CHAPTER 2: THE PROPOSAL.

I hear Luck's voice calling me from a distance, and immediately I open my eyes, realizing that we are in front of Ana's house.

"Are you awake, miss?" Luck says, looking at me from the driver's seat.

"Yes, Luck, sorry," I look at him with embarrassment as I try to fix my hair.

"Don't worry, miss," he smiles at me and settles into his seat.

I grab my phone and send a message to my friend to let her know that we're here. She just looks at it without responding, but that doesn't surprise me, it's typical of her.

After five minutes, I see her coming out and running hurriedly towards the car.

"Can we go now?" Ana says, breathless, as she gets into the car.

"Yes, but what happened? Who's chasing you?" I ask, chuckling.

"My mom," she answers between sighs. "She was supposed to take care of the twins until she came back from seeing a client, but I sneaked out. She noticed and that's why I ran. Now, if Luck is kind enough to start the car before the red witch arrives to chop off my head, it would be perfect," she says at an incredible speed, and after saying the last word, she pouts.

"Okay," I say, stretching the word. "Luck, let's go, please, quickly," I order Luck, and he does as I ask.

Ana catches her breath and settles back into her seat, looking at me as if I were a piece of meat.

"Are you hungry?" I look at her confused, and she furrows her brow while shaking her head.

"No! Why...? You know what, forget it, just tell me how it went with your in-laws," as she asks that question, my face changes from confusion to seriousness.

"I think Amanda doesn't like me."

"What?! Why?" she looks at me confused.

"She was looking at me in a very strange way, like how my mom looks at me when she's angry. Besides, her comments felt like she was judging me, and she always talked about everything Harry had achieved, making me feel like a baby that has never carried a leaf to feed itself," she tilts her head and opens her mouth. "You imagined me as an ant, didn't you?" she nods and clears her throat.

"Before we continue with the story, could you tell me who the hell is Amanda? Because if you want, I'll go punch her right now," Ana clenches her fist and starts throwing punches in the air.

"She's Harry's mom," I roll my eyes and look out the window.

"Ah, uh, who is Harry?" I turn and look at her in desperation.

"My future husband, Ana," I say his name through gritted teeth and widen my eyes to the maximum.

"Ah...," she smiles and adjusts her hair.

The rest of the way, we continue talking about my encounter with the McBrides, and Ana starts imagining Harry.

"We've arrived, ladies," I hear Luck say, and I look at Ana.

"I love it every time Luck says that, I feel like a millionaire," she makes some hand movements, and I roll my eyes while smiling.

It should be clarified that my best friend is not from the wealthy class. She has money, but not as much as my family. Her father is a small shareholder in my father's company and is also his right-hand man. Ana has always dreamed of marrying a wealthy man, being a successful fashion designer, and, of course, having her chauffeur.

"Ana, we better hurry or we won't find a 'decent' dress."

"Right, Ali, I hate it when your mom says that, but she's somewhat right. Your tastes are a bit weird," Ana says as she wrinkles her nose, and I roll my eyes.

After that, we get out of the car and walk towards the entrance of the boutique.

Fifty dresses later, I try on a very pretty one. It's black, sleeveless, tight until the waist, and loose at the bottom. It has small sparkles from the bust and fading down to the knee. The dress is very long and flowing, I look like a princess.

I step out of the fitting room and see Ana with her back turned, searching for another dress.

"Ana..." I call her to turn around and see me, but she doesn't hear me. "Ana!" I raise my voice to get her attention, and she does. As soon as she turns, her eyes widen, and her mouth almost hits the floor.

"Ali, little Ali, is that you?" I roll my eyes and walk toward the mirror.

"Yes, yes it's me..." I fall silent when I see my reflection in the mirror. I look like a different person. The dress fits perfectly on my petite body and gives me a touch of elegance that I've never had before. "Is it me?" I question myself with an almost inaudible voice and immediately turn around to look at Ana.

"This is 'THE DRESS,'" She turns to look at the woman assisting us, and even she has her mouth wide open. "We'll take it," she says with a smile, and the woman just nods and leaves.

After buying the dress, Ana couldn't stop talking about how Harry's jaw will drop (according to her and her vivid imagination). Upon leaving the boutique, Ana decided that we should grab a bite to eat. After eating, we dropped her off at her house, and Luck drove me home.

