I stared at her, incredulous. “Marriage isn’t an apology.”
“It is to me,” she said desperately. “It means commitment. It means choosing to be better.”
My sister finally stood, stepping between us like a shield.
“That’s enough,” she said, her voice steady but furious. “All of you. This is insane.”
My mother rounded on her. “Stay out of this.”
“No,” my sister said. “I won’t. You’re ganging up on him, and it’s disgusting. He said no. Over and over. That should be the end of it.”
My father shifted again, still silent.
My sister turned to him. “Are you really okay with this? With forcing him into a marriage he clearly doesn’t want?”
He didn’t answer.
The room felt smaller by the second.
“Say something,” she demanded.
Still nothing.
“There’s no point in continuing this conversation,” I said. “Because I’m already married.”
11- Evania
I was happily munching away on my muffin when my sister gasped so loudly that the woman two tables over nearly dropped her coffee.
"You're joking," Elena said, hand flying to her chest. "You have to be joking."
I calmly licked the chocolate syrup off my thumb and shook my head. "I'm not."
The café buzzed softly around us - cups clinking, the low hum of conversation, the hiss of the espresso machine - but Elena might as well have been the only sound in the room. Her chair scraped loudly against the floor as she leaned closer, eyes wide, lips parted in disbelief.
"Eva," she whispered, as if she were afraid God Himself might overhear, "are you telling me you went on a date with a billionaire?"
I smiled into my muffin. “Yes,” I said simply.
"Are you sure? Did you see proof?"
"I made him show me his bank account, so I'm fairly certain."
She stared at me as though I’d just announced I’d won the lottery without buying a ticket. “You’re not joking.”
“No.”
“You’re not exaggerating.”
“No.”
“You’re not about to tell me this is some kind of metaphor.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do I look like someone who speaks in metaphors?”
Elena stared at me for a beat too long, then did something completely unexpected.
She clapped.
