Chapter 8

“He is a nice person,” I replied flatly.

They were all nice. They were nice to me just like I had to be nice to them. Superficially nice.

Just like I never showed my true self to them, I suspected that none of them ever showed their true self to me. I wasn’t sure how my parents expected me to consider marriage to any of these men when we both didn’t know anything about the other. Of course, I kept all these thoughts locked away in my own mind without ever voicing them.

Getting married right away after graduating from high school wasn’t what I wanted. Although the other girls in my class viewed it as the highest form of achievement to get engaged right after graduation, I had other plans for myself. I had been thinking about this for a while now and after almost a year of thinking, I have finally found a way to convince my parents to send me to university.

Unlike the popular majors that other girls were aiming for such as the arts or design, I wanted to study business. It was still a faraway dream, but I had hoped that one day I could start a small business of my own. I felt like I had a genuine interest in business and that if I worked hard at it, I could achieve something for myself through my efforts. Selling that story to my parents wasn’t going to work though.

“My friends got engaged recently and her suitors honestly weren’t that great. Her fiancé isn’t even that rich or famous. He’s also much older and I don’t think that he’s taking her seriously,” I started complaining to my mother.

Little by little, I would complain to her about the guys that my friends were seeing and their fiancés. Most of my stories were true while some I admittingly spiced it up a bit to get my mother’s attention. Unfortunately, unlike my friends, I did not enjoy the attention that I was getting from my suitors.

.....

Thankfully, all the men were respectful in their approaches; however, I wasn’t interested in forming any type of relationship with them.

“Really? Why is that? Your friends are from your school, right?” my mother asked with concern.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just too soon for them to get engaged. Won’t they meet better guys if they went to university?” I asked while trying to slowly get my point across.

To my surprise, father walked in suddenly at that moment and sat down on the sofa as if he wanted to join in in our conversation. My eyes widened a little at his unusual behavior. My mother had the same reaction as me because it wasn’t often that he would join us.

“I think Elena should go to university before we find her a suitable husband,” my father stated emotionlessly.

It was like light was shining down on me from the heavens above after he had spoken. Finally, he’s seeing things the way that I saw it.

“Why? That would just delay her wedding...” my mother asked in confusion.

That’s the main point, exactly. I didn’t want to get married so soon...

“Elena will get a more qualified husband if he graduates from a top university. She’ll likely meet some other potential marriage candidates during her time at university as well,” my father replied.

Right. That was exactly the story that I wanted to sell. The only reason they would send me to university is if they believed that I would be able to get a richer husband that way. Whatever works...

“Exactly. I also think that that would be the case...” I quickly agreed.

My mother still looked unconvinced, but I knew that she wouldn’t say anything to directly counter father and his ideas. Everything was up to my father to decide, and I prayed that this time he would side with me. Just this once...please!

“It’s up to you though. If you can’t get into a good university then you’ll get married to whoever I deem suitable right after your graduation,” my father said without so much as looking my way.

“What about my university major?” I asked for clarification.

“What do you have in mind?” my father asked and this time his eyes fell on me.

I gulped nervously and I steeled my nerves.

“I want to study business...” I replied.

My mother gasped in shock at my seemingly outrageous idea. Clearly, she was expecting me to choose the arts like visual arts, performance arts or music.

“Why is that?” my father asked immediately. I could tell that he was slightly surprised.

My true reason probably wouldn’t be acceptable, so I had to tell him what I thought he wanted to hear. It was a great thing that I had prepared the reasons beforehand.

“I think that there’s a high chance that I’ll meet many rich heirs to leading corporations there. It’s not uncommon for people to start dating during university and get married after graduation, right? And even if I don’t marry any of my classmates, having a degree from a prestigious university would make many more men interested in me,” I said before smiling calculatingly at my father.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Correct. If you get accepted, I’ll let you go to university,” my father said with a satisfied smile.

“Really?” I asked in pure disbelief.

“Really...but don’t ever forget why I’m sending you there,” my father said and there was a hint of a warning in his voice.

“Yes, father,” I replied obediently.

It didn’t matter what he wanted me to do. I was prepared to do everything for a chance to go to university. From then on, I worked hard on my university applications and interviews. The fact that I had good grades really helped me. With a mix of hard work and miraculously good luck, I was accepted into one of the leading universities in the country.

Back then, I thought that if that was what my parents wanted of me then they could have it. I would become the perfect wife and I would marry the perfect husband. Marrying a rich man and living my life in endless comfort didn’t sound like such a bad way to live my life.

–To be continued...