Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance

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I came from a rich family, but I wanted to be independent, not wanting to sponge off of my father my whole life. I wanted to eventually move away and be my own person, and proudly be able to say that I didn't have any hand-outs, and I'd made it to the top on my own.

My pops was filthy rich, and had more money than he knew what to do with. He owned a huge multi-million dollar company that sold Oud fragrances. I hardly spent time with him, because he was so immersed in work. The only times I would see him were before university when he was eating breakfast, and late at night when he'd come home after a long day at his headquarters. I cooked and cleaned for him, and he told me his appreciation and told me he loved me, but the only way he would show his thanks was by giving me money that I didn't want. He'd leave me hundreds of pounds on the table each morning every day. Because I was studying such a difficult degree, I didn't really have the time to do a job on the side without my education suffering, so I allowed my father to pay for my university and living expenses, but I intended to pay him back every single penny once I started work after graduating.

My mother passed away in childbirth when she was having me, and every day, I never stopped thinking about her. Wanting to make her proud, and carry on in her legacy. She sacrificed herself to bring me into this world. I never had the chance to know her personally, but I knew that I would eternally be in her debt.

I had a sister too, called Miriam, but she'd ran away many years ago, to get married to a man that my father disapproved of. I hadn't heard from her since. My father had tried to turn the world upside down to find her, but with no luck. Eventually, he just gave up, and decided to move on. He behaved as if she never existed, even though deep down, I knew that he was hurting. It was just a burst to his ego for his daughter to defy him and go against him, so if I ever tried to mention her, he would always silence me, and become very angry. Losing Miriam took a big toll on me too. Me and her had been so close, and she'd been so quick to pick up and leave for a man, without thinking about me or how I was feeling. I never really got to find out why my father disapproved of the man she loved, or what the man was involved in, but with time, I'd learnt to leave it alone, too. I knew that if Miriam wanted to keep in touch with me, she would have. I just had to accept that she'd moved on without me. My own sister leaving me was one of the reasons why I had trust issues of my own, and found it hard to make friends without thinking in the back of my head that they had an ulterior motive, or they would end up double-crossing me. I knew it wasn't healthy for me to have all of these doubts.