Page 13 of Heartbeat

“I’ll break the contract. Fuck it. You can’t make me do this medieval fuckery.” This wasn’t the eighteenth century. My father couldn’t trade me for a fucking piece of real-estate.

“Why would you risk your career? I will take you to court and no hospital would touch you. Don’t fuck with me, Lennox. I’m not the one.” Bishops’ gray eyes held an angry fire, and I knew he was dead serious. He would ruin everything I worked hard for.

“You agreed to this?” I looked at Raven. She had to be just as crazy as her father to go along with this foolishness.

Her eyes flashed to her father, and in that split second, I saw the rage. She blinked, looking at me, her gray eyes now empty, and she shrugged. I knew then, they had tricked her as well.

“Fuck!” There was no way around this. I signed the contract, and there was no doubt that my career would be ruined. I was good, but not well known in my profession yet. It would cost me too much not to go through with this.

Bishops sat down at his desk with a smug look on his face. Raven came and sat down in an empty chair beside me. I don’t know what they did to her, but she looked just as pissed as I did.

“The wedding will take place this weekend,” Bishops informed us.

“This weekend! Daddy, that’s not enough time!” Raven exclaimed with wild eyes.

“You’re a Bishops, Raven. Make it enough time,” Bishops responded with a sneer.

I had no idea how Raven would pull off a wedding in four days, but she nodded her acceptance as she looked away from her father. I didn’t like that she shriveled like a wilted flower in the man’s presence. I didn’t know her at all, but it didn’t fit the bold woman who argued with me at every turn.

“So I guess that means we’ll be going to the courthouse,” I sighed in acceptance. This was truly fucked up.

“I’m a Bishops, Lennox. We don’t do courthouse weddings.” Raven was back in full princess mode, I liked her better this way.

“Excuse the hell out of me if I don’t know about the way of the all-mighty Bishops,” I stated dryly. This marriage would be a short one if I had to hear about her family’s asinine rules at every turn.

“Don’t worry. You’ll learn.” Raven’s tone was serious, and her words felt like a threat.

I turned back to her father, “How long will we have to stay married?”

“Forever,” He quickly answered, brokering no arguments.

“Forever is a long time. How about ten years?” I tried to negotiate my way out of this situation. Ten years of my life seemed like a flash in the pan compared to forever.

Bishops shook his head, “This hospital is my family’s legacy.Mylegacy. It will never leave the family, and neither will you.”

Damn, the Bishops sure liked to threaten me. I didn’t like that shit at all. I would find a way out of this marriage, whether they liked it or not.

I looked to Raven to read her reaction to all of this, and she sat perfectly still and didn’t utter a word of disagreement. Her head was held high, and her legs were crossed as her hands sat prissily in her lap. Her gray eyes were void of any emotion, and I sighed. She wouldn’t be any help.

I sat back in my chair with an annoyed huff. There was nothing that I could do at the moment, and my soon-to-be-wife sat there like the pretty puppet that she was. I would never forgive my father for this shit.

He sacrificed his own son to satisfy his greed. All Conrad Nash wanted was power and prestige, and he used me to gain it. I would do everything inmypower to make sure my father would never receive the recognition he was after.

Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I had to marry this petulant princess. And if I couldn’t figure out a way to end the arrangement, I would be stuck with her forever.Fuck my life.

CHAPTER 7

RAVEN

Today was my wedding day, it was clear blue skies, the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and I couldn’t stop crying. The tears weren’t of joy or even nervousness. They were tears of utter dismay. I had dreamt of this day since forever, and it would be forever ruined. Because the groom that I would promise my forever, not only was he a stranger, but I couldn’t stand his ass.

I wanted to blame my father, but in reality, I sacrificed myself for Robin. And I could never feel any ill will towards my sister. I loved her, and she loved me. I still couldn’t believe she ran off and got married without telling anyone, especially me. She is my first best friend, and her secret hurt me.

And although she was stubborn and often rebellious, she had never outright defied my father before. Her actions were such a slap in the face that my parents weren’t even talking to her. The one time I went to get my dress altered, my mother ignored her the entire time. It was weird tonotsee my Mama smiling and happy with all three of her girls around and my best friend, Sasha. When my bestie was around, my mother lit up. This time, however, she could barely hold her smile together.

On top of that, when we were wedding dress shopping and Josephine was the saddest I’d ever seen her. She couldn’t keep the tears from flowing, and the sadness covered even though my future mother-in-law tagged along. My mother was about appearances, and she couldn’t even fake it.

However, I knew she’d known the details behind my quickie marriage when she pulled me to the side and tightly hugged me when I came out in my dress. We didn’t exchange words, just sad smiles as she told me she loved me.

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