SIWON’S POV

                I stared down at the brilliant diamond ring and snapped the lid closed and shoved the box into the pocket of my suit.

I had two choices. I could marry Im Yoona and fulfill my goal of merging my company with the Im Corporation, or I could refuse and lose it all.

                Tonight is the night I would ask her to marry me after months of courting, careful wooing and dating. I shook my head as the absurdity of the situation hit me. I thought Mr. Im was crazy for forcing his daughter to marry me, Choi Siwon. I tried everything to sway the older man from his aim to see his daughter married off… to me.

                Yoona was every man’s ideal girl but I had no desire to marry anyone. Not yet.

                Mr. Im had other plans. He’d told me that Yoona had no head for business. Her heart is somewhere not into business and was very stubborn. He wanted her taken care of and for whatever reason; he thought that I was the best choice. So he’d made Yoona part of the deal.

                Yoona must not learn of his plan. He didn’t want his daughter to know about it. If she ever found out the truth, she wasn’t going to take it well. I was stuck playing games.

                I hated manipulations and I would be pissed if someone was doing to him what he was doing to Yoona.

                “Stupid old fool,” I muttered.

                Mr. Im felt that Yoona needed someone who understood and accepted her nature. Why he thought I fit the bill, I would never know.

                Not long after Yoona arrived. I was mesmerized. Yoona was really beautiful. She lit up a room when she walked in. You could always pick her out of a crowd. She was extremely…natural. She didn’t seem fake at least not that I could tell, yet. Who knew what the future would bring. I would like to think she wasn’t an accomplice in this ridiculous plan of her father. Even when he knew it was the best for all parties involved to know the entire story from the start.

                After the dinner had been set the background music started playing. I dug into the pocket of my suit to retrieve the box with ring in it.

                She stared openmouthed at the spectacular diamond ring before her.

                “Yoona, will you marry me?” I asked.

                “Oh God,” she croaked out. She looked at the ring and then to me. I smiled at her. “Really?” she whispered.

                I nodded and smiled more broadly. I took her hand and slid the diamond onto her ring finger.

                “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Excitement filled her. “I knew daddy despaired of me ever finding a suitable man and settling down. He always says I’m too unsettled, but really, I’m still young.”

                I gave her an amused smile. “Are you saying you don’t want to get married?”

                She stared at me in shock. “No! That’s not at all what I was saying. I was merely going to say that I was waiting for the right man. In this case you.”

YOONA’S POV

                “Yoona, if you don’t sit still we’re never going to get your hair and makeup right,” Yuri said in exasperation.

                “I still think she should have just called in a stylist,” Tiffany said as she eyed the progress Taeyeon was making on my hair.

                “Taeyeon is a stylist, silly,” I said. “She’s the best and who doesn’t want the best on their wedding day? And who knows more about make up than Jessica?”

                Sunny snorted. “That’s so true. I’m convinced cosmetic companies should just pay her to endorse their products.”

                Close your eyes Yoong,” Jessica said. “Time for mascara. Just a bit though. Don’t want you looking clumpy on the big day.”

                I frowned. “Definitely not clumpy.”

                “Now we’re done,” Jessica announced. She pulled me away to see myself in the mirror.

                My best friends beamed back at me in the mirror.

                “You look beautiful,” Sooyoung said. Her eyes bright with tears. “The most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

                The eight women crowded in to hug me.

                “Girls, time for us to go. Our escorts are waiting. We don’t want to make the bride late,” Seohyun said.

                “Are you ready, darling?” my dad asked.

                Sudden nerves gripped me and my palms went sweaty. But I nodded.

                “I can’t believe you’re getting married,” he said in a tight voice. “You look beautiful, Yoong. Siwon is a lucky man.”

I walk down the aisle with my father. The music began, the door swung open and every eye in the church turned to watch as I took my first step.

                 Then my dad was handing me over to Siwon. Siwon smiled at me as we step forward to the priest and the ceremony began.