Page 2 of Terms + Conditions
The blonde chef, who Brina called Anna earlier, sets a fresh mug of coffee in front of Brina before stalking back to the kitchen to begin preparing yet another meal. I’m used to Mom making all of our meals; I never considered the fact that some people have private chefs to do it for them. The other chef—Janet, I think—left thirty minutes ago to get something from the store. I have a feeling she is taking her time because it doesn’t seem like breaks are much of a thing around here.
Brunch was uneventful, the only conversation happening between Brina and Mom. It seemed like they were dancing around the real topic of conversation: why we’re here. We’ve been sitting here for almost an hour and a half, and I still have no idea why that is.
“Now that we’ve had time to enjoy ourselves, it’s time to get down to business,” Brina finally says, taking a folder from a drawer in the antique hutch behind her. She sets it down on the table and looks my mother in the eye. “I’ve had my lawyer draw up an agreement, should the kids like what we are about to propose.”
“And what is that exactly?” I ask.
“Well, Joshua, it seems you’ve gotten yourself into a bit of a situation. Correct?”
A wave of shame rolls through me, crescendoing with a thick coat of nausea stuck in my throat, but I force it back down. I glance at Mom, but she won’t look at me. She hasn’t said, but I know she’s disappointed. Wondering where she went wrong. Wondering how her straight-A, straight-laced son could do something like this. If you asked my parents, they’d probably tell you I never drank or smoked or did anything wrong growing up. I was the model child everyone should strive to have. Little did they know that I wasn’t as straight-laced as they thought. But I guess that’s part of being a kid, isn’t it?
“And Elizabeth here wantsallof her inheritance and to attend her dream school,” Brina says, looking at Elizabeth. “Isn’t that correct?”
Elizabeth refuses to meet her gaze but meets mine briefly.
“What does that have to do with me?” I ask.
“There is a way to solve both of your predicaments.” Brina opens the folder and lays it out in front of me.
Skimming over the first few lines, my stomach plummets at the words on the page. I look at my mom again. Surely this is ajoke. She can’t honestly think this is going to solve anything. “An arranged marriage? You’re insane.”
“Josh,” Mom starts, but Brina lifts her hand, silencing her.
“I understand your confusion, Joshua, but it’s really very simple. Elizabeth can’t receive her full inheritance until she marries, per the will of her late parents, and she wants to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design, not Duke, for photography. Thomas and Ethel were adamant that Elizabeth attend her father’s alma mater, another stipulation if she wants her college paid for. However, Duke doesn’t have the program she wants. And you, Josh, need help making your situation disappear. I can make that happen, along with making sure you graduateon timeand get a job.”
Can she really do all of that?
That Cheshire smile creeps its way back onto her face. She knows she almost has me hooked. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m Brina Villa. I may not be my husband, but that name still means something.”
I swallow the lump building in my throat and meet Elizabeth’s gaze across the table. She’s hard to read, but she doesn’t seem shocked by any of this, which means Brina has already proposed the idea to her, and the fact that she’s sitting here tells me she’s willing to accept it.
“We can’t just…get married, everyone we know would be a little suspicious considering”—I motion between myself and Elizabeth—“we don’t get along.”
“Yes, that’s all been laid out in the paperwork.” Brina flips through the pages before landing on the one she wants. At the top of the page, in large, bold letters, it says:TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Beneath it, there are ten points. I skim them, each one detailing every aspect of our lives. The more I read, the more surreal this all becomes. Brina has thought of everything, and Ican’t help but wonder how long she’s been planning this. Has she always wanted to rid the family of their adopted daughter?
“Six years of marriage is a long time considering it’ll be four years of courting if we wait until she graduates,” I say, looking up from the list and referring to term number five.
“Six and a half is the perfect number.” Brina smiles. “Believable and random. Anything shorter would be suspicious.”
“Nina will never believe this,” I say. Not to mention, Elizabeth is dating William Cawthorn, son of a local congressman. Wouldn’t it seem strange that she’d dumphimfor someone like me? We could probably fool everyone else, but Nina would see straight through it.
“She will if we sell it right,” Elizabeth says, drawing everyone’s attention.
CHAPTER TWO
NOW
I WANT A DIVORCE.
Those four words shouldn’t have come as a surprise after spending most of the last year apart. They shouldn’t have come as a surprise after spending our entire relationship lying. It was only a matter of time until one of us—more likely her—pulled the trigger. I figured there are plenty of people who have been put into arranged marriages that make it work, right? Some of them even end up falling in love. I guess that was never in the cardsfor herfor us.
We kept our secret for over ten years. What started in December 2015 came crumbling down when I made a dumb mistake, and she realized our time, as required per the contract, was almost up. There was a division between us. One that had always existed but that we chose to ignore until we couldn’t anymore. The longer we stayed together, the more we grew apart. She started coming home less and less until she didn’t come home at all. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I told my best friend, Finn, last month. There were a lot of questions, but he took it well, I think. I’m not sure how you’re supposed to take that kind of news. A few days later, I told Nick, my cousin and best friend, who didn’t take it as well.
“I’m sorry,” Nick said after a moment. He rubbed the tension growing between his eyebrows. “You’re going to have to repeat yourself. I could almost swear you just said you’re in anarranged marriage.”
“That is what I said.”
