Married By My Father's Debt

"I can't do this, Dad. My world has crumbled, and you're not even here to help me pick up the pieces."

I whispered those words to a study three nights ago and I am still waiting for an answer that I know I will never get.

The lawyers office smells like paper and lemon polish and I already do not like it. I sit stiffly in the leather chair across from the mahogany desk, my hands folded tightly in my lap. My knuckles have turned white. Beside me Amelia sniffles quietly into a tissue. She is seventeen years old. Her shoulders are shaking with grief. I want to be strong for both of us. I feel like I am made of glass and might shatter into a thousand pieces on this expensive rug.

My father has been gone for eleven days. Eleven days since the phone call that changed everything. Eleven days since my world tilted on its axis. Refused to write itself again. I remember the sound of the nurse's voice on the other end of the line. She was careful. Rehearsed. I could tell she had delivered this kind of news before. I remember dropping the phone. I remember Amelia's scream from the room when she realized what had happened.

Eleven days have passed. I still reach for my phone some mornings. I half expected a text from my father about some company matters. I expect a reminder to eat something other than coffee for breakfast. I am learning that grief does not announce itself politely. It simply waits in the space where a person used to be and ambushes you when you forget to brace for it.

"Ms. Williams, " the lawyer says gently. He adjusts his glasses. His name is Mr. Griggs. He has known my father for over twenty years. There is sympathy in his eyes but there is also something else. Something careful. It makes my stomach twist with dread before he even opens the folder in front of him. "I know this is a difficult time. I would not be doing this today if it were not necessary."

"Just tell us Mr. Griggs " I say. My voice comes out steadier than I feel. I have learned how to sound steady when my insides are screaming. "Please."

He opens the folder. I watch his eyes scan the page. I see the way his jaw tightens imperceptibly. I know that whatever comes next is going to hurt.

"Your father as you know was the owner of Williams Textiles " Mr. Griggs begins. "A company he built from nothing over thirty years. He employed over four hundred people. When he passed away. Ownership transfers to Freya as his daughter. A trust has been established for Amelia until she comes of age."

"Okay " I say slowly. "That much we knew."

"There is, however, a complication " Mr. Griggs says. He pulls a document from the folder. The paper is older and slightly yellowed at the edges. It looks like it has been folded and unfolded over the years. "Eight years ago your father entered into an agreement. It was a business arrangement with a powerful family. The Ethans."

I blink. The name means nothing to me. However the way Mr. Griggs says it. With a kind of reverence. Makes the hair on my arms stand up.

"I do not understand, " I say. "What kind of business arrangement?"

Mr. Griggs hesitates. For the time since we walked in he looked almost afraid. That frightens me more than anything has today.

"Your father owed His Majesty Ethan Arthur a sum of money " he says. "A loan that saved the company from bankruptcy during a period. In exchange for that loan and to seal what your father believed would be an alliance between the two families he agreed to a marriage contract."

The room goes still. I can hear the ticking of a clock somewhere behind me. Each second stretches long.

"A marriage contract " I repeat. The words feel foreign in my mouth. They are like a language I do not speak.

"Between you Freya Williams and Freddie Ethan, the King's son " Mr. Griggs says.

Amelia takes a breath. It is the sound in the room for several long seconds. I sit frozen staring at the lawyer as though he has just spoken in tongues. I think that if I stay still enough this moment might simply reverse itself and become something

"That is not possible " I finally say. "I have never even met this person. I have never heard his name before today. My father would never-"

"Your father signed this document with legal counsel present, " Mr. Griggs says quietly. He slides the paper across the desk toward me. "It is binding. Should you refuse to honor it, the loan. Which was never repaid, Freya, not an installment. Becomes due in full immediately. Four hundred people would lose their jobs. The company your father spent his life building would be liquidated within the month to cover the debt."

My hands are shaking now as I pick up the document. My fathers signature sits at the bottom of the page. It is the signature I have seen on my birthday cards and my school permission slips my whole life. However here it is, condemning me to a future I never agreed to.

"He never told me, " I whisper. "Eight years. He never once told me."

