A Secret She Carried

8

BENNETT watched her as she stood fiddling with her hands, as she always did when she was nervous. He could see her shoulder raise and fall, as she took deep calming breaths. He couldn't help but remember the day he first met her. She looked so beautiful and perfect that he had fallen in love with her instantly.

Though he was too proud to accept it back then, now he knew whatever he had felt that day was as true and what he was feeling for her right now. He could see the tears in her eyes and it took him everything not to pull her into his arms and protect her like she was the most precious thing he ever found.

And he was not going to let her go, not now not ever. He was going to win her back. He was going to win back her trust. He was going to make her fall for him again, and unlike the last time this time he was not going to lose her. He was not going to let anybody come in between them.

"Tell me Sapphire will you marry me?" he asked making her look up at him with her wide beautiful eyes. He knew how stubborn she was and he knew he had to work his ass off to get her back. He watched her as she parted her lips as if to say something, but closed it immediately nervously biting it.

"We don't have all day love." he snapped trying to sound annoyed. But deep down all he felt was fear. A fear of rejection, a fear that he would lose her. Fear that he would never have the forever he dreamt with her. She took a deep calming breath and replied.

"Yes Bennett, I will marry you." she replied in a defeated tone. She had lost everything a long time back and she didn't want to lose the one last ray of hope she was left with. She felt so helpless that all she wanted was the ground beneath her to open and she could escape.

But there was no escape. She had to face the storm and she would. She had watched her Mother suffer all her life. And honestly comparing to what she had to go through, this was nothing. But she wasn't going to make it easy for him. He wasn't going to be getting away with this.

"But I have a condition, this is going to be a contract wedding. We would only be married in the eyes of the law and the society. But behind the four walls we will be strangers. We might be on civil grounds but we are not going to have any kind of sexual relationship."

Stunned by her response Bennett took a step back. This wasn't supposed to be like this. She had just played his game on him and right now he was the one trapped. He knew how smart she was and he even knew how she was using it against him.

She had just challenged him and he wasn't the kind to back off. If she wanted to play it hard then so be it. At least she had agreed to marry him. "Now tell me Bennett, do you still want to marry me?" She asked with a smug look on her face. He knew what she was thinking and he was going to do the exact opposite of it.

"Yes Sapphire, I still want to marry you." He replied wiping off the smug look from her face. She knew he wasn't going to give up on this. She promised herself that she would never let her guard down. She would never let him hurt her again. She was no longer the innocent naive girl who had once fallen for him.

"Now since we are going to be married, I want you to wear this." He stated as he pulled out a black box from his coat pocket and placed it in front of her. "What is it?" she asked as she took the box from his hands. "It's my mother's engagement. It has been passed down in our family from generations I want you to wear it."

"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked not really understanding why was he giving it to her. "Contract or not, you are still going to be a part of the Milton family. And every bride who becomes a part of this family wears it." he replied as he took the box from her had and removed the ring out of the box.

He gently took her had and placed the antique ring on her ring finger. "This ring has a lot of history Sapphire. It has been a part of a lot of successful marriages, I hope it sees the same in ours as well." she looked up at him in surprise, this wasn't what she was expecting.

She didn't know how to react or how to respond. She could see how much the ring meant to him and yet he gave it to her. "I'll talk to my lawyer and get the contract papers ready and meanwhile I want you to get your stuff packed, we will be leaving tomorrow morning." he stated with a smile on his face.

He turned on his heels and almost made it to the door when she called after him. He turned towards her with a questioning look. "Don't you want to meet them?" she asked in a soft voice. He gave her a small smile and replied. "Of course, I would love to. But not now, I know they are in bed and I know how cranky they get when they are woken up early."

She stared at him with wide eyes, she didn't expect him to know so much about them. "How did you " she paused not wanting to sound desperate. He smiled and said "They are my son's Sapphire, they are just like me."he winked at her and walked away leaving behind a very confused Sapphire.