Arabella's POV

Never has a week gone by so quickly in my life before. I haven't been able to sleep, eat or even spend quality time with the boyfriend I might or might not lose in a week to come.

My mind has only been drifting back to my family and the conversation that Tyler and I had. Will I be living with the guilt that everything my parents have worked for will be ripped away from them if I do something about this and breach the contract?

Technically the contract was signed and stamped in Japan where arranged marriages are legal but if I am to get married on North America grounds here in the United States then it isn't legal which means I can go to the court and plead my case.

This is the chance I wanted right? This is the opportunity to get out of this bind? But I won't have time do this! The marriage is next week and these court cases take weeks, months even. There's no way I'll be able to do anything even if I wanted to try.

And even if it did work, the Marks can still sue my parents for everything they have–for everything I have and my parents will be in nineteen years of debt without a business to keep us and our future generation upon.

Even if they don't sue my parents then there won't be a company to save my dad's business in time before it crashes. The whole reason why we're getting married in a week is because there's no time to waste.

So that's it then?

I either say screw my parents and I run away or I get married, forfeit my love for Tyler and marry another man in order to save my parents, their business, my school, my job and my family's future.

All of this pressure was put onto me when I didn't even ask for it. Right now I'm the one holding my family's life in the palm of my hand and I can either set it free or crush it.

All this thinking and contemplating haven't given me a chance to sleep at night. I bet Ryan is sleeping soundly in his bed enjoying every moment of this. He wants to marry me, he has feelings for me and although he's past the age of 21 he won't forfeit the contract and give me the chance to back out.

I'm nineteen I don't have two years to wait. In two years I can either be halfway across the world or in bed with Ryan.

No, don't think like that, Arabella.

There must be another way out of this without any legal action. Without wasting time and money in court when this can take months. The only other thing that I can do is run away.

I need to runaway or marry Ryan.

There are more cons in running away than pros but my freedom and right to marry whoever I choose overpowers all those cons. But will I be able to live with myself knowing that I just needed to sacrifice five years of my life with Ryan for my family?

I can divorce him after all.

I don't need to live with him.

Sleep in the same bed as him.

Hell, I don't need to kiss him.

We'll just be married by law, our names signed on a sheet of paper that bound us together. That's it, that contract can be terminated with a divorce and my parents will be left standing victorious.

I can save them.

But I won't be able to save myself.

"Tyler." I knocked on his door softly and leaned against the wall. Tyler kept his promise, he's been by my side for the past few days but I could see the conflict gnawing at him from the inside out and it only made me feel more guilty.

I could put him out of his misery and just end things between us but I just can't bring myself to do it. Not when I haven't made up my mind about what I'm going to do yet.

The door clicked and opened slowly but he never appeared out so I took that as an invitation to enter. The room was dark per usual since that's mainly been his mood for the past few days and I frowned deeply as I leaned against the now-closed door.

"Ty. . ." I mumbled softly. He groaned softly and pulled a shirt over his head. He ran his hands through his curls and turned towards me. There were visible black bags under his eyes and I cringed inwardly, knowing that this was my fault.

"What's up?" He mumbled as he sauntered lazily towards me. I smiled softly and intertwined my fingers through his as they cradled my cheek tenderly. "Can we go out? Like in about forty-five minutes. Wear something nice." I mumbled softly. 

He chuckled and brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear as his brown eyes interlocked with mine. "I thought the guy was the one who needed to say dress nicely."

"Well, society has changed. Now go get ready."

~ ~ ~

I leaned against my car and watched as Tyler approached me. Even from afar and in the dark with the lamppost shedding little to no amount of light onto us I could still see every visible feature on his body. Even the way he dressed, seemed to catch me off guard because when I said to dress nice I expected him to wear his usual outfit.

But tonight he wore a pair of maroon jeans, a black long-sleeved turtle neck shirt and a pair of white sneakers. Of course, we can't forget the famous leather jacket which to my surprise was white. A gold necklace dangled from his neck, paired with the watch around his wrist which I'm pretty sure costed maybe a thousand dollars or more.

But I must admit I do love seeing a man in jewelry.

As he finally approached me I acted on instinct and flung myself onto him, wrapping my hand around his neck and descending my lips down onto his. A startled gasp escaped his lips but he quickly kissed back and I could feel his lips slide into a smile against mine.