"I believe, " Mr. Griggs says carefully, "that your father hoped he would find a way to repay the debt before it ever came to this. I do not think he ever intended for you to actually have to go through with the marriage.. Time ran out on him, Freya.. Now the choice is yours."

Amelia reaches over. Grabs my hand. She holds it tightly and it almost hurts. "Freya, " she whispers. "What are we going to do?"

I look at my sister's tear-streaked face. I see the fear in her eyes. I feel something inside me harden into resolve even as my heart cracks down the middle. She is looking at me the way she has looked at me since she was like I have answers. I am supposed to know how the world works. I have never felt less certain of that in my life.

"We are going to figure it out, " I say. "I promise you, Amelia. Whatever happens I will protect you and this company. I will not let Dads legacy die because of some contract he signed to save us."

However, even as I say the words, a cold weight settles in my chest. There is no version of this where I come out unscathed.. I will marry a stranger. A man from a family so powerful they are practically royalty. Or I watch everything my father built crumble into dust. Four hundred families would lose their livelihoods because of it. There is no door in this room that leads somewhere painless.

"Is there a timeline?" I ask. I force my voice to remain even though my pulse is hammering so loudly I am surprised no one else can hear it.

Mr. Griggs nods grimly. "The King has requested a meeting within the month. He wishes to discuss the terms moving forward. I would advise you to prepare yourself Freya. His Majesty Ethan Arthur is not a man accustomed to being told no."

We leave the office in silence. Amelia cries on the drive home. I let her because someone in the car needs to fall. It clearly is not going to be me. Not not when there is still so much to hold together. I keep both hands tight on the steering wheel. My eyes are fixed on the road. I do not let a tear fall until we are safely parked in our own driveway. The engine is off. The house is dark and waiting in front of us like it is holding its breath too.

That night after Amelia finally cries herself to sleep I sit alone in my fathers study. I am surrounded by the ghost of him. His reading glasses are still on the desk. His handwriting is still tucked into notes, inside books. The faint smell of his cologne still clings to the leather armchair by the window. The room has not changed since the night he was rushed to the hospital. I have not been able to bring myself to move a thing. I think that keeping his coffee mug where he left it might somehow keep a piece of him here with us.

I hold the marriage contract in my hands. I read it over and over as if the words might rearrange themselves into something terrifying if I just look hard enough. The paper is thick and formal. It is stamped with a seal I do not recognize. An emblem of some kind. It is a crest that looks like it belongs in a history book rather than a family's private legal correspondence.

Freddie Ethan.

I do not know his face. I do not know his voice. I know nothing except that he's the reason my entire future has been changed without my permission and that makes me really angry. I think he lives in a palace, maybe not even caring. Maybe he has always known about this agreement his whole life, some rich kid who's just been waiting for the papers to be ready for him to take over.

I think about leaving. For a moment I imagine packing a bag taking Amelia and going somewhere the Ethans can't find us. Some town, a new name, just the two of us.. Then I think of the 400 people who work at Williams Textiles. People who worked for my dad for years, people with their own families, people who sent flowers to his funeral and told me how much he meant to them. I think of Martha in accounting who's worked there longer than I've been alive. I think of Old Tomás in the warehouse who taught me to ride a bike in the parking lot when I was little because my dad was too busy.

I can't leave. I have never been someone who runs away.

I put the contract back in the drawer where my dad kept it hidden for 8 years. Whatever happens next I will deal with it like I deal with everything. On, standing up straight not letting anyone see how scared I really am. That's the one thing my dad gave me that I trust: being stubborn like him.

Outside the city is buzzing with its energy but I feel a quiet sadness inside. I press my hand against the glass of the window and stare out at the lights wondering what kind of man could make a King do what he wants and make my dad promise something in desperation. I wonder if he's looking out some palace window now worried about the same meeting or if he's just sleeping, feeling safe because he's never had to try hard for anything.

I have no idea that I've already met him. That his smile is already stuck in my memory from a few days ago in a small café where I went to get away from my dads empty house.

I have no idea that the stranger I don't like and the person I'm scared of are going to be the man. And that in 3 days when I go to meet the man my dad promised me to, I will look up and see a familiar pair of warm brown eyes and feel my whole world fall apart again.