Cindy smiled awkwardly, quite different from the expression her stepmother had wanted.
"So you want me to accept marrying an old man just to get a cure for my mother's sake, right?" Cindy asked again, her voice steady and measured, just to be sure.
"Yes, Cindy. You do not have a choice. I already accepted the marriage offer on your behalf, and you just have to endure it until the old man dies. You will inherit his money too, and you will use it for your own benefit," Mr. Paulson said, his tone soft and lips curled up in a smile.
"Yes, sister. You should do this for us. Dad and Mom supported you, and with the Sullivan family's support, our family will rise to the top of influential families in this Brooklyn city," Tasha said, her tone radiating sweetness.
Cindy smiled, her gaze firm as she demanded, "Tasha, why didn't you accept to marry Mr. Sullivan? You're young with flawless skin, unlike mine. I'm sure the Sullivan family will cherish you more than me."
Tasha scowled, and before she could retort, her mother snapped at Cindy. Her voice was firm and rising an octave.
"Cindy, this gives you no room to argue. We need the Sullivan family's connection. And you are to marry Mr. Daniel Sullivan whether you accept this marriage or not." Mabel rose from her seat, but Cindy rose back.
"Mom, you cannot force me into an arranged marriage with an old man. I decline." Cindy rushed back to the door and darted out of the house.
"Mom, Dad, you both should get Cindy back. I will not accept to marry an old man," Tasha cried, after seeing that Cindy had run out of the house.
"Don't worry, Tasha. We will surely get Cindy back. There's nowhere she can run or hide," Mabel said, a sinister glint flashing in her eyes.
Mr. Paulson frowned and sneered. "I cannot believe that Cindy would want to deny me this opportunity. What makes her think that we will use the money for her sick mother? We are not going to use it for her mother. Hurry up, Babe. Send the men you hired to find her and bring her back. She must marry Mr. Daniel Sullivan whether she likes him or not."
"Got it," Mabel smiled and stepped out of the house. Her phone was in her hand as she dialed the bodyguards' number.
"Hello, boys. It's time to do the work I sent you. Ensure that you capture my other daughter, Cindy White, and bring her back to us. Do not harm her or do anything to her," Mabel said, her tone firm and icy.
"Okay, Madam. We got it," replied the leader of the men.
"It's fine. I will be expecting good news and bring her to us," Mabel said before disconnecting the call.
A wave of relief washed over Mabel's features as she looked at her daughter and husband.
"Don't worry, Tasha. We will have Cindy return back to us," Mabel said, her tone confident.
"Mom, what if Cindy refuses to marry Mr. Sullivan? You know that he said he needs a willing bride, not a forced one," Tasha reminded her mother of the rules involving finding a wife for the old man.
Mabel's brows furrowed. "Don't worry. We will tell him that Cindy accepted the first time, only to change her mind later."
Tasha's brows relaxed, and she said, "You're the best, Mom."
"Sure," Mabel grinned, "let's wait for the good news."
------
Meanwhile, Cindy ran back to the high-end restaurant where she worked, knowing that she couldn't afford to lose her job there as a waitress.
Just as she entered the high-end restaurant, where influential men and women go on dates and to have dinner, three men in black clothing stepped in. Their gaze was sharp as they scanned the faces in the restaurant.
"Hey, what do you want here? Get out!" The manager of the restaurant warned the men in black who had intruded.
"We will leave. We are looking for someone," replied one of the men, the leader.
"Who is it? Stand outside and tell me the person's name," requested the manager as he looked displeased at the sight of those dangerous men.
Just then, one of the men spotted Cindy as she tied a white apron around her chest, wanting to serve the businessmen in the restaurant. Cindy was exactly as her stepmother had described her—beautiful and alluring like a blossoming flower.
"That's her!" Pointed one of the men.
Just as Cindy wanted to serve the handsome man seated there, who was on a business lunch with his friend, her eyes widened in shock when she saw the men in black pointing at her with a deathly glare on their faces. She knew that her stepmother had sent them after her. She wasn't surprised about her stepmother's cruelty.
Thinking of how to escape the men as they strode forward to take her, Cindy sat on the lap of the man whom she wanted to serve, and she pulled him closer, pressing her lips on his.
The man stilled. His friends' eyes widened in shock at Cindy's audacity as she kissed a stranger—the wealthiest bachelor in Brooklyn City.
Did she have a death wish?
The man Cindy had kissed was Nicolas Sullivan, a wealthy CEO in his early 30s, and his grandfather wanted him to marry by all means.
Nicolas had just arrived to have lunch with his best friend, Aaron Kingston. He hadn't expected the bold waitress to kiss him and hold him closely.
Embarrassed and wanting to push her away, she held his neck and begged him, "Help me, sir. I don't want to go with them."
Nicolas' brows furrowed deeply as he looked over at the men in black who strode forward to his table. They were menacing, and he wondered what Cindy had done wrong to offend them.
If she could be bold enough to kiss him, what more could she not do?
"Help me, sir. Don't let them take me away. They want to force me to marry an old man," Cindy begged, seated on Nicolas' thighs as she hugged his neck. Unaware of what her soft body was doing to his already hard one.
Nicolas Sullivan had an aversion to women, but this soft woman on his thighs had a death wish for seducing him publicly. Would she deny that she didn't know who he was?
"Get away from me!" Nicolas snarled at Cindy after regaining his senses.
Her orange scent filled his nostrils, and his dîck was rock hard in his pants; he hadn't felt so alive before.
Cindy stilled, thinking she could use the top client to chase away the men her stepmother had sent to bring her back.
Embarrassed, she rose to her feet, trembling when she noticed the man's face. He was a wealthy man, and he dusted his black suit with an irritable gaze.
When he looked up at her face, Cindy felt her breath knocked off. She couldn't believe that she had just kissed the richest CEO in Brooklyn City.
Her jaw dropped, and she lowered her head and apologized, only for her manager to stride up to her and deliver a powerful slap on her left cheek as he caught her openly seducing Mr. Sullivan.