Page 63 of Arranged Addiction

“He knew about me? All that time?”

“God, Casey, there’s so much I’ve been desperate to tell you.”

I push my chair back, shaking my head. “This is too much.”

“I never really believed it would get this far. But then you went to work for him as his assistant and I knew what was coming. I could see what he wanted.”

“That’s why he married me. Not because he needs a wife. Not to protect me from that crazy Senesi guy. But because he thinks he owns me. Because I was promised to him like… like some piece of property.”

“I don’t know what he thinks…” She takes a long drink of wine and stares at me, her face bleak and haggard. “But maybe it’s something like that.”

I can’t hear anymore. I’m overloaded. This is way too much.

Declan knew me from the start.

The second he hired me two years back, he knew exactly what he was doing. He did it on purpose.

All this time, all the hours we spent together, he knew.

He treated me like crap. He was demanding, difficult, and exacting.

And he did it on purpose.

I retreat from the kitchen and hide in my bedroom. It’s mostly empty now. I cleaned it out during the move. At least Sheila replaced the sheets and blanket. I sit in the corner, knees pulled to my chest, and stare blankly at the wall, trying to make sense of this nightmare.

My parents promised me to Declan. They arranged my marriage with him twenty years ago, when I was only a little kid.

Now he got what he wanted.

I’m his wife.

And I have no clue who the hell I married.

Chapter 20

Casey

It’s like I’m sinking into a hole.

I keep thinking I should get up and go somewhere. I can’t just hide out in my old bedroom for the rest of my life.

But every time I try to move, it’s like my body’s trapped.

I don’t even know who I am anymore.

My life used to make sense. Sure, things have worked out for me. I’ve gotten opportunities, scholarships, internships, fellowships. But I’ve also missed out on chances and spent my young adulthood chasing after one failed relationship after the next.

But now it’s like all of that is tainted.

Everything I’ve done, all the choices I’ve made, it’s all somehow twisted.

From the start, I was promised to him.

And they all knew.

I keep thinking that, over and over, letting it really sink in.They all knew. Sheila, Declan, probably the entire Whelan family. My parents set it up, back in the day.

Now he’s claiming me like I’m some blank check with his name written at the top.