Mandall Hall

About a week later, Bethany is still right at point zero, no speed no man and dinner has become riddled with awkward silences and interrogatory questions.

You already can tell which side each is coming from...

And even now, it feels like the two things are about to swallow her right up. "Just stop with the questions okay! I told you I'm not..."

"You're getting married. You just haven't found the man yet, do you want me to set you up? It's been a week now and everybody, especially Drake is watching." At his name, Paul glances up ever so slightly and returns his head, picking out peas from his food. Anastasia shakes her head and looks away from him back to Beth. "Everyone is watching. You have just three weeks left. Do you hear me?"

"Loud and annoyingly clear. Three weeks. Not much time from the start if you ask me."

"No one asked you." Anastasia retorts right back, dabbing at her mouth gently with a napkin which she gently sets back on the table. "Beth, you have to..."

"I'm trying mum. I'm trying. But I can't do anything with you breathing down my neck about it every two seconds. Just leave me to do my thing?"

"Well you're not doing anything..."

"I've been looking on dating sites and..."

Anastasia gives her a really? Kind of looks and Bethany keeps quiet, dropping her fork angrily and it makes a loud clanging sound that Anastasia shrinks at.

" I told you to be courteous."

"You're not being courteous either. No mother will throw her own daughter into such a state."

"Really? You think I wanted to marry Paul?"

"That's in your own medieval era."

Anastasia sighs. "Bethany, I don't mean to be breathing down your neck uncomfortably but you have to step out to find someone. All the people on dating sites want us nothing more than se... intercourse without commitment. How about we enlist Ant..."

"Don't say that fucking name."

Anastasia gasps. "Lang.."

Bethany pushes back her chair and stomps away from the table, scaring away everyone in her way. She stops at the top of the landing and yells down the exact way that Anastasia hates it. "Fine, I'm going to leave the house tomorrow, are you fine now?!"

Anastasia shakes her head at the table and she also stands up, her night wear dropping and drawing behind her on the ground.

"You should not push her too hard you know?" Paul mutters loud enough for Anastasia to hear but the elder woman just ignores her husband and leaves for own room, and no, she doesn't share a room with Paul.

They stay separate.

The house is large enough to accommodate them even if they want to separate their individual body parts.

Upstairs in Bethany's room, she picks up her phone and logs into her Instagram account where she sees that she has an unread message.

Seeing who it's from makes her a little less angry but she's angry enough to type it all out and send it in a two hundred and fifty eight worded message.

"Wow. All that happened between dinner and now? Dang."

"She's so overbearing. Now I have to go husband searching tomorrow."

The person sends a laughing emoji right back.

"Why don't you come and marry me?" She types, laying on her side, expecting his response.

"I'd do so if I could but..."

"You're not in the country for another five years... I know. Ugh. My life is a drama. Goodnight. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright, bye."

She turns off her phone and lays down, thinking wildly until she sleeps off.

Bethany rolls her eyes as she climbs into her SUV, pretending to not see Anastasia as she peeks outside her window, watching as Bethany leaves the house as promised.

As she drove through the massive gates, her mind wanders to where she would even go.

Marriage.

The thought of having to commit to someone she doesn't know or love, or the fact that she doesn't even know what the future holds for her is more than enough scare.

After driving out of the estate that houses her family's whole property, she pauses at the red light and looks left or right or forward and wonders where she's going.

She notes that the light is already green but she stays there until the car behind her horns her to move forward. She just parks the car by the curb and sighs heavily.

At least she's away from the prying eyes of Anastasia for the time being. She looks around her and sees a convenience store. She gets down from the car then locks it.

She crosses over to the store and gets herself a couple of things, just junk foods.

She proceeds to cross back to her car as soon as the pedestrian lane turns green and completely misses the car still tearing down the express road.

By the time she sees it, it's too late.

"I'm going to die a virgin!" She yells just as it connects.

There's a loud and ear grating sound of screeching brakes, junk food flying in all directions, a red thick liquid spreads quickly to the underside of the car. A small crowd gathers and they are all watching the scene with horror printed on their faces.

Immediately, the occupants of the car get down, pick the woman off the floor and drive, immediately, off to the hospital, completely ignoring every traffic light until they get there.

Three hours later, in a VVIP room 8007 in the Arctic Lane Hospital, Bethany suddenly sits up in bed.

"Argh!" She groans, touching her head and feeling the amount of bandage that has been wrapped around it. She slowly opens her eyes and waits for everything to come into focus.

As soon as she's able to take in her surroundings, the first thought that crosses her head is "Damn, he's fine." The tall man, dressed in a well tailored suit, a golden Rolex wristwatch in one hand and his tie askew but his god sculpted face is more than enough to make up for the physical flaws. He's so handsome.

"What did you say?"

Bethany jumps in the bed. "What?"

"Forget it. Are you okay? You were..."

"You hit me with your car!" Bethany yells, not letting him finish his words.

He's taken aback by her words. "What? What actually happened was.. "

The door slides open and a team of doctors come inside, preceded by an elder looking Doctor. "She's awake now. Thankfully. Ma'am, how many fingers is this?" He raises his fingers in front of her eyes.

"Two."

"It's three." He chuckles and looks at the strange man. "She's fine but it seems like the way she fell, she might have hurt her head, giving her a minor concussion. She'll be able to leave by tomorrow but she must stay here tonight."

"What? No. I have to go..."

"You're staying here tonight ma'am." The tall man says in a final tone, and Bethany shuts right up. "Thank you Doctor. I'll leave her in your care."

They bow and exit the room.

"Did you hear him? You fell, fainted from the shock but I didn't hit you. Let's make that clear. I have taken care of your hospital bills and every other thing so you can have a nice overnight stay. You can leave tomorrow as soon as you're discharged."

"Don't you owe me something for scaring me enough to faint at least?"

For someone with such a good business acumen, she's not about to let such a fine man get through her fingers. If Bethany Worth has to marry, she'll marry a handsome man anyway.

"Fine. How much do you want?"

Bethany rolls her eyes. "I don't want money."

He frowns. "What do you want then?"

"Marry me."

The silence that ensues in the room is deeper than being ten thousand metres deep in the ocean.