Indecision: The family business or a wedding?

The bride stepped out onto the balcony where she could look down upon her wedding guests. She stood there for a long time, gazing at the faces of those who had come to witness her marriage to the man they all knew to be the love of her life. After some time, she turned around and began descending the staircase. Her mother followed close behind.

Source
At the bottom of the stairs, the bride stopped and looked up into the eyes of the man who was the very reason why she had been born. She smiled at him tenderly, then walked forward, took his hands in hers, and kissed him on both cheeks. He embraced her lovingly and whispered something so sweet that it brought tears to her eyes.

Then he released her hands and took them again, pulling her towards the front door. The bride started walking away from him but he held her back. "Where are you going?" he asked. "I have a surprise for you."

"I don't understand," she said. "What is this about? I know what you're planning..."
He laughed. "I'm not planning anything. This has already happened."

She shook her head slowly. "No," she murmured, "you can't do this to me! You promised to let me marry him!"

He turned to face her. His eyes were wide open and sparkling in the moonlight. "Yes, I promise...and I always keep my promises, no matter how hard they are."

Her mouth dropped open.

"Come on, let's go inside and celebrate your new marriage..."

The bride turned around and ran upstairs without looking back. She reached the top of the staircase and found herself standing in a room that was quite familiar to her.

There was a single bed in one corner, a wardrobe beside it, and an old wooden chest filled with clothes in another. On the other side of the room was a small table and two chairs. A dressing mirror hung above the chest. In the middle of the room were a fireplace and a low table. The room was bare except for the furniture. No carpets, no pictures or mirrors, no bookshelves. It was a typical bedroom belonging to a girl like her. But the most extraordinary thing about this room was that it was empty.

The bride gasped. She stood there for a while, staring blankly at everything. For a moment she thought she might faint, but then she forced herself to take deep breaths. Slowly she started walking across the room.

She stopped before the fireplace. There was a large iron kettle sitting by the hearth. Beside it was a cupboard full of wooden spoons and ladles. The table had several wooden plates and bowls piled on it. And on the floor were a few pieces of wood scattered here and there.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she said, looking around in bewilderment.

"It's no joke," came the reply from behind her.

She spun around quickly.

There was no one there. Only the room remained. It was as though the people who had spoken to her moments ago had never existed.

She frowned. "You're joking, right?"

No answer.

"Where is everyone else? My mum...my friends..."

Still no reply.

"Please," she said, "tell me you're joking."

"Of course I'm not," he replied. "Now come over here and see for yourself."

She sighed. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded angrily. "We agreed that I would be married today and I would live happily ever after with the love of my life!"

"That's exactly why I'm doing this," he retorted. "Tomorrow morning I will leave you here and you'll stay with your husband. That's our deal and you agreed to it. But I need to talk to you first"

She raised her hand to the object but decided against it. "What about our family? What about my friends?"

"I told you, you won't see anyone. Don't worry, they will understand when we are done talking."

She stared at him, stunned. "You mean this isn't real?"

He chuckled. "No, this isn't an illusion, it's very real. As real as you are."

She turned around. "How did you trick me into believing you want the best for me after serving you for so long?"

He grinned. "I'm sorry if it looks as though I failed to fulfill our agreement, but I did it because I wanted to." He paused for a minute and then continued, "I know you haven't been getting along too well with your husband-to-be, so I thought maybe this would help make things easier for you. I am convinced you belong here with me, with the rest of the gang. There's no use running off to find prince charming. This is your abode. Your fate. Your destiny."

"You don't think you can trust me to do the right thing? "

"Well, yes I have. Remember, we've known each other for all of your life. We used to run the crew business together and later on when we expanded, we became respected names in the hood. You belong here. And I know you can feel it in your heart"

She froze for a second. "Wait! Are you saying that you do think raising a family isn't for me? And that I should remain on the street forever?"

"Yes, I am. After all, I was the one who decided to let you run off to your sweetheart. I was the one who set up those circumstances and gave you the chance to escape them. I didn't expect you to fall in love with him. He was nothing but a client. But you didn't take advantage of my generosity and you chose to go against the rules of the hood."

