Chapter 2 Replacement Bride

Aria p.o.v Mom and I sat in the living room, trying to come up with glimpse of hope as we contacted everyone she knew. Her friends, colleagues at work, but no one had heard from her. I even tried reaching her through all her social media accounts, hoping to convince her to come back home. But no way, it’s as if she just disappeared from the face of the earth. Dad came home later that evening from work, looking frazzled and worried. He must have had a hard time trying to solve this. “Any news?” He asked, his eyes scanning the room as if hoping to see Sophia sitting there. He must have had his fair share of searching for her through his influence. But knowing it a hard tad to look for someone that doesn’t want to be seen, he must have exhausted all this means to look for her. She had left her phone and credit cards behind, making it a lot harder to track her. “Nothing.” Mom said shaking her head sadly, “We’ve tried calling all her friends but no one has heard from her.” “Some of them must have lied.” Dad conclude, rubbing his temples. I shrugged, considering his words to be true. For her to have successfully escaped, there must be someone helping her out. “This is a disaster.” Dad sighed, growing more frustrated. “Mr Vaughn is not going to be happy about this.” I felt a surge of fear at the mention of his name, I have heard rumors about him on the news, about his ruthless and cunning he was in business. What would he do when he finds out that Sophia had ran away from their wedding. “I have a solution.” Dad suddenly spoke, after some moments of silence where everyone was deep in thought. Eager, mom and I sat up immediately. “What?” Mom asked, it was easy to pick up the temporary relief in her voice. “Aria.” Dad said my name, his eyes pinned me to my seat. I felt my heart paused as I wait to hear what he wants to say. It was as if his eyes were passing a silent message to me, one I couldn’t comprehend. “Yes, dad.” I answered unsure. He paused for a while without saying anything, and so did my breath. His face twisted into a scowl, as if he had expected to understand what’s going on in his mind. “You’re going to replace Sophia.” He said simply. I heard not only my gasp, but mom’s as well. She must have been shock as I was, only that mine is slowly turning into anger. “What?” I yelled loudly. My chest rising and falling faster that the sound of speed, it was from both anger and shock. What the hell did he mean I have to replace her? Is this something joke? “You heard me right, you will replace your sister and that’s final.” Dad said in his end of discussion tone. But this is so not the end, I would have been the obedient girl I was and agree to his demands if this was a different situation. “Honey, we can’t do that to her, we have to find so other way.” Mom tried to convince dad, but he was adamant about his decision as he shook his head strongly. “No, not if we want to be beggars for the rest of our lives. Then that’s the only way.” Dad insisted. “No, I won’t. That’s crazy.” I exclaimed, I must have took dad by surprise as he stare at me. I have never gone against his decision my whole life, he has been a detector our whole life and have made decisions on our behalf. Some we like, others completely opposite of what we want. But not this time, he’s not going to choose who I should spend the rest of my life with. And definitely not someone like Vaughn Slade. Now I see the reason Sophia has to run away, she couldn’t say no to dad especially when Vaughn has making it clear that it’s her. She had no choice but to run away. “I’m not going to marry some stranger just to save a reputation that’s not even mine.” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “This is not about our reputation, if we don’t go through with this marriage. Vaughn Slade will ruin us and make sure we never recover from it.” Dad growl, he was sounding like I should be reasonable and understand whatever it is he’s trying to avoid. But he should be the one to wake up, this is the same that’s supposed to protect us as his daughters. Instead he’s offering us off to a man who other father has the balls to keep their daughters away from. “You can’t just sacrifice me to save our family, I refuse.” I felt the surge of anger at the thought of being blackmailed into marriage. “I’m are not sacrificing you, Aria. I’m trying to protect you and our family.” Dad stood up, his face red with anger. “Darling, I need you to calm down, I will talk to your dad about this.” Mom tried calming me down, whilst eyeing dad down. “There’s no need, I’ve made my decision and I will be informing Mr. Vaughn about the change of situation.” Dad said as he made to walk away. But my next words stop him in his tracks. “I have a Boyfriend.” I hurried out, desperate that would make him change his mind.