The atmosphere in our dining room was ice cold, so heavy that I could barely breathe. I sat there stiffly, my hands gripping the edge of the table until my knuckles turned white. Across from me, my father's face was dark with anger, his eyes piercing through me like daggers. Beside him, my mother wouldn't even look me in the eye directly, her expression filled with shame and disappointment.
They knew everything. The secret I had guarded for years, the part of myself I hid behind perfect grades and good behavior, was finally exposed. They found out that my heart doesn't beat for girls. They found out I was different.
"You are destroying everything we worked so hard to build!" my father shouted, his voice echoing loudly against the walls. "This family has a reputation to protect, a name to keep clean! And you? You bring shame right to our doorstep!"
I wanted to speak. I wanted to tell them that love wasn't a choice, that I was still their son, that this didn't change who I was. But the words got stuck in my throat. I was too afraid, too used to obeying them.
"There is only one way to fix this mess," my father continued, slamming his hand on the table making me jump. "You will marry Talina. The deal with her family is already done. This marriage will secure our businesses, fix our image, and make everything normal again. And this stays between us, our families, and no one else. It is a private agreement until the right time. You are forbidden from telling anyone."
I stared at him in disbelief, my mind reeling. "Talina? I don't even know her! I've barely spoken two words to her! I don't love her!"
"Love is irrelevant here, Cole!" my mother finally spoke, her voice sharp and hard. "Duty is what matters. This is for your own good and for the family. You have no other choice. And you will keep this matter confidential. No one else needs to know yet, not your friends, not your siblings, nobody."
I felt tears prick my eyes but I refused to let them fall. I just nodded slowly, accepting my fate. I felt like a prisoner in my own home, and the key was thrown away.