Chapter Three
A sticky silence pervaded the hallway, heavier than the marble walls that seemed to close in on Natalia's breath. She did not scream; she did not stomp her feet on the ground as was her custom. Instead, her shoulders slumped slowly, and the sharp look in her gray eyes faded into a pale haze.
She stood like a wax statue, while the words "You will marry Cedric" echoed in her ears like a ceaseless hum, shattering every ounce of defiance she had hidden behind.
Marilyn approached with steady steps, the glint of pain in her eyes struggling against the mask of resignation she wore. She placed her slightly trembling hand on her daughter's shoulder, as if pulling her back from the edge of a deep abyss.
Marilyn in a whisper barely audibl): "Come, Natalia... let's sit for a moment."
Natalia followed without resistance; her legs moved with a soul-less mechanism.
When her body touched the leather of the luxurious sofa, she sank into it as if she had lost her bones. She stared into space while her breaths came out ragged, resembling the rattle of someone trying to find oxygen in a closed room.
Natalia in a hoarse voice, torn from between her lips: "Dad... did he strip his trust from me just that simply?" She wasn't looking at her mother, but was addressing her shattered credentials. "All those nights, all those books... did they not intercede for me?"
Marilyn grabbed Natalia's cold hand and began pressing it with a firmness wrapped in kindness: "My darling, your father does not doubt your mind, but he fears for your heart... he fears that rebellious streak you showed today. He sees in you a queen, but one who lacks guards."
A single tear rolled down Natalia's cheek; she wiped it with the back of her hand with childish violence: "But what does Cedric have to do with this? He has his world in Russia, and I am building my world here. Why does he want to merge the two empires over my corpse?"
Marilyn exhaled slowly and adjusted her posture: "Jonathan doesn't see two companies; he sees one castle with family walls. He sees in Cedric the son he never had, and the partner who can never betray. Your father has an unshakeable creed: no foreign hand touches our secrets.
Marrying from the outside means a gap in the wall, and he wants to plug that gap with a man raised on the same principles, a man whose loyalty is bought with family blood, not money."
At that moment, behind the heavy wooden door of the office, the air was charged with sparks of anger.
Jonathan was pacing back and forth, striking his palms together, the veins in his neck prominent: "I will not leave my legacy in the hands of a stranger whose mettle we do not know! This was the only solution to set her compass straight."
Stuart sighed deeply and loosened his tie, which seemed to be choking him: "Brother, you have demolished the temple over her head. She is still eighteen; you dropped the decision like a lightning bolt without the slightest preparation... this is unbearable cruelty."
Jonathan stopped suddenly and wiped his face with his hand in exhaustion: "She is the one who pushed me to this! Her provocative recklessness, that rebellious spirit that thinks it owns the world... I no longer have the patience to chase her illusions."
On the side sofa, Cedric sat in complete silence, but his fingers, pressing against the armrest until his knuckles turned white, betrayed the storm raging inside him.
The plan he had drawn to prevent this merger had not only failed but had recoiled upon him like a poisoned dagger. He had been pushing the idea of "marrying Natalia" out of his head, but it kept returning to encircle him like a shackle.
Stuart tried to soften the atmosphere, watching Jonathan's congested features: "Since you have announced the decision... do you intend to finalize the matter now?"
At that, Cedric's eyes widened, and his heart rate quickened until it could almost be heard in the next room. He felt a sudden coldness in his extremities, as if the world were waiting for him to utter a death sentence.
He was saved by Jonathan's words, which came out in a decisive tone: "Of course not! Natalia hasn't even passed eighteen yet. What would society say about us? That we sell our daughters in their teenage years? The marriage will not happen now."
In that moment, Cedric's tensed shoulders relaxed, and his exhale came out long and heavy, as if the soul had returned to his body after departing.
His father, Stuart, watched him silently, reading in his son's face the same bitter rejection he saw in Natalia's eyes; both were prisoners in a game designed by the adults.
The morning sun rose pale, but it brought no renewal; the faces in the hallway reflected a long night of bitter insomnia.
Natalia withdrew from her bed, whose covers remained neat in a way that suggested a body had not enjoyed sleep within them.
She stood under the cold shower water, perhaps to drive away the visions of Cedric that had haunted her all night, then descended the stairs with heavy steps, gripping the handrail tightly as if she feared collapsing.
Everyone was there, distributed in the lounge like ghosts in a deserted painting. Marilyn had not touched her coffee cup, which had gone completely cold, and Jonathan remained staring at a newspaper without turning a single page.
When Natalia entered, her eyes met Cedric's. He was sitting with a rigid back, encircling his coffee mug with his fingers with a force that made his knuckles white.
His looks were not merely anger; they were arrows of silent hatred, as if her presence in the room were sucking the oxygen from his lungs.