When we pulled away I assessed his outfit once more and smirked, "you look hot." I exclaimed, he rolled his eyes and blushed before running his hands through his curls once again and licking his already moist lips. "I don't like this, you taking on the role of the male. No, I should have kissed you first and then said you were hot. Which you are, by the way, you look beautiful tonight."

I wore a short white off shoulder body con dress, paired with a pair of white Adidas sneakers and a black leather jacket. My hair was pulled into a neat bun and I finished off the look with a gold watch and matching hoops. I smiled in response and thanked him before motioning towards my car.

"Now since I'm taking on the role of the man in this relationship, I'm driving!"

I ignored Tyler's groans as I skipped towards my car and slipped into the driver's side. I sighed in content and sucked in a harsh breath so I could take in the intoxicating smell of my leather seats and lavender air freshener. Tyler slipped in beside me and slammed the door shut.

"I've never been in your car before." He mumbled as he examined the interior. I shrugged as I slowly inserted the key into the ignition and twisted it. The car roared to life and I giggled giddily, ignoring Tyler's glare.

"Let's hit the road baby."

~ ~ ~

We pulled up into the parking lot and the car roared with life once again before I ejected my keys from the ignition. The parking lot grew dark as my headlights went off and thank god for lampposts I thoughts as we unbuckled our seat belts and got out of the car.

"I should have opened the door for you." I chuckled as I sauntered towards Tyler and looped my arm through his. "Don't push it." He muttered sternly and I giggled as we trekked out of the dark parking lot and onto the sidewalk.

Even at this hour, downtown Washington was buzzing with life. Cars zoomed past us, up and down the streets as if it were still day. Lights flickered on all around us from apartments, illuminating those very same lights onto the streets that were jam-packed with pedestrians.

I peered up at Tyler and examined his side profile as we walked towards CityCenterDC where we would dine at one of my favourite restaurants and talk about any and everything.

I wanted us to do something nice, not something petty and small like going to see a movie or sitting at the edge of a dock over the ocean but I wanted to share something with Tyler. A memory of just the two of us overlooking the stars in the dark sky as we dined at a fine restaurant together and alone.

The restaurant came into view and I navigated our way towards it.

Tyler's arms tightened around my waist as we stepped through the glass doors and I led him towards the receptionist table, chuckling by the way he gawked at the interior. What I loved most about this restaurant was the way in which it was designed.

The ceiling was gold at night, illuminated by the bright orange yellowish light that emitted from the chandelier like lights that hung from the ceiling and over the tables. There were brown chairs and tables decorated all around the room in a way where it may appear as if everyone was clustered and that was the beauty of this illusion.

At night this place was bright and elegant and gave me a sophisticated feel every time I would step foot here. It made me feel at home and that's why I brought Tyler here with me. "Reservations for Arabella Smith," I exclaimed to the receptionist who sat behind the mahogany desk.

She peered up at us and muttered 'one moment' before typing away at the computer which sat beneath the desk and out of our view. "This place is magnificent." Tyler mumbled into my ear and I smiled before nudging him in the arm, "if it has you using big words then it must be." He shot me another glare for the night and I giggled before bringing my attention back towards the receptionist.

A waitress appeared beside her and she handed her two menus before beckoning us to follow her. Tyler and I followed in suit behind her as she led us around the restaurant and to one of my favourite spots near the window where you could clearly see the streets and moving cars or the shining stars in the pitch-black sky.

We thanked the waitress and sat down opposite one another. From the bright lights which hung above our heads, I finally had a picture-perfect view of the incredibly handsome man sitting before me.

For two years I longed to be with Tyler. I was consumed by anger, lust and love for the guy who unexpectedly came into my life only for a day and turned it completely upside down.

And now I sat before him, wondering how exactly I got here. A place I never imagined myself two years ago but I was here. And I was going to lose that one way or the other.

And I wasn't prepared.

"I don't want to dampen the mood but why this place? And why tonight?" He asked as he placed the menu down to give me his undivided attention.

I sighed deeply and stretched a hand over the table so that it could interlock with his. His eyes flickered down to our attached hands and then to my eyes once again.

"I don't want to dampen the mood either, Tyler. So let's just enjoy this, okay?"