Chapter 4 : I Don't Want To

Chapter 4: I Don't Want To 

“It is a matter of duty and obligation, your future marriage with Justin is the key to securing peace and prosperity for our family.” My father said.

“Peace?” I scoffed, unable to hide the disgust in my voice.

“I understand that this marriage is important but should you not tell Helena that? She is the one who ran away from her duty.”

My father ignored my statement about her, his gaze unwavering.

“The Moretti family is powerful, Arianna. Their alliance is very important to maintaining our peace and our stance among the elite of the underworld and you will have to marry the oldest Moretti son. You will be his wife, that is final.”

“What about my happiness?” I whispered, my voice trembled with sadness. 

“What about my future? What about my dreams and what about me?”

“You will find happiness in fulfilling your duty.” My father stated firmly, his voice holding no space for argument.

“Your sacrifice will secure the peace of the generation to come.” 

I pushed back my chair sharply, standing to face them with a mixture of anger and despair.

“Is this what this family has become?” I asked, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. 

“I am just a chess piece and not my own person? Is that how you see your oldest daughter?” The rage broke out of me. My father seemed as if he was going to hit my face but my mother intervened.

“You don't understand, Arianna. Your father only wants to take care of our family. He wants the best for us.” My mother said softly.

“This is the burden of our family’s legacy, the price we must pay to preserve our honor and peace.” She added.

“And what about my honor? My life and my peace?” I snapped back bitterly, the tears streaming down my face.

“Am I to be thrown aside and married off to a man that Helena has an affair with? Like my peace and honor does not matter?” 

“I don't care what you have to say on this matter, Arianna. Justin Morretti is the heir to the Morretti family’s empire. We have to keep peace with his family or else the same thing will happen like what happened fifty years ago. You don't want your siblings to get raped and killed, do you?” My father spoke with a threatening voice.

He mentioned the two, larger Mexican crime families, the Bennett family. The Morretti family has grown larger over the fifty years, they have gained more power while the Bennett family is slowly fading away. But this marriage and alliance would bring the two crime families together like a merger. This marriage would last for the rest of my life since divorce wouldn't be an option or else that would break the alliance and the merger between the families.

“I know how important the peace treaty is to us, and how important this marriage is but why are you telling this? Shouldn't you tell me this to Helena? If a girl like her could call off the wedding this easily without a second thought, did this mean that she wanted us all to die? Did she want my siblings to get raped and murdered?” I argued with my father who looked kike he wanted to get rid of me.

But he kept his cool because he didn't want any servant to see him acting violently since they tend to gossip.

“You will marry him unless Helena changes her mind but she is firm in her decision. For the sake of your siblings, you have to marry him and become Mrs. Morretti. A title you will beat until the day you die.” My father clarified the agreement which was to stay married until death do us apart.

“I don't want to.” I didn't let go by my decision, not yet.

“You have no choice unless you want your younger sister, Harper to take your place? She turned fifteen a month ago, what do you think about that?” He muttered.

My mother glanced at him out of shock since she was fond of Harper. I was trapped and there was no way out. Though, I could have but that would lead to my younger sister who is only fifteen forced into the marriage. I took a deep breath.

“I will only marry him on the condition that my siblings will have the choice to marry whoever they want once they turn of legal age. I want it written on a legal document and signed by you.” 

My father let out a cruel laugh which meant that he was about to lose his temper and saw my words as a joke.

“Let's say I want to arrange a marriage for Harper but you don't allow it, what could you do once you are married to Justin Morretti? If you divorce him, then that would lead to war and your siblings would be harmed either way.” He cracked a smile but soon it would be wiped off by next words.

“As his wife, I would ask him to take away your position as an underboss along with your wealth and connection as I take my siblings under my wing. So think deeply, father, about what you choose to do.”

He gritted his teeth but he pondered on it for a few minutes because if he signed a document where he promised to allow my siblings to marry however they want, he could lose potential connection through arranged marriage. But in the end, I knew what he would choose. No matter how much potential arranged marriage there could be in the future, the Moretti family were extremely powerful and influential and my father could not let go of that.

“Fine, let's sign a legal agreement.” He finally answered.

My mother asked a maid to bring her a glass of water since she was afraid Harper would have been forced to marry at the age of fifteen.

“I will call my lawyer and he will create an agreement which could not be broken. If any of my siblings will go through with a marriage, then you will be destroyed and you will lose everything, father.”

We stared at each other as I bit into my inner cheeks since he could be a terrifying man. If I did not have any siblings, I would allow this family to rot in hell. I never had a mother or father in the first place.

“After I sign the legal agreement, you will sign the marriage certificate and marry Justin at two o'clock. That is not negotiable.” He added firmly.

With that final word hanging in the air, my parents stood up from the table and walked out of the room, leaving me alone in the suffocating silence of the grand dining room. Once they were out of sight, I headed back out of the dining room and ran inside my childhood room. I shut the door and sank to the floor, as my body shuddered with sobs while I struggled to grasp the devastating fate that lay before me.