Waking Up with a Ring on My Finger and a Bad Boy at My Side [13]

I came up with a plan beforehand. I'll just say nice things to him first, just...compliments him and remind him of the 'good old days'...err, before slowly breaking the news to him. As painless as possible. The first thing I need to do was get ready for dinner.

No matter how tired I was.

I fumbled with the lock and pushed the door open when I finally got it open. The room wasn't dark as it usually was, to my utter surprise. It was brightly lit and Brandon was hidden behind the fridge's door. "You're back early," I said meekly.

He didn't even uttered a word as he closed the fridge's door with a bottle of red wine. "B?" I urged on. It was gut-wrenching when he looked up to me with such...glare. I thought he was teasing at first but something was wrong.

"So, apart from this fantastic wine you got us, what else have you 'forgotten' to tell me?" he said and the words formed into an arrow that pierced my heart. I started to curse internally. He knew, oh god he knew.

I had to hold the edge of the counter top to steady myself.

"I can't believe you," he spat angrily before I could even defend myself. He poured himself a glass of wine before hastily drinking it. "Brandon I didn't mean to. I was planning to tel--"

"You fucking lied to me, Samantha," he hissed, pouring himself another. "You're going to pull out of Evelyn's wedding planning? Now? Really?" he added, almost a bit sarcastically. And something inside me clicked.

"So?! You broke off a contract once too with that...that merger of yours and you had to pay too! Because of what? You hated to work with them! You can't stand them! This is the exact same thing, Brandon!" I said after gathering all of my courage.

"It's the same thing," I repeated. "I hate working with Evelyn and it's not fair how she just butts in. You know that. You didn't like it either."

He inhaled deeply before replying, "And look where Compton Industries were after that," he said. "Even if we managed to save the whole company we nearly didn't succeed. If it were not for the investors, the company would crumble down. Who the hell are yours, huh Sam?"

"God, to think that things are looking way brighter for CI," he said through gritted teeth as I continued nibbling on my tongue anxiously. "That's why it's so hard for me to tell you. Like you said, things are looking brighter for you guys and I don't think you can just give me 900k," I muttered as calmly as I could, but my voice shook uncontrollably along with my entire body.

"Fine then judging by where this conversation is going at, where the hell are you going to get 900k?!" he yelled. "You don't have that kind of money you know that! With the wedding and the company and now YOUR problem, we might as well be broke. Do you like that Sam? Being homeless?!"

Oh god I've never loathed myself as much as I did now.

"I just don't want a wedding arranged by Evelyn, why is that so wrong?!" I screamed.

"I do not care!" he spat, and those four words were enough to make the tears spill over- but I brushed it away almost violently. "The only difference between the past and now is that we read the contract but we made the wrong judgment. YOU made the wrong judgment and still didn't read the contract. Your loss."

"And to think that I found this out through the woman I loathe so much," he said, laughing sarcastically. "I was going to tell you!" I screamed. "Why won't you believe me? I was!"

"It doesn't matter now," he said briskly...like the tone he always used when he was facing an annoying business competitor or something of that sorts. And then I saw it. The look on his face that screamed, "Fuck I hate this wedding. I wish I've never proposed."

"You're saying you're going to figure this out on your own?" he said sarcastically, folding his arms. I didn't answer because I didn't really knew what to say. I couldn't come up with 900k in less than a month.

Dammit I hated money so much. A couple of digits can make me squirm like there was no tomorrow.

But that was just it. It was not just a couple of digits.

"Oh god, Samantha, how could you be so stupid?" he said as a matter-of-factly. "I'll just cut back on my expenses," I said out of impulse. I didn't know what to say, and I was scared to death if I didn't say anything he'll might explode.

"I'll do whatever it takes I just...I just don't want..."

This wedding.

My bottom lip trembled. I didn't want this wedding. I hated every minute I spent on planning it with Evelyn who just won't listen to me. I didn't want to spend all of my money on it, I didn't want to spend all of my energy on it either.

I didn't want this wedding. All I wanted was to be with Brandon who was currently barking out a set of lecture to me as we speak. "I can find the money," I repeated more steadily. He looked at me doubtfully. "No you can't," he finally said.

And I knew that was true. Unless I could find either of us could find a way to work with 100 arms at once or be at 600 places at the same time, we couldn't. When Compton Industries almost went down it took a very long time for it to rise back to its' former glory. Even if we combined our salaries together, we wouldn't make it. Not with all of the rents, bills and other expenses.

"What do you want me to do?!" I finally yelled back, a sob escaped my lips. "Brandon this past few days I've been working my ass off to meet the 900k goal and I still couldn't!" I said. "I just...I just can't do this anymore..."

It was exhausting, I silently thought. This entire thing was exhausting.

"Okay then," he answered after a few minutes. He was breathing heavily, trying to calm himself down. "Fine," he repeated. "I don't want you solving any of my problems anymore," I said. He nodded grimly. "I don't want that either, trust me. It's so...so exhausting."

I swallowed hard as he said, "You lied to me. Of all people. You've disappointed me, Samantha. You really have."

"I'm sorry," I said, but he shook his head and walked to his study room before slamming it shut. Shivering, I sat on the stool and cupped my face with my hands. That was when I felt something hard and cold on my cheeks.

I lifted my hand and stared at the ring before slowly taking it off. My hand suddenly felt weird without it. Then I wrote a short note:

"Don't you worry. The signature is mine, if we broke off the wedding I still have to pay. Not you. Me. I'll find a way. You'll see."

At the bottom, I wrote "I love you, Samantha" but then I scribbled the first three words out so the only thing that's left was Samantha.

I wasn't going to depend on anybody this time.

I got up and left the building.