Married to My Enemy

I sat down beside my father and took a deep breath. “Daddy, I can’t do it.” I stared into my lap. A long silence stretched between us.

“Honey, what are you talking about?” he asked after a moment.

“I’m talking about the arranged marriage. I can’t go through with it. I can’t…”

“But why not?” he asked after another pause. “I thought you and Gio were getting along well? The two of you looked so happy together just the other day. Things can’t have gone wrong so quickly.”

“But they have.”

“How?”

“Last night…I…I went out with Angela.”

“Yes…” Daddy said, waiting for me to continue.

I took another deep breath. “We went out just for drinks and to go dancing. But…I saw Giovanni there. The day before, he had told me that he would be busy working with his father…”

“Yes, I remember him saying that.”

“Well, I don’t know how true that was.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He was at the club.”

“But it was late by then, dear. Perhaps he was finished and just looking for a way to unwind. There’s no harm in that.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, initially. But then I saw that he was there to meet up with another woman.”

Again, another long pause stretched between us.

“Are you sure that’s what you saw?”

I nodded. “Yes. I know what I saw.”

“Did he see that you were there?” Daddy asked, a note of anger creeping into his voice now.

“No.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

There was definitely a threatening tone to his voice now, and I doubt he was offering to just ‘talk’ to Giovanni. And as much as I wanted to give him my permission to handle Giovanni, a part of me felt that he wasn’t worth it. Gio had hurt me far too badly, and no amount of revenge would make it for it, regardless of how tempting it seemed.

I shook my head. “No, Daddy. That won’t be necessary. The only thing I want is for the wedding to be called off.”

I heard him let out a sigh, and he began pacing the room.

My father had always been a tough man, but it was very seldom that he got angry in front of me. He was angry now though…

I felt mildly panicked. Although I knew there was no way that I could go through with marrying a man like Giovanni, I also hated the thought of letting my parents down. I didn’t know all the details, but I knew there was a reason beyond the obvious for me to have gotten matched with Giovanni. Apparently, our families needed each other for one reason or other. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the line of work my family was involved in, and I knew that it had somehow likely played a role in the arranged marriage. Yet, I also knew that regardless, it simply wasn’t worth my happiness or me giving up my own peace of mind.

“Daddy, I know this arrangement meant something important to you, but you have to understand, I just can’t go through with it. Not after what I saw last night. After seeing what kind of man Giovanni is, I can’t see myself being happy with him anymore.”

Daddy sighed. “And you know that you and your happiness are and always will be one of the most important things in the world to me. You’re my baby girl, and all I’ll ever want is for you to be happy. I can’t make you go through with something you aren’t comfortable with because if you aren’t satisfied, then neither am I.”

I stood. “So, does that mean you’ll do it? You’ll call the wedding off?”

“I have no choice but to, darling.”