Page 54 of My Horrible Arranged Marriage (Bancroft Billionaire Brothers #20)

ISAAC

F uck .

Fuck!

Fuck!

Mina’s voice hit the room like a bomb. “What contract?”

My lungs constricted. My pulse pounded so loud I could barely hear my own thoughts. She knew part of it but she was about to hear all of it. After what she just told me in her room, I knew she was going to take it the wrong way.

Technically, it was the right way, but it wasn’t what I intended. Yes, we wanted a family. But I wanted a family with her because I wanted a family. Not because it got me out of the contract any earlier. But there was no way she was going to believe any of that.

She stood there in her wedding gown, framed by the open door, looking like something out of a dream. A dream that now twisted into a nightmare with one single question.

And fuck me. That dress. She told me it was sexy but hot damn. That was my wife. Well, she could be my wife. I had a feeling that might not be a guarantee.

I should have just told her everything. I didn’t know what to say now, confronted like this.

Hectar turned toward her, already waving his hand dismissively at her. “Sweetheart?—”

Don’t. The word sat on my tongue. Don’t fucking do it.

He stepped forward with that diplomatic politician’s smile. It was only going to piss her off. It was exactly the wrong thing to do. But I couldn’t stop him.

“It’s not what you think?—”

“Don’t lie to her,” I snapped.

Hectar’s jaw tightened, that shark smile never wavering. I saw the look in his eyes. He was trying to tell me to shut up and let him handle the situation. “I’m simply trying to explain?—”

“You’re trying to cover your ass,” I cut in. I turned to face Mina, my heart hammering against my ribs. Her expression was already shifting from confusion to hurt. “And I’m not going to let you do that. Not anymore.”

My father cleared his throat. “Isaac, perhaps we should discuss?—”

“No.” I held up my hand, silencing him. “She deserves the truth. All of it.”

Hectar’s face darkened. “We had an agreement.”

“Yeah, well, that agreement is over.” I looked back at Mina, her eyes already shining with unshed tears. “I should have told you from the beginning. I wanted to tell you last night, but I was afraid. I was a coward.”

Hectar moved beside me, that smile still plastered on his face as he tried once more. “Sweetheart, this is just some pre-wedding business between old friends. Nothing for you to worry about.”

“Business?” Mina echoed, her voice dangerously quiet.

“A small matter between me and the Bancroft family,” Hectar replied.

Mina looked at me wide-eyed. Pleading. Hurt already bloomed in her expression. Her chest rose and fell too quickly. I could see the panic coming, the pieces of her heart trying to brace themselves. This was my fault. I should have fucking told her sooner.

I moved toward her and immediately reached out to take her hands in mine.

She was shaking. I wasn’t sure how much she heard, but enough to ruin whatever happiness we almost had.

I needed to save this. I had to save her from the pain.

And I wasn’t just thinking about her. I was thinking about me and my happiness.

My life would be empty without her in it.

“Mina, listen to me. Please.”

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Her chin trembled. When her eyes locked on mine, I saw the pain and betrayal. I knew I was the cause and it gutted me. I swallowed hard. This wasn’t exactly how I planned to tell her the truth, but here we were. It was now or never.

“Isaac, you said…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

I glanced over at Hectar, who looked confused. “I told her about you two persuading me to ask her out,” I muttered. “That stupid article in the paper.”

Hectar grimaced and nodded. My father looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole. I had a feeling he was more concerned about Kathy’s response than what Mina was thinking.

I turned back to my fiancée, if she still was. I had her hand in mine but I could feel her trying to pull away. I gripped her hand tighter. No way. I couldn’t let her walk away.

“I didn’t want to do it,” I started. “What I told you before was the truth. The whole date was a setup. I did it because they wanted me to. Because my dad owed your dad a favor. When I say I fell in love with you that first night, it was true. I promise you that.”

“There’s more, Isaac,” she snapped. “Quit trying to handle me. Just say it.”

I licked my lips. “When the idea was first proposed, it was with the intention of us being married.”

I could see her pulling away. “Married.” She repeated the word like it tasted bitter.

I couldn’t stop now. Not when she was looking at me like that, like her whole world was crumbling. “The original agreement was that I would marry you, give you a child, and after a few years, we could quietly divorce if we wanted to.”

Her hand went instinctively to her stomach, and I saw the devastation wash over her face. The tears she’d been holding back spilled down her cheeks.

“So—”

“No,” I cut in desperately. “That wasn’t about the deal. I’m happy. Genuinely happy.”

I didn’t want her to reveal our little secret just yet. I couldn’t explain why, but it felt like that would only make the situation worse. Hectar would be thrilled. The last thing I wanted to do was make him happy.