Stuart in a hoarse voice cloaked in fatigue: "Good morning, Nat."
She answered in a faint voice, barely coming out of her constricted throat: "Good morning."
Marilyn leaning her body toward her daughter and checking the paleness of her face with concern: "Are you... are you feeling better, my dear?"
Natalia did not answer; instead, her eyes remained fixed on the patterned carpet.
Jonathan pointing to the seat next to him with his hand: "Natalia, come. Sit beside me."
Natalia moved like a driven machine and sat on the edge of the seat with a slightly hunched back.
Jonathan placed his hand over hers, and his touch was warm in a way that contrasted with the coldness of her limbs.
Jonathan: "I'm sorry, Nat. Last night... the words were sharp, and perhaps the decision was more final than necessary in a moment of anger."
Natalia's head rose suddenly, and her eyes widened with a sudden spark of hope, like a drowning person who glimpsed a sliver of light: "Does this mean... that you have backed down?"
Jonathan shook his head slowly, in a movement that extinguished that spark immediately: "No."
Natalia's features tightened again, and she dug her nails into her palm.
Jonathan continued in a calm and dignified voice: "Don't worry, you have long years ahead of you.
You will complete your studies, graduate, and build your academic future. And when you reach twenty-four, the marriage to Cedric will take place."
At that moment, Cedric's gaze shifted to his uncle. He didn't say a word, but his jaw moved with noticeable tension, and his eyes narrowed.
The silence that enveloped him spoke of absolute rejection, but he knew that Jonathan's authority was like gravity; there was no escaping it, not for him, and not for his father either.
Marilyn trying to soften the mood with a faint smile: "My daughter, six years is an entire lifetime. Don't exhaust your mind by thinking about it now."
Natalia could not suppress the words that were boiling in her chest. She stood up suddenly, causing everyone to raise their heads to her in surprise.
Natalia: "Dad, I don't love Cedric... and he clearly shares the same feeling.
How can it be reasonable for you to buy my future with a marriage deal devoid of soul?"
Cedric froze in his place. He hadn't expected her to have the audacity to say that publicly in front of everyone. He shot her a look that combined bewilderment and silent warning.
Jonathan with extreme coldness: "Love... is a guest that comes later, Natalia, or it doesn't come. What matters is loyalty."
Natalia took a step forward, and her eyes ignited with a new defiance: "Six years remain... what makes you certain that my heart will stay empty? What if I fell in love with someone else?"
A suffocating silence prevailed.
Marilyn stopped breathing for seconds, and Stuart felt embarrassed and looked away. Natalia continued, directing her gaze toward Cedric this time: "And Cedric? How do you guarantee he won't find another girl to give his heart to in these years?"
Cedric's features stiffened completely. He wished at that moment if he could clamp his hand over her mouth to prevent her from igniting the fires further. He knew that Jonathan did not accept possibilities that fell outside his control.
Jonathan in a low voice, indicating that an idea had begun to brew in his head: "Yes... I did not take this possibility into my account."
Natalia smiled a bitter smile when she saw hesitation invading her father's features: "So? If one of us loved a different person, how do you expect us to play the role of the happy couple?"
Marilyn in a trembling voice, as she gripped the edge of her dress: "Natalia, my darling... you are talking as if you will fall in love with someone tomorrow!"
Natalia replied as she turned toward her mother, throwing her final words like a time bomb: "Falling in love is very easy, Mom... much easier than you think."
The tapping of Jonathan's fingers on the marble table stopped suddenly, and a cautious stillness prevailed, making the sound of the wall clock's hands echo like hammer blows.
His blue eyes moved slowly, sometimes toward Natalia standing in defiance, and sometimes toward Cedric stiffened in his place. A cloud of deep thought hung over his features, as if his mind were a calculator re-auditing profits and losses in mere seconds.
Jonathan cleared his throat, and Stuart's back straightened involuntarily, while Marilyn held her breath, pressing on her handkerchief until her nails sank into her palm.
Jonathan in a calm and confident voice, carrying the tone of a manager who has settled a major deal : "You hit the mark, Natalia... your possibilities were very logical, and logic is the only language I respect.
Therefore, I have completely reformulated the plan."
At that moment, Natalia's body relaxed slightly, and a hint of light crept into her gray eyes, and the fairness of her face began to regain its vitality as she thought that the pickaxe of her words had demolished the wall of his stubbornness.
As for Cedric, his jaw muscles tightened, and his eyes began following his uncle's lips with deadly anticipation; fear was creeping into his extremities like a cold current, a fear he hadn't experienced even in his toughest deals in Russia.
Jonathan completed, as he interlaced his fingers over the table, his eyes shining with polar coldness: "Tomorrow the marriage will take place... there is no room to give coincidence or 'love' a single gap to destroy what I have built."