NARRATOR
Andrew knocked on the door and waited for his son to reply. "Come in." Martin replied and tried to sit up. Andrew stepped into the room and helped his son.
"How are you feeling today, son?" Andrew asked his son.
"I'm fine, dad. Where is Erica? Last I saw her before I went into surgery." Martin asked with pleading eyes.
"She went to live with her friends." Andrew replied but didn't look in Martin's eyes.
"What? But why?" Martin asked.
"She is an adult now. She wanted to live her life independently. So she left. She got a great job and she is sharing an apartment with her friends." Andrew replied.
"But dad, she never wanted all that. Why did she leave and that too without telling me?" Martin asked with tears in his eyes.
"You don't know her, son. We better stop talking about her. She is no longer part of our family." Andrew replied and stood up.
"I know you are hiding something from me. I know her, dad. She would never leave us." Martin asked.
"We know nothing about her. You better rest, your mother will come in a few minutes with your breakfast." Andrew replied and left. He didn't look back. He knew if he looked at Martin again he would ask more questions about Erica.
…
Erica took a hot shower after she cleaned up the garden. She then wrapped a towel around her small figure and was about to step out when she remembered, Alexander was sitting on the couch which was right in front of the closet door. She chewed her nails in nervousness. She knew if he saw her in that towel he would do something. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom. He looked at her as she stepped out of the bathroom. She quickly made her way to the closet. He smiled seeing her nervousness. "You better wear something nice. I have to take you somewhere." He informed her. She peeked her head out from the closet door and looked at him.
"What do you mean? Where are we going?" She asked.
"Just wear something nice. I'll tell you where we are going." He said as he stepped into the closet. He chose a pink knee length dress for her.
"Here, wear this." He said and handed her the dress. He went back to the couch and she wore the dress. She applied eyeliner and lip gloss. She dried her hair and tied them in a high ponytail. She stepped out of the closet and sat beside him.
"I'm done." She informed him. He quickly wrapped his work, went to the closet, wore his jacket and came out.
"Let's go." He said and led her out of the bedroom. They both hopped into the car and drove off. He stopped in front of a cafe.
"We are here to meet my father's lawyer. He will tell you everything about our family and your responsibilities." Alexander told her and she nodded her head. They both stepped out of the car and went into the cafe. He led her to a reserved table.
"Mr Wilson, meet my future wife, Erica Walker. Erica, he is our family lawyer." Alexander introduced them both. Mr Wilson stood up and stared at Erica with wide eyes. Erica grabbed Alexander's hand in fear.
"It's okay, Erica. He is just shocked to see you here." Alexander replied to her unasked question and squeezed her hand lightly.
"Why did your mother buy her?" Mr Wilson asked once he recovered from the shock.
"I know nothing about it. I was just told that Erica is my fiance and soon we both will be married." Alexander replied and Mr Wilson understood him. He understood why Alexander asked him about Mr Roberts and his family. He remembered Erica. She came to Mr Walker's funeral with her father. Mr Wilson knew Alexander wanted to know why his mother had bought Erica.
"Now as you know, soon you will be Mr Walker's wife. You need to know a few things about Mr Walker and his family. I know Mr Walker's family before he was even born. He is like my son. Alexander is smart but unfortunately his father wasn't. Mrs Smith took advantage of Mr Walker's unconditional love and cheated him. She cheated him with money and also cheated on him with their relationship." Mr Wilson explained.
" My father fell in love with my mother, but she wanted to get married to Mr Smith. My father came to know about their relationship. He was devastated knowing the girl he fell in love with didn't want him in her life. And because of that, my grandmother made the biggest mistake of her life." Alexander said.
"What did she do?" Erica asked.
"She bought Mrs Smith from her parents and set her up with her son. Mr Walker was a good man but a fool when it comes to Mrs Smith." Mr Wilson replied.
"My mother hates me because she never wanted to be with my father. A week after his death she got married to Mr Smith but didn't let go of the grudges she has for me. Just because my grandmother bought her, she had bought you. To take her revenge. She knew I never wanted anyone to be forced into any kind of relationship." Alexander explained.
"But in her hatred, she did something which can help Alexander. Only you can end his suffering, Erica." Mr Wilson said.
"What do you mean? I couldn't help myself when she had bought me. How can l help him?" Erica asked.
"Before Alexander's grandparents died, they did something. They willed Alexander's wife to be the woman in power. You see, if you marry him, he will get his businesses, properties and his family wealth back and you will take the charge that was given to Mrs Smith by Mr Walker." Mr Wilson replied.
"In short, you will have the power to kick my mother out of our lives and we can live our lives peacefully." Alexander explained.
"I can't believe a mother could be a monster like Mrs Smith. I'll do anything for Alex." Erica replied and Mr Wilson smiled.
"We all have to wait till you both are bonded together. As you both will sign the marriage certificate, Erica will take Mrs Smith's place and Mrs Smith will be nothing. But till then, we have to be careful and keep all this information to ourselves. If she knew anything about our plans, she would do everything in her power to stop this wedding." Mr Wilson said.
"Don't worry, we will pretend like this meeting never happened." Alexander assured Mr Wilson. They all stood up and bid their goodbyes. Mr Wilson sat back and enjoyed his coffee. Erica and Alexander made their way to the car.
"You want to go back home or you want to watch a movie then have dinner then go back home?" Alexander asked before they sat into the car.
"I like the second one." She replied with a smile.
"Okay then, get in. We are going to watch a
movie then dinner." Alexander replied and hopped into the car. Erica secured her seatbelt and they drove off.