Marrying Into the Family of My Fiancé's Killer

"Marry me?"

"Well..."

That was where my late fiancé took his part.

He was my father's right hand man―his assistant, consultant, his source of second opinions, and his bridge between him and his toughest clients―trustworthy enough to my father that he gave him full control of the company on his behalf whenever the man was away, and later, the hand of the boss’ daughter right after he won the heart of the princess herself.

It was his work etiquette, his gentleness, his brilliant mind that was equal to his golden heart, that had made me fallen completely in love with him. And it was already decided by the both of us and by my family, that my supposed-to-be future husband would take the responsibility of taking over my father’s company once we were officially married. But now everything must change.

Silence came between both Noah and me right after I unfolded all the facts.

The decision of assigning my late fiancé as a successor was already a piece of common knowledge within the business community, although they had passed by through rumors and whispers between the high ranked society, only because there were a lot of people that had their eyes on my father’s business. So the news didn’t cause Noah to flinch or have him surprised at the stated facts. Noah had the chance to meet the man himself a few times before when he tried to make some business deals or special arrangements with my father, and my late fiancé was sent to see him on my father’s behalf.

A few minutes dragged on, and just when my mind and attention were drifting back at the memory of the man who left me without goodbye while still carrying a large piece of my heart with him, Noah cleared his throat and started to speak up.

“Alice,” he called me, faltering a few seconds and licking his lips to wipe away his hesitations just as I turned to face him, “I know this might not be the best of times to talk about this. But I know pretty soon everyone will start pestering you about your future plans now that you are without your fiance, just the same way they did to me a while back.”

He finally had my full attention this time, and I turned my body to face him as I waited for him to continue. “What is it?”

He turned to face me, studying my face with his lip formed in a tight line before he spoke. “I have a proposition,” he said. “I know you might hate me for bringing this up now, but you need to listen to every word I say. Alright?”

All I could do was to nod my head and answered him with, “Of course.” I felt like nothing could surprise me even more than the situation I had been facing for the whole year. I have never been so wrong.

“Marry me,” he said suddenly, completely catching me off guard.

“What?” I almost laughed at his sudden proposal, thinking that he was throwing me a sick joke if not for the serious look in his eyes.

“I am offering you a hand in marriage.”

I let out a scoff while keeping my eyes on him, trying to find any clue that might tell me what he actually meant. Only to find that he was completely serious about his words. “I don’t understand.”

“Alice, listen, your father’s company has been facing its downfall for the last three years. The only reason your father hasn’t sold the failing company away to the highest bidder is only because of the magical hands and mind of your late fiancé, and thanks to him it is now still standing strong. But you and I both know, that now after he is gone, things won’t stay that way for so long. Not when the threats against the business are still shadowing the company. You know what my family’s company had gone through, how close it was to falling after what happened four years ago, especially when that chaos was so close to affecting your father’s business on its way down as well, and I have been the one to save my family from being poor and lost in bankruptcy.”

“If I take your hand in marriage, I can take over the role that your late-fiancé had left behind and do the same to your father’s company as I did to SLV Holdings. I won’t merge them together. You and your father will still have the complete control and power of the company, but I will have the perfect reason as to why I should involve myself in your father’s business.”

I had been gnawing my lips as I let his words sink into my thoughts, as I took my time to consider his offer. All that he spoke of about the downfall of my father’s business was true. There were times when his family’s business had struggled to keep its place in the spotlight, the high ranking of all top companies in the country, and there were times when Hart Technologies―my father’s company―shared the spotlight with them, and also the struggle. Yet while SLV Holdings was able to fight its way back up, my father and his company kept failing to claim back its throne.

“So, are you saying that you are proposing me a fake marriage in order to save my father’s company and my family’s wealth?”

“No, that’s not how it is. I’m not fond of fake things and acting out in lies,” he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head softly. “I am offering you an actual marriage, under a written contract. So everything that will happen after will be under a mutual agreement. Just look at it as a business proposal in the form of marriage.”

I couldn’t lie to myself―or to anyone, for that matter―that if anyone should understand what was going through my mind. A part of me was seething at the thought of marrying a completely different man when I just buried the man I loved, but there was another part of me that understood that this proposal might help solve a lot of problems that I would be having, now that I have lost the man that held the future of my family’s wealth―and mine, personally―in his hands just before he passed away.

“You will have the power over my family’s wellbeing.”

“No, I will not,” he shook his head once more. “You will have the complete power over them. They are all yours to keep. All I have to do is to save it from being buried under the ground.”

“Then, why? Why are you offering me this? What would you gain?”

He released a sigh while turning away to face away and forward. “You know what my older brother did in the past. His actions brought nothing but shame to our family and almost cost us everything we had. But even when we managed to keep our company and our wealth from being dragged down with him, we still lost our pride and our good reputation in the business society. Even when I had managed to save the company and managed to expand them to gain more over the last few years, my grandfather―who had to take over everything with his own two hands before I jumped into it myself―has lost his trust in me and my family, only because my older brother and I came from the same bloodline.”

He stopped again when his words were straining with anger and disappointment. One deep inhale of breath wiped them away in a moment, letting his calm take over him again. “If I have you by my side, I can show my grandfather a form of commitment, and I can show the society a form of stability. Having my name attached to your father’s business will be the perfect offering for another business expansion, and he doesn’t have to know that all I am entitled to in it is my name and not the complete power over it. And since you are not a complete stranger, I know my family will approve of it, and I know I will be able to keep things from being― well, messy. I like to do things neat, if you know what I mean.”

And then it dawned on me, of what the main purpose of his proposal actually was. “You need me to claim your place and your title in your family’s business.”

“In a way, it is one of the main purposes. But it will be a win-win situation. We can both gain something from it. We can both save our families from a huge downfall.” He turned to face me one more time, lifting his chin confidently and giving me a reassuring smile as he stared into my eyes. “What do you think? I can make the contract of agreement ready the moment you agree to join me in this.”

I pondered over the offer. I already imagined the dark future ahead, the fact that I finally had to let go of my passion to continue the works of my late fiance and my father’s. I already dreaded everything. Beneath the sadness and the pain of losing the man I love, I also felt the pain of letting go of my freedom.

I took my time to study the situation, to study the man and the proposal he just gave me. Our family has known each other for so long, and so have the two of us. But even so, it had been years since we parted ways, and I had only known or heard about him through the news and rumors I had been hearing throughout the years of being apart.

I might have known who Noah was during my school years, but I couldn’t really say that I could trust the Noah who was now standing right in front of me.

“I need time,” I answered him finally, after searching for the answer in my mind―and heart―for a while and find nothing to give him. Not yet. “I just buried the man that was supposed to marry me, Noah. The love of my life. And the soil is still wet and fresh. I don’t know if I can give you a solid answer now when my mind is still filled with him and the pain of losing him. Any answer I give you today will be far from logical, and it will end up nothing further than a complete mess. Give me enough time to grieve, and I will give you an answer then.”

He only sighed, but from the way he smiled and nodded his head, I knew that he could already guess what my answers would be. He said nothing about it, only taking my hand in his―the one which still had the engagement ring circling one of its fingers―and left a soft kiss on its skin. “I understand,” he said, just before his lips touched the back of my hand. “I will give you the time you need.”

He let go of my hand gently while straightening his body. “I do look forward to our future together. I promise to never let you regret anything.”