From Broken Engagement To A Marriage That Saved Me

When I arrived home, laughter spilled out from the dining room when I pushed the door open.

I frowned and walked in, only to find Matt, Maya and Uncle Henry seated at a table full of our mutual friends. The table was decorated and everyone was dressed up in fancy clothes.

For a split second, I foolishly thought Matt had come back to his senses. I thought he must have found out I was coming home and he arranged this dinner for me, until he looked up.

“Oh… Jada, you’re here.”

“You sound disappointed,” I said, already cursing myself for being so delusional. “What’s going on here?”

Maya smiled then. “Oh, Dad and Mattie are just throwing me a dinner party since my birthday was ruined by the incident.” She pointed to her bandaged foot.

Uncle Henry cleared his throat. “Jada, I heard what happened on the yacht.”

“Oh you did? And nobody cared to look for me for more than a week? You left me out at sea to die and now you’re throwing a feast to celebrate?”

“Oh please, enough of the theatrics Jada,” Matt said. “You’re here, aren’t you? It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I almost died!” I screamed.

Maya rolled her eyes.

“What exactly happened?” One of our friends chimed in, eyes darting between me and Maya. “Why would you attack her like that?”

I blinked. “Attack her? You all think I pushed her foot into a rock?”

Maya dabbed delicately at the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Don’t be mad at them, Jada. I told everyone it wasn’t your fault. You’ve been under a lot of stress. I understand.”

My stomach twisted.

Matt set down his wine glass, eyes cold. “We all know you’ve been having… issues lately. Maya’s just trying to be gracious.”

“Gracious,” I repeated flatly.

“Maybe it’s best if you rest upstairs,” he said. “We’re trying to have a nice evening.”

“You can have some of the leftovers when we’re done… if you’re hungry.” Maya added.

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. They just watched me, silently judging. All the friends I introduced to Maya and Matt had turned on me. Nobody even cared about my side of the story.

I smiled faintly. “You’re right. I should get some rest.”

And then I turned and walked upstairs without another word.

My phone was on my bed when I entered my room and I picked it up to find missed calls from Asher. I dialed him back immediately.

He answered on the first ring. “Jada? Are you okay? I just got to the hospital and the nurse said you asked to be discharged.”

“Yes. I’m okay. They told me you stayed by my bed for days”

“Of course. I flew in the second I saw your face on the news.”

“You didn’t have to do that…”

“You almost drowned, Jada. I have no idea what exactly happened, but I can bet it had something to do with that Matt Bennett. You’re not safe with him. I’m coming over there to get you right now.”

I couldn’t stop the warmth from spreading in my chest. No one had cared about me like this in a long time. It felt like I was experiencing true love for the first time.

I closed my eyes. “I want nothing more than to leave too. But I can’t, not yet. There’s only three days until the wedding now. We just have to be patient.”

There was silence on his end before he asked in a soft voice, “are you sure?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Okay. Three more days and you’ll be mine.”

I called my lawyer the second Asher hung up.

“Miss Sinclair,” my lawyer answered groggily.

“I want you to draft eviction notices,” I said in a steady voice. “I want everyone out of my house in three days. And I want you to put a pause on the contracts that’ll bind Matt Bennett to my inheritance.

There was a pause. “Miss Sinclair, about that…”

I frowned. “What’s going on?”

“Matt Bennett has filed an appeal to the board to grant him full ownership and control of everything before the wedding. This was over a week ago. I’ve called countless times and sent a ton of emails but I couldn’t reach you.”

“What!? He can’t— he can’t do that right?”

“As it stands, you have more rights than he does right now because you’re not legally married yet. But don’t forget that your father officially betrothed you to him before he died. It’s public knowledge. Your father introduced him to everyone before he died. So if he’s able to prove that you’re mentally unfit, he might get the board to agree to his proposal.”

“What do you mean mentally unfit?”

“That was the basis of his appeal. And you know how these things work, Miss Sinclair. The board will only do things in the interest of the company, they don’t care about being loyal to you. So if they think Matt is a better fit for the job, they’ll give it to him.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It all felt like one big cruel joke.

“What do I do?”

My lawyer sighed. “You call a meeting tomorrow and fight like hell.”