that he uttered made me stunned.

"Why then are you here on this blind date?"

"Money?"

My eyes widened at his straight accusations. Well, he wasn't wrong, was he?

"Well, you are-”

"Of course I'm not wrong. It's only for your benefit? Isn't it?“

“That's what women like you are after.”

I was taken aback by his words and the look of contempt he gave me.

What the hell?

I folded my fist and bit my tongue to keep myself from bursting out in anger. I had had encounters with men like him, and they were not good.

"If you don't want to get married and you hate women like me so much, then why are you here?"

His eyes turned cold, even though they had been before.

"It's not like I want to be here. I'm following some fucked-up orders.

I scoffed, tearing my eyes off of him. "That must suck for you, Alexander," I muttered under my breath.

He must not have heard, or he did, but chose not to say anything about it.

"So why exactly do you want to get married? If it's not for love or money?"

I eyed him. "Aren't we forgetting something? I'd like to know your last name at least."

His face broke into scornful laughter, and I clenched my fists on my thighs.

This privileged bastard.

"And what? Find ways into the family by all means and do what your type is good at.“

“Take what is not yours and leave eventually.“

He got on his feet and tossed a cheque to the table.

“We can agree this date didn't work out.”

"But at least you are walking away with what you wanted."

I stood immediately, anger clouding my sense of reasoning. I will absolutely not have this pretty nut job insult me.

"Okay, hold it there, Mr. Alexander whatever the fuck your last name is, to start with, who hurt you?"

"Why don't you keep that anger for the woman who hurt you and don't pass it on to me?"

He seemed a bit surprised by my outburst, and I took that as my cue to go on.

"I may not be as wealthy as you are, but I'm equally not on average either."

"In fact, I have my own company, and it's all my hard work and effort!"

Okay, that one was a petty lie. But who cared? We would never meet again; he didn't have to know I was a poor girl drowning in her father's debt at age 25.

"Also, I'm on this date because I was forced to."

Another lie.

When did I get so good at lying?

Either way, it was worth it from the look he had on his face.

"And your f-"

I paused when I saw the numbers on the cheque.

Five freaking hundred thousand. Okay, that was a good amount. I would be more polite.

"Your money can go to hell with you."

I aggressively pushed the chair backward, cringing slightly when it made a screeching sound on the floor.

"Goodbye, and I hope the rest of your day sucks."

I turned around immediately and didn't wait for him to call me, even though I knew the handsome jerk was too arrogant to do so.

I slammed the door harshly behind me.

Once I was outside the lounge, I pulled down the hair tie and loosened my hair to run my hands freely through it. Darn that privileged jerk. How dare he insult me like that?

Indirectly calling me a gold digger? Greedy? No, that should be the title for my mom, and I was nothing like her.

'Are you sure?' A voice taunted me in my head.

'What does finding a rich man to marry make you?'

I closed my eyes as the thoughts filled my head.

That was right. I would never be different from my parents, whether I liked it or not. I was finding a rich man to marry, just like my mom did before my dad's business became ruined.

"You are no different from me, Emily Darling, were her words.

I hate to admit that she was right.

Hours Later….

Just as I was making the sauce for my rice and thinking of my miserable life like I always did, my phone rang. I glanced over at it from the stove, preparing to ignore it if it was from my mom, but thankfully Charlie's name appeared on the ID instead.

I took a step forward and answered the video call, placing the phone in such a way that it was leaning on a glass cup so she could see me.

I turned back to the stove and continued pouring in the ingredients.

“Hey, what's up? How did your date go?“

I paused as I recalled my encounter with the jerk.

“The worst I've been on. I was insulted and did not even get to eat.”

Charlie made a surprised sound. “Are you serious? You went to the famous CL Hotel, and you didn't get to taste their food? Is he broke or what?“

I scoffed as I covered the pot and turned around, picking up my phone. “You know wealthy people and their strange behavior.”

I took my seat on one of the couches. “So, you'll still go on another date?“ She said it almost carefully.

I rolled my eyes. “Why not?“

She nodded even though it was quite obvious she wanted to argue with me, and I was glad she chose not to.

It was not like I wanted to spend the rest of my life with someone I barely knew, but I had no choice.

My average certificate could barely give me a good job this year anymore. Every company now wanted the best of the best, and I was just average, just good.

Besides, I had too many debts for a 25-year-old. If I didn't take action now, I'd probably die in debt.

Charlie said she had to return to work, so we ended the call. I decided to scroll through my social media.

A profile suddenly appeared on my screen as 'Someone I may know'.

Justin Anderson. Oh, I knew him already and was trying to get rid of the memories of what I knew.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked his profile.

He had just ten posts, which showed that he had long deleted our pictures together.

Well, what had I been expecting?

I scrolled through the wedding pictures of him and his wife.

All I could see was their wide smile.

They looked so happy. It haunted me. I wanted that smile. I wanted to be the one happy this time around.

Was life not unfair? Why do people who mess up my life always have to live happily while I'm the one nursing the pain?

Even though I hadn't given him all the details of my family, he had been the one to stay by my side, and I never for once thought that he could betray me.

We cannot be entirely sure about someone. My family used to be that perfect family, until my dad left. Till now I always remember those good days and think, were my parents always like that? Or were they just good at pretending?

I didn't realize tears had begun to fall out of my eyes until a drop landed on my phone's screen. I wiped it off immediately, and then wiped at my cheeks.

“Emily, why are you crying right now? Stop being so freaking weak” I muttered to myself as I used my shirt to wipe my face.

I got a whiff of something burning and I dashed to the kitchen.