Married By My Father's Debt

s crumbled, and you're not even he

e nights ago and I am still waiting for

hands folded tightly in my lap. My knuckles have turned white. Beside me Amelia sniffles quietly into a tissue. She is seventeen years old. Her shoulders

efused to write itself again. I remember the sound of the nurse's voice on the other end of the line. She was careful. Rehearsed. I could tell she

y matters. I expect a reminder to eat something other than coffee for breakfast. I am learning that grief does not announc

s. There is sympathy in his eyes but there is also something else. Something careful. It makes my stomach twist with dread before he

ut steadier than I feel. I have learned how to sou

ge. I see the way his jaw tightens imperceptibly.

from nothing over thirty years. He employed over four hundred people. When he passed away. Ownershi

slowly. "That

and slightly yellowed at the edges. It looks like it has been folded and unfolded over the years. "Eight years

r the way Mr. Griggs says it. With a kind of

" I say. "What kind of

e walked in he looked almost afraid. That

company from bankruptcy during a period. In exchange for that loan and to seal what your fat

e ticking of a clock somewhere beh

words feel foreign in my mouth. The

s and Freddie Ethan, the K

frozen staring at the lawyer as though he has just spoken in tongues. I think that

never even met this person. I have never hear

s binding. Should you refuse to honor it, the loan. Which was never repaid, Freya, not an installment. Becomes due in full immediately. Four

om of the page. It is the signature I have seen on my birthday cards and my school permis

whisper. "Eight years.

y the debt before it ever came to this. I do not think he ever intended for you to actually

lds it tightly and it almost hurts. "Freya

olve even as my heart cracks down the middle. She is looking at me the way she has looked at me since she was li

Whatever happens I will protect you and this company. I will not

marry a stranger. A man from a family so powerful they are practically royalty. Or I watch everything my father built crumble into

to remain even though my pulse is hammering s

wishes to discuss the terms moving forward. I would advise you to prepare you

ot not when there is still so much to hold together. I keep both hands tight on the steering wheel. My eyes are fixed on the road. I do not let a tear

iting is still tucked into notes, inside books. The faint smell of his cologne still clings to the leather armchair by the window. The room has not changed since the night he was

errifying if I just look hard enough. The paper is thick and formal. It is stamped with a seal I do not recognize. An emblem

die

ithout my permission and that makes me really angry. I think he lives in a palace, maybe not even caring. Maybe he has always k

ho work at Williams Textiles. People who worked for my dad for years, people with their own families, people who sent flowers to his funeral and told me how much he meant to them. I think of Marth

ave never been som

xt I will deal with it like I deal with everything. On, standing up straight not letting anyone se

he lights wondering what kind of man could make a King do what he wants and make my dad promise something in desperation. I wonder if he's lookin

is already stuck in my memory from a few days ago in a sm

e the man. And that in 3 days when I go to meet the man my dad promised me to, I will loo