Chapter 252 - Side - Luke And Alora Part 3

"Father, you know that I have already set a goal for myself. Marriage is far from what I want." Confused, I looked at the two old men in front of me. Why is Mr.Smith here? Is he the one who convinced father about marriage? His 2 sons got married early and were engaged before college. But why me?

"Luke, before you decline, can you hear me first? You can decide after." Mr. Smith used the same tone as my father. This two powerful people in front of me looks very serious and anyone can be dumbfounded in front them. I nodded and waited for his explanation.

"Luke, I want you to marry my daughter, Alora. I know you knew her. Alora is getting out of hand. I need someone that can make her a proper lady and behave herself. Right now, she's on her rebel stage and I'm afraid that she's getting far away from us. Her mom can't reach her. If you look into her eyes, she's not my precious baby girl from before. She's like a different person. I know it should be us, parents, who solve this problem but she totally closed her heart to anyone." I stared at Mr. Smith while he talks about his daughter.

Alora Smith, the Ice Princess. When we were in kindergarten, she's always so cheerful and happy. She was always surrounded with people. She's a math genius and was accelerated twice. She was always glowing and the first time I saw her, I thought I saw an angel. We were very close when we were young but she suddenly changed after that incident.

When we entered high school, I saw her driving the latest mustang and she was wearing a black leather jeans tucked in a black boots. She mixed it with a black crop top revealing her pierced navel. She just applied a light eye shadow but she's wearing a black lipstick. For me, she looks like a black angel. When I tried to approach her, I looked into her eyes and I see nothing. There's no light or sparkle in her silver eyes. I was left speechless and I felt sad. The girl from my childhood, she's gone.

Time flies, Alora and I sometimes will bump into each other and will always end up in an argument. I always feel sad everytime I see her. She seems very far and like Mr. Smith said, no one can reach her. The Alora from my childhood is somehow trapped somewhere in the dark. In my mind, I wanted to meet that child again. Is this my chance? Will I be able to meet her again? Will Alora let me into her heart?

"Luke, I know this favor is not easy. You will be married to the person you may not be able to love. But I will be indebted to you for the rest of my life. Alora is the next heiress of the Hoseki Empire, her brothers and sister already gave up the position and decided to give it to her. They also knew about this. We all talked about this and everyone agreed that you are the only person that can help her. After your engagement, your father and I will sign an agreement that you will have full authority in Hoseki once you marry Alora." Mr. Smith exclaimed.

I don't know why the Smith family thinks that I am the best person to do the job. Yes, it seems to me that this marriage thing is more like a job than a husband position. I am also doubting myself if I can change her. What if after all of this, Alora didn't change. What will happen to us? We will both be miserable for the rest of our lives.

I think I'm going crazy. Am I really considering doing this?

The two old men stared at me waiting for my final say. "Sir, I will do what you asked. But please know that I didn't agree because I wanted to have Hoseki in my hands. I want to help you and your family. Alora is my friend when we were kids, I think it's not that bad to be his husband." I tried to make the last sentence as a joke but in my mind, I don't really know what I'm doing. I think no man can resist Mr. Smith's offer. Afterall, Hoseki is one of the biggest company in the country. But for me, I want something that is not easily given to me. I want to work for it myself.

Mr. Smith and my father exchanged glances and smiled. I can see that they are happy with my decision.

"Luke, this is wonderful. We will celebrate your engagement tomorrow night." Mr. Smith said it with a smile and excitement. I stood up and prepared myself to leave when I remembered something.

"Sir, where is the nearest Hoseki store to our school?" I asked. Mr. Smith frowned and smiled again after realizing something.

"You don't need to buy it, I can ask my secretary to prepare one for you." he said.

I shook my head. "No sir. I want to pick a ring for her myself. And I will pay for it. I want to give her the best engagement ring suited for her." I really am losing my sanity. Why do I have to act like a cool guy in front of my soon to be father in law.

"Son, again thank you. I know Alora is in good hands. Take care of her from now on. She's very precious to us." Mr. Smith sounded sad for giving her daughter to me. I can see that he loves Alora very much.

"I will sir." I don't know if my answer sounded assuring but both men nodded and looked satisfied.

What am I thinking? I suddenly agreed to Alora's father to marry her. Yes, we're close but that was a long time ago. Right now, I barely know her. I don't even know if she actually remember that we used to play at some villa. She doesn't even look at me now. I'm deep in thought when my driver, Ken, speaks. "We're here sir."

I didn't notice that we're already in school. I grabbed my things and felt my heart pounding when I walked out of the car. Am I nervous? Why will I feel nervous about this? Almost all the girls in school wanted to be my girlfriend but we're talking about Alora. She's called the Ice Princess because she's known for rejecting boys who's trying to confess to her. Am I different to the others?

Someone tapped my shoulder and when I looked back, it was Percy. "Hey man, I called you 3 times but you just passed by in front of us. What are you thinking? Is it a girl?" Percy laughed and I saw his girlfriend runs towards him. Percy is my best friend and her girlfriend Sophie is a childhood friend. I already decided that I will tell them what happened earlier and that I need to talk to Alora about it today.

"Percy, Sophie, I need to tell you something. Let's go beside that oak tree." The two looked at each other as they followed me. "What is it, Luke? You look so serious." Sophie asked.

"I'm going to get married after college." I blurted it out loud and everyone near us heard it. I looked around. They pretended not to hear it but I know all ears are already on us. I scratched my head and realized that being popular is difficult. "What? You're not joking, right? But you don't have a girlfriend. Or are you in a secret relationship with someone? Who's the girl? Do we know her? Don't tell me its Cassandra, I will not talk to you again if its her." Sophie questioned me non-stop. Percy was shocked and can't say a single word.

"Sophie, let me explain first. Its not Cassandra, you know I don't like her because of what she did to you." Cassandra is one of the girls that hang around with us. Everyone knows that she likes me. She's openly saying it out loud to everyone that she wants me to be his boyfriend. I let her hang out with us because she's kind to everyone but in the end all of it was fake. She wanted to get close to me so she befriended all the people around me especially Sophie.

"So who is it? Who's the lucky girl?" Percy finally spoke.

"Alora Smith." Both of them was shocked and was not able to utter a word so I continued. "Its an arranged marriage between his family and mine. Her father talked to me about it earlier. He made an agreement with my father. He said Alora will be the heiress of the Hoseki and once we're married, I will have full authority of all their wealth."

Sophie was even more shocked from what she's hearing. She frowned and I can see that she's annoyed from what I told them. Sophie is a hopeless romantic and she believes in love. "Luke, I don't like the idea of you and Alora getting married because of an agreement. Looking at your face, I know you already agreed to it."

"Yes, I already agreed to marry her but that's not the reason, you both know that. I can't give you all the details because its still a secret between our families.. I will tell you once the engagement is over".