The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

denying our relationship status.
“We need to talk,” she says, her voice soft.
I lean back in my seat and sigh. What fucking now? I get that the pressure is high for both of us,
but I’m exhausted. I’m tired of constantly fighting with her. I just want to go back to a time when we
were still happy together, when we were looking forward to our future together.
“What would you like to talk about?” I ask, my voice calm.
“Ares,” she says, her voice breaking. “I can’t do this. I… I can’t marry you.”
I put my elbows on my desk and bury my hands in my hair as I let my eyes fall closed. “Our
wedding is next week, Hannah. You’ve postponed it three times now.”
“Ares, I’m serious. The more I think about it, the more it torments me. Because of your family’s
rules, we can’t spend more than three consecutive days apart for the entire first three years of our
marriage, but how is that supposed to work? You can’t take time off from work to accompany me
when I’m filming, and I can’t take three years off. How many years do I really have left in my prime?
I’m at the height of my career, and I can’t walk away from that now. Maybe the time will be right for
us someday, but we both know it isn’t now.”
I look at her and take in the pain in her eyes. She really is serious this time, isn’t she? “Hannah,” I
say, my voice soft. “I hear you, honey. I do. But this marriage between us? It isn’t just a marriage
between you and me. It’s also one between our families, our companies. We’re lucky that we fell in
love with each other, but ultimately, this is an arranged marriage. It’s not something either of us can
walk away from.”
She shakes her head. “I know. I’m not saying I won’t marry you at all. I’m just saying not now.
Someday, we’ll be in a stage of our lives where we want children, and I’ll want to take it easier in
my career… but that time isn’t now, Ares. Marriage isn’t something we should mess around with. If
we get married now, I don’t think our relationship could survive the strain. I definitely don’t think my
career could withstand it.”
I fall silent as her words ring through my ears. Yeah, perhaps she’s right, but it’s too late now.
“Han,” I say, my tone gentle. “I know you’re worried, and I get that the stress is getting to you, but
we’re going to be okay. We don’t have the luxury of walking away from this.”
She rises to her feet and shakes her head. Hannah stares at me, her gaze lingering and filled with
regret. “I’m sorry, Ares,” she says.
She takes her engagement ring out of her pocket and places it on my desk, staring at it for a
moment before she pushes it toward me. She rarely even wore that ring, yet it kills me to have her
return it to me.
“Hannah, don’t be like that,” I plead.
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry.”
Before I can even stop her, she rushes away, leaving me staring after her. I watch as my office
door slams shut, my thoughts in disarray. This isn’t the first time Hannah has gotten cold feet, and it
certainly isn’t the first time she’s been worried about her career, but it feels different this time.
It feels final… and I have no fucking idea what I’m supposed to do.