Upon arriving at my house, I see employees running around and hear my mother's screams coming from the kitchen. I walk towards the source of those screams, but before entering, I'm stopped by a sweet woman's voice.

"If I were you, I wouldn't go in there," I immediately turn around and see a beautiful Miranda with a belly shaped like a small ball.

"Miranda!" I shout with excitement and run to hug her. She hugs me and complains a bit about my tight grip.

"Not so tight, little Ali," I immediately let go when I realize I'm hugging her too tightly.

"I missed you so much, Miri. Don't leave again," I gaze at her and my eyes start to well up.

"I won't, especially now that my little sister is getting married and Cal is on the way," she smiles and touches her abdomen.

"Is he going to be named Cal?" I touch her small belly and caress it.

"Yes, Calvin, like Grandpa," I look into her eyes and they start to well up.

Grandpa Calvin passed away a month after Miranda's wedding, a year ago. Grandpa always envisioned our children; he always said Miranda's son would be Calvin, and my daughter would be Kate, like Grandma, who, by the way, should be arriving soon.

"I miss him, Miranda," I say as a tear rolls down my cheek.

"Me too. But we'd better get you ready before it gets late. Grandma and the McBrides will be here soon," I nod, wipe my face, and we head up to my room.

I look at myself in the mirror and can't believe this is me. Mom hired a stylist to do my makeup and hair, and they did a great job because I look like an actress at a gala or a model in evening gowns. I turn around to see my sister, and she's equally amazed. Miranda approaches me and hugs me.

"It's time for my little Ali to become a woman," as I listen to her, I feel small electric currents in my abdomen; I'm nervous.

My mother appears at the door and looks at me from head to toe, ending with my eyes.

"You look beautiful, honey," she smiles and opens her arms to hug me.

"Thank you, Mom," I whisper in her ear, and she kisses my cheek.

"You know I love you, and all of this is for your good," she holds my head from both sides, smiling, and I nod.

"Mrs. Brown, the guests have arrived," the housekeeper says at the door.

"I'm coming down, Ali, don't take too long."

"I'll be right there, Mom," my mother smiles at me and leaves my room.

I feel very nervous and look at myself in the mirror again. My sister goes out to meet everyone downstairs, and I stay for a while, trying to calm my nerves. A minute later, I also leave the room.

I descend the stairs, and at the door, I spot a man with his back turned. He is tall, very tall, wearing a black suit, his hair is brown, and his back is broad. I continue down the stairs, and that man turns around, his eyes meet mine, and strange nerves run through my body as I see his challenging gaze and his serious expression, a bit too intense for my taste.

I'm about to run away when Amanda crosses in front of both of us and looks at us.

"You look beautiful, Allison," I shift my gaze from the man's eyes to Amanda's eyes and smile.

"Thank you, Amanda," she smiles and looks at the man still standing by the door, staring at me.

"Harry, you should help your girlfriend," Amanda says, pronouncing the last word through gritted teeth.

The man, whom I now know is Harry, smiles at her and walks towards me. He extends his hand, and I take it, giving him a half-smile, and we finish descending the stairs.

We walked towards the dining room and he pulled out the chair for me to sit. My mother began talking about how beautiful I looked and how good we looked together. Harry sat across from me, inspecting me seriously, and I tried not to look him in the eyes, focusing on the conversation between our mothers.

Throughout the dinner, our parents discussed the wedding and business matters. My sister and her husband talked about the baby, and my grandmother couldn't stop praising Harry. Both he and I hardly uttered any words. We only spoke to answer some questions, one of which was about Harry's age, which is twenty-two, something I didn't even know.

Lost in my thoughts about my "boyfriend" (it feels strange to say that), my mother brings me back to reality.

"We'd better move to the living room. Ali, why don't you show Harry the way? We'll be there in a moment." I look at her and swallow hard, nodding and getting up.

"Harry, shall we? "He nods and smiles as he stands up.

We arrive at the living room, and he suddenly stops, almost making me bump into him.

"This is supposed to be the moment for me to give you the ring. By the way, when I give it to you, you're supposed to be happy. I don't know where, but there's a camera or something. My mother wants to record this moment to show off to her friends." My eyes widen, and I nod.

Suddenly, Harry kneels and pulls out a small box from his jacket pocket, and my heart can't help but race.

"Allison Brown, will you marry me?" I cover my mouth with both hands, looking at the ring, then back at him. Reality hits me hard. I don't know what to do, what to say. This is happening, and I don't know how to act.