Chapter 2: A promise

“No!” Derek shouted, unable to stop himself. He looked at Evelyn with contempt. “What about me? I am the husband! Why will you introduce another son-in-law when I’m still married to your granddaughter?”

He couldn’t believe what was happening. He had stooped so low for over a year mainly because he wanted Evelyn to accept him fully. How could she be planning something so huge and he didn’t know about it? And the fact that Amelia knew about it but didn’t tell him anything was upsetting.

Evelyn sneered. “You aren’t the husband, Derek. You are just a loser. If the old lord of this family insisted that we follow the marriage contract, a man like you would not even be a part of this family. Not in this life or the other!”

“Why?” Derek felt even angrier. “Am I not a human being? And I love and care for her so much. What else does a woman want?”

Ann, Amelia’s mother moved closer to Derek and hit him across the face. “How dare you speak to grandmother like that?” She yelled at him.

Every attention turned toward Derek again.

“Like I said earlier, the old lord decided that this marriage should proceed and now that he’s dead, it has to be terminated. And I’m not asking for your opinion. It has already been decided,” Evelyn muttered.

Ann smiled, pleased. She actually knew the man that was soon going to be Amelia’s husband. Zayn was from a respectable home. He was the only son of one of the billionaire men in the city of Orange-park and being an in-law to someone like that would help their family so much.

Derek clenched his teeth in anger.

Amelia stepped forward suddenly. “Grandma! Why must you get involved with my marriage? I already told you that I don’t want to marry anyone else. Why don’t you understand?”

Evelyn sent Amelia a dirty stare. “What did you just say? This is all about the company. Why will I meddle in if it wasn’t going to benefit the company?” She was angry now. “Zayn would help us with our family business. So, you must obey my order!”

Ann turned to Evelyn. “I’m so sorry, Grandma. Don’t mind Amelia, everything will be alright. She will surely listen to you," she assured.

Amelia turned to look at her mother with anger in her eyes. She expected her mother to side with her but she was disappointed that she was doing the opposite. Derek didn’t even know what to say. He was too shocked to say a word.

Zayn that has been watching as the drama unfolded took a step forward, with an annoying smile on his face. “My family is ranked among the top 10 richest families in this city. Having me will greatly help you. And I can help you with anything. But I won’t force anyone, I am a man of integrity,” he finished and everyone clapped for his gentleness.

“Zayn is the best one to help us,” One of the ladies in the room muttered to each other.

“Amelia is my wife and I’m not divorcing her!” Derek stated in annoyance.

“Not anymore, Derek. My mother has decided already and there is nothing you can do about it,” Sam, Amelia’s uncle voiced out suddenly. He was the first son of Evelyn.

“I’m not marrying him and that’s it!” Amelia stated stubbornly.

Zayn looked at Amelia for a moment before he moved even nearer to her. He stopped when they were so close, only a hairbreadth away. Zayn moved his mouth to her ear, “Are you still going to reject me after discovering the position I hold in this city?” His voice was deep and maybe a bit frightening. “Actually, I will do everything that I can to destroy your family business. Maybe by then, your grandma will send you to my bed. I’m sure it’s not going to take more than a month for her to come to that conclusion,” he chuckled. “I actually doubt if it would be up to that.”

Actually, Derek heard him loud and clear. Maybe it was because he was near or maybe Zayn intentionally spoke so loud that Derek would hear, that he didn’t know but Derek desperately wanted to stop him. He had to but he didn't even know how he was supposed to do that. He was frustrated and fed up.

Amelia felt furious at Zayn's sudden change of behavior. Wasn’t he the one that displayed an act of gentleness a few minutes ago? Actually, it only turned out to be a facade. Zayn was the worst of all. She couldn't talk, she didn't even know what to say to him.

Zayn backed away slowly, a sly smile on his face. He looked at Derek with a sneer before he turned around and left without a word to Evelyn.

Evelyn sighed. She knew that Zayn was angry already and they had to pacify him. For this reason, she was angrier at Amelia and Derek.

She looked at Amelia. "You want to be stubborn, right? You don't want to marry Zayn?" Her voice was sharp and loud. "Then you must prove it by saving the family business!" She expressed. "You must get an order worth ten million dollars within this week!" She announced.

Amelia's heart skipped a thousand beats as she looked at her grandmother for more explanation.

Evelyn scoffed. "It looks like you didn't even know the estimate. You don't seem to understand how much we need to resurrect the company!" She expressed, her eyes still on Amelia. "If you want to save this company, you must do so this week," she looked away. "Find an order worth over ten million dollars this week, then we can talk or else," she hesitated and looked at Amelia again. "_you will marry Zayn!" She announced.

Amelia wanted to speak but she was too shocked to do so. It looked as though a lump was suddenly blocking her throat. She knew that her grandmother was exaggerating things. She wanted to make sure that she ends up marrying Zayn. But maybe that would eventually happen because Amelia had no idea how she would find an order worth ten million in a week. It was just impossible.

Derek felt so depressed, if that thing didn't happen, a 10-million-dollars contract was just a piece of cake for him, but now...

"Ting!" At this time, Derek's phone rang. He took out the phone and he was shocked, it was a message from the bank.

"You have received a transfer with 10,000,000 dollars. The balance of your bank account is 10,000,012.66 dollars."

What!

"We will do it!" Derek said suddenly, just as Amelia opened her mouth to say something.

Evelyn looked at Derek with raised brows. "What?"

"We will do it!" Derek repeated. "We promise!"