y bag and turned to leave. Upon reaching t

be telling anyone about this little development, will we?" There was a th

t of the conversation still pressed heavily on my chest, suffocating me with its implications. My heart hammered in my chest as I hurried to the elevator, tex

ought bitterly, the words echoin

the storm inside me. The realization that my father had just forced me into an arranged marriage with a man I didn't e

Google the name of my soon-to-be husband. The search results were almost immediate. Millions of articles, interviews, and photos filled the screen. It wa

with New Girlfriend-Again." As I scrolled down, my eyes narrowed at the photographs-there he was, smiling with a different woman in each one.

y in the world? I thought sarcastically. My

take me. I couldn't believe it-this was my future? My entire life was being dictated by a man I had

g my surroundings, my mind too consumed with everything that had happened. I threw my bag onto the c

was being forced into a life I didn't want. For the first time, I truly felt trapped. The w

lled my life in many ways, but this? This was something else entirel

this define me. I had to do something-anything-to get my mind off this

orget about

ly, where I had been living it up in Milan-but now I needed them more than ever. I needed to distract myself from this arranged mar

o ignore the heavy thoughts threatening to overtake me. I stood in front of the mirror, finishing my makeup with a simple, yet sexy nude lipstick. I had learned the hard way that no guy wants

ni dress with long sleeves, featuring cutouts at the shoulders, felt like the right choice-sexy, but not too

ad to catch myself on the couch to avoid falling. Beth and I had been friends since kindergarten. We'd stuck together through thick and thin, all through

squealed, pulling me into a

ied, returning her hug and trying to ign

en she moved from California. From the moment we met, we'd hit it off and became inseparable. She was about my height, with short

to the closest nightclub. On the way over, the conversation turned to the things I'd missed while I was away-mainly the hot Italian guys I had encountered in Milan. But I kep

ng their energy help me push the memories of my fathe