She shook her head. "I don't believe you. I don't think you planned to help me. You just pretended to help me so that you can keep me here instead. What kind of a father does that to his only daughter?"

"If you don't want me to marry, then I'll just leave with him. No one has to get hurt."
"Oh, come on!" He laughed. "You know I'm being honest with you."

She made a face. "No, I don't. Why would you do something like this?"

"Look, I'm sure there must be some way out of this mess. Let's sit down and discuss it."

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk about anything. I'm leaving right now."

"You can't leave yet. Not until you realize what it means to be happy."

She smiled. "And how does that differ from what I'm currently experiencing?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. They're both equally good feelings. You should consider your options carefully before making a final decision."

"There are only two options: either I marry or I leave. There's no third option."

"Well, actually there is," he said with a grin. "You can stay here forever and never marry anyone. And you'll be happy doing it. And we will expand our business line. Together. Forever. You can stay married to the hood."
She stared at him. "What?"

"It's a booming business world, remember? So you won't have to suffer any consequences."

"What?"

"Imagine it like this," he said as if he were explaining something to a child, "you can do whatever you want here. You can spend all day closing deals, putting extra cash in your accounts, buying up other people's failing businesses, rescuing them, pumping fundings into good and viable start-ups, you name it. All those things you've always dreamed about doing. Even though there's a bit of risk, danger, and pain of missing out on what other ladies do, you can still experience great joy by living your life like the business mogul that you were born to be. Isn't that what you want?"

She glanced at him cautiously. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm trying to convince you that this is the best thing for you."

"But why? Do you think I'd be happy staying in this place building wealth forever?"

"No, of course not. But you have to admit that it sounds better than marrying a stranger, someone you don't even know. Someone who doesn't care about your happiness. Right?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah."

He smiled. "So you see, the choice is easy."

She shook her head. "I don't understand you."

"You don't need to. It's simple math. If you stay here, you'll be happy and satisfied doing what you love to do. You'll be able to buy and sell companies, hire people, and live your life doing business. I guarantee that you will be very busy with all the stuff you want to do, thus you won't have time to think about marriage. Then you'll be happy."

She frowned. "But you don't understand. I want to get married someday. I'm not going to be doing business forever."

"Of course, you're not. Look, I understand that you have dreams. You want to get married and have kids too. You dream of a nice house somewhere and starting a family. You want to do everything normal for women your age. The only difference is that you don't have enough money to make these things happen yet. That's why I'm suggesting that you join me in this venture."

She sighed. "What's wrong with you, dad? You sound like you're talking about someone else. How can you possibly understand what I want?"

Her father smiled. "We could start right now, right here, in this room. You tell me what you want and I promise to give it to you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Because I care about you. I want you to be happy. I want you to find someone else who loves you and treats you nicely. I want you to be a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman too. So I will give you what you want. What's wrong with that?"

She stared at him for a moment, then she looked away. "Nothing is wrong with it. I just don't understand why you would do this for me."

"That's because you're a smart girl," he said. "You understand that I have to protect my child. I can't let you go off and ruin your life."

She nodded. "Yes, I guess so." She paused for a moment. "Thank you, dad"

"For what?"

She smiled. "For helping me realize what I truly want. I'll head outside and call off the wedding."

He chuckled. "Don't worry, I will have the groom and everyone else informed on your behalf." He laughed.

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, dad."

He winked. "Your welcome, dear."

"Bye," she said, then left the room. She headed towards the door. When she reached it, she turned around and walked back to him. "Oh, one last thing. Don't ever try to sell me again."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"

She nodded. "I'm an independent woman now, remember? I might be interested in buying some shares from you, but I'll be sure to ask you first." She smirked. "And I'll be sure to check their backgrounds before making any financial decisions."

He laughed. "Sounds fair." He reached up and motioned for her to follow him. They walked down the stairs and exited the building.