Claimed by the Billionaire

Alexa’s POV

“Wake up, girl!”

I stirred around on my bed, cradling the pillow with a whine while ignoring that awfully familiar and harsh voice telling me to wake up.

“Alexa!” A rough shake made my eyes fly open, only for it to land on my father. I looked outside my slightly opened curtains and noted that it was still dark outside. Frowning slightly, I sat up on my bed, wondering why he was waking me up so early in the morning. Something must be wrong.

“Dad?”

There was an annoyed look on his face as he turned around from me, walking back towards my door. “Come downstairs. Now.”

I looked behind him and noted my mother standing by the door, a sneer on her face. She tsked and walked away.

“Dad is anything wrong?” I asked, getting worried at his behavior, but he slammed the door shut which only meant he wasn’t ready to answer me, and whatever it is that he was about to tell me, or whatever he wanted me to do, I will not like it at all.

Gritting my teeth together, I climbed out of bed and quickly grabbed my night gown, slipping into it and tying it tightly. I hurried downstairs and stood in front of my father who was seated on the couch, legs crossed and sipping a mug of coffee very casually like he hadn’t just woken me up in a very alarming way.

Mom was seated next to him in all her elegant grace, her hair wrapped and covered with a bonnet and her intense eyes accessing me as usual. I bit the inside of my cheek, shifting uncomfortably on my feet as I waited in front of them.

“Good morning dad, Good morning mom,” I murmured, my eyes shifting from them to the wall clock, and then back. It was just three am in the morning. I looked around and wondered why my twin, Allesia wasn’t here with us. Isn’t this supposed to be a family meeting or something? “You called me?” I asked at last, when it seemed like they both weren’t ready to talk.

“Yes, I did.” He placed the mug on the center table and gestured for me to sit. “There’s something we want to tell you.”

Slowly, I sat, mentally bracing myself for whatever was to come next. It wasn’t hard to guess that they didn’t have good news, with the way they both were acting. I licked my lips out of nervousness and clasped my hands together. “Alright…” I said slowly, my own way of urging him to go on.

“Congratulations, Alexa,” my mom started first, a small, cruel smile forming on her face as she watched me. Her words only grew my confusion more.

“Congratulations?” I looked between them, my heart beating faster each passing second. “For what?” I tried to think hard to see if I had any sort of special accomplishment recently, but I had none. So what’s with the sudden congrats?

“Your engagement of course, honey,” she answered sweetly, that sickening smile on her face only growing wider.

“My what? What engagement?” I sputtered, my eyes darting back and forth. “What engagement?” I demanded.

“You’re getting married today, Alexa,” my father spoke at last. He grinned slightly like he just announced that he was about to give me his whole fortune.

A gasp escaped me, my shaking hands barely gripping the arm of the chair and my eyes going wide. “What?” I whispered, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

“You heard us, girl!” My father sneered. “And I want absolutely nothing but the best behavior from you today, okay?”

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I closed my mouth and gulped, shock still coursing through my veins in waves.

“Did you hear me girl?!” His eyes narrowed as he expected an answer from me.

“Is this supposed to be a joke of some sort?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light. “It’s really not funny.”

“Does your father and I look like we’re joking? Hmm?” My mother narrowed her eyes. “No, sweetie. This is not a joke at all.”

“No…you’re joking.”

“Definitely not, young lady. You better accept this and go back to have enough rest and pack your things.”

“Wh – are you being serious?!” I exploded, getting up from the chair. “I’m getting married? And when was that decided? Did I ever tell you that I had anyone I wanted to get married to?! What the heck?!”

“Young lady! I will not allow such disrespect in my home! Don’t you dare raise your voice on your mother or I! Do you get that?” Dad snapped, his eyes hardening on me.

“But…why would you even say that?” I continued, tears filling up my eyes. “You…why?”

“The question you should be asking, girl, is ‘who’.” Mom was back to smiling like this was a good thing. “Ethan Bruce. He’s a famous billionaire. You should be happy he chose to marry you…” She trailed off, her eyes roaming the entirety of my body. “…with all of that fat,” she added at last, obvious disgust intertwined with her words.

Her words were a verbal whiplash, making me take a step back with my chest hurting like I had been stabbed there severally. A tear finally dropped from my eye, and I dropped my head, not wanting them to see that moment of weakness but it was useless. They already saw it. I fought the urge to wrap my arms around my body and shrink.

“Aww…don’t cry…it’s a good thing-“

“No, mom. It’s not. You can’t just wake me up to tell me that I’m getting married, today, and expect me to act like it’s totally okay. Because it’s not, mom! Okay? It’s not! And I don’t even know this guy! I don’t even know why you both want me to marry him. You can’t expect me to just go with it without any complaints mom! It’s not possible!”

“Alexa—”

“And I do not want to get married to this guy or any other guy. I’ll get married on my terms—”

“Funny of you to think you have a say in this,” my father spoke at last, glaring intensely at me.

“Dad-“

“Not one more word from you, you foolish ingrate! Back to your room, and make sure you’re prepared in the morning. I will not tolerate any form of misbehavior from you. I will not let you soil our family’s name all because of your stupidity.” He eyed me. “Go back to your room. Now.”

A sob escaped my lips, and I took a few steps back, before finally breaking into a sprint back to my room. I finally let the waterworks break as I got into my room. I collapsed on the bed, my chest hurting seriously.

I cried loudly, wondering what happened and why I’m being forced into this. Why would my parents agree to this guy getting married to me anyway? It can’t be because of money because my parents are equally rich but why would they agree?

And what will this guy expect from me when we’re married? Will he expect s*x? Will he expect kids? And why the hell is he even getting married to me of all people in the first place?

Besides they’ve had plenty of time to tell me that I was getting married to a stranger. There was plenty of time for me to meet and familiarize myself with this Ethan Bruce, but no, they didn’t tell me. This was probably another part of their plan to make me miserable, like they always do.

I’m not a girl that dreams or imagine about a lot of things, but I’m pretty sure every girl has envisioned their wedding day. And I didn’t envision it to be a loveless, impromptu ceremony like my parents are turning it into. It hurt me to even think that I would be sold out like this, to a guy who doesn’t really know me, and has probably never met me before. I’ve always wanted my marriage to be with a person I love and who would love and cherish me equally. Not like this.

I hiccupped, cleaning my eyes and looking around my room. I got up from my bed and walked to the window, calculating the distance from my window to the ground.

My heart sank all over again as I realized trying to jump from the window will be too risky. Just because I didn’t want to marry a random guy did not mean that I was ready to die. But at the same time, I wasn’t going to let myself be a puppet who could be used just anyhow.

Moving away from the window, I walked to my drawer and took out the purse where I kept all my cash, then placed it in a place that was easily in my reach. I made up my mind. Once it was morning, I would leave this place. And I would be long gone before anyone even suspects it.

Alexa’s POV

I sat in front of the mirror in my room, fixing my hair into a neat, ceremonious style since no one else was there to do it for me.

 I shouldn’t still be in this house. I shouldn’t even have made it this far to the point of actually wearing the hideous wedding dress. But I’ve not been able to escape.

  There are people roaming around our house today. There’s a security guy standing outside my room and won’t budge no matter what excuse I give him.

 A sigh escaped my lips as I got up from the chair and checked my full length in the mirror. The dress was not what I had imagined it will be. It was a very far cry from my dream wedding dress. It was ill fitting. The hemline was too short and the bodice too tight. It was scratchy and itchy, and it felt cheap and flimsy. I felt like a child playing dress-up, rather than a bride on her wedding day. Worst of all, it wasn’t all flattering on me, and it