“But it completes your obligation,” she said quietly. “Gets you out of the contract faster, doesn’t it?”

“Mina, please?—”

She yanked her hand free from mine. “You let me believe it was real.”

“It is real,” I insisted, panic rising in my chest. “Everything I feel for you is real.”

“You were going to marry me without telling me any of this.” Her voice was eerily calm now. “You were going to let me walk down that aisle thinking we fell in love by chance. That we chose each other.”

“We did choose each other,” I said.

“But we didn’t.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it was all a lie.”

“No!” I said quickly. “I fell for you. Mina, I fell so fucking hard. I kept telling myself I’d come clean, that I’d figure it out. But every day with you just made the lie harder to face.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. I reached up, brushed it away with my thumb, careful not to smudge her makeup. My fingers trembled.

“I didn’t want to marry you because of a deal. I wanted to marry you because I’m in love with you. Because I want a family with you. Because I can’t imagine waking up without you beside me.”

Another tear. And another.

“Mina, I swear on my life, the proposal was real. My feelings were real. I didn’t even remember the deal anymore because nothing about us was fake.”

She stepped back, shaking her head. “You let me plan this wedding. You let me fall in love with you. You let me trust you. And the whole time, you knew it started as a lie?”

I couldn’t breathe. “Yes. But it didn’t stay a lie?—”

She shook her head again, harder this time. “I don’t know what’s worse. That you lied… or that he did too.” Her gaze cut to Hectar, who visibly recoiled under it.

Tori stepped into the room. “How could you?” She looked at Hectar with her lips curling in disgust. “I trusted you,” she spat, glaring at me. “I defended you. I liked you.”

“Tori—” I started, but she held up a hand like she might slap me with it.

“No. You don’t get to speak right now. I’m so pissed. I might play the docile woman, but trust me, I have no doubt in my mind I could rip you to shreds right now. I want to rip your arms off and beat him with them!”

Mina sniffled beside her, and that tiny sound gutted me.

Then she turned and bolted.

“Mina, wait.” I started after her, but Tori spun, stepping into my path.

“ Stay. You’re done.”

I froze. Tori wasn’t a big person, but in that moment, I was staring down a giant. A pissed-off giant.

“She needs space. You go after her now, and you’ll only make it worse.”

I clenched my jaw, my hands balling into fists at my sides. Every instinct in me screamed to run, to chase , to explain more, to fix this.

But she was gone. Dad cleared his throat, but I didn’t even look at him.

Hectar turned toward the doorway, already moving. “I’ll go talk to her.”

“No,” I said flatly.

He stopped. “Isaac, I have to?—”

“You don’t get to fix this. Not this time.”

He hesitated. “She’s my daughter. I need to make this right.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Tori snapped. “The three of you keep your asses right here. I’ll see if there is any salvaging this. But I think you just got left at the altar and I don’t blame her one bit.”

Tori stomped out of the room. We all stood. None of us moved. Tori had turned into a damn dragon. I finally turned to look at Hectar.

“She’s the woman I love,” I said. “And we both broke her.”

He didn’t respond. Just stared, like he didn’t know what to do with that truth.

I sat down slowly, like my legs couldn’t hold me up anymore.

My chest felt like it was caught in a vise.

This was worse than I feared. This was worse than the many different scenarios I conjured up when I thought about her learning the truth.

I kept seeing her face in that moment. The confusion, betrayal, and ultimately the pain.

“She’ll understand,” Hectar snapped. “She just needs a minute to get herself together.”

My glare could’ve cracked marble. “She deserves better than this. Better than us. ”

Hectar looked up at me. “Isaac, don’t give up. This can still be saved.”

“No.”

He blinked. “No?”

“It’s over.”

“It’s not over,” Dad said. “You love her.”

“I do love her but I fucking broke her heart! All of this. This is you two!”

I turned toward the window, trying to breathe, trying not to imagine her upstairs alone, crying into a pillow in the dress she picked for me .

“Hectar.” My father cleared his throat. “We have a situation.”

I snorted. “Situation? Is that what you’re calling it? The woman I love is shattered and I honestly have no idea how to fix it. I don’t know if it’s possible to fix it.”

“I’ll find the wedding planner,” Hectar said, sliding into his role of being all business. “She can let the guests know there will be a slight delay.”

I spun around. “Do you really think she’s going to marry me?”

“Yes,” Hectar said confidently. “She’s been looking forward to this day her entire life. We’ll give her ten minutes and then I’ll talk to her. And then you will. It will be fine.”

He sounded like he had a crystal ball and knew that for sure. I wasn’t quite as sure as he was, but dammit, I was so fucking hoping he was right.