Prologue

Love is useless.

At least, to me, it's always been useless. What's the point in pouring your heart out to someone only to become strangers all over again? I've watched my friends, my parents and even my grandparents go through the heart-wrenching process of divorce, a break-up, lovers to strangers; the whole works.

I promised myself that I would never let myself go through the same pain. So I rejected every suitor that came my way, always using the same excuses.

"I'm sorry, I'm focusing on my studies/career right now."

"I'm not interested in dating right now."

"Sorry, you're not my type."

Over the past few years, they worked incredibly well. My friends and co-workers always told me I was giving up on something before I even gave it a chance. My family never cared about what I did with my life, so long as I kept sending them money.

The only one who had anything to say was my sister-in-law Kelsey. She's my older brother Gino's wife. She's always been under the impression that having a successful love life was the only way to be fulfilled.

She would drone on about it all the time, trying to score points with Grandma Rosie whenever she invited the entire family over for her monthly dinners.

I wasn't stupid either. She knew Grandma Rosie was big on family, so she made it her business to show off hers at every family gathering.

She would encourage my nephew, Aiden, to show off his family portraits, good grades and extracurricular activities. At first, it seemed innocent enough but when she started making pointed comments towards me was when I noticed something was wrong.

That brings us here, to this very moment. Grandma Rosie's lawyer, Mr. Hanks sat in the living room on her favourite chair. He was a gaunt looking man with pale, wrinkled skin, a receding hairline with thin, grey wisps of hair peppering his crown.

His thin frame was dressed in an official looking grey suit which accentuated the curve on his back.

I sat on a single chair, beside me on the love seat was Gino, Kelsey and Aiden. My parents declined to attend as Grandma Rosie made it clear to them that she would not leave them a dime, and they were excommunicated from the family years ago.

"Good afternoon," Mr. Hanks greeted.

"Good day, Mr. Hanks," Kelsey responded readily.

The gaunt man smiled politely before quickly opening Grandma Rosie's will.

"These documents are legally binding, signed by the deceased who was of sound mind at the time," he announced with a steady voice, "I have stated before that none of my estate is to be given to my ungrateful son Harold or his ex-wife Bianca. My daughter, Vivian as well as my other son George shall also not receive a dime as they abandoned me in the past few years.

To my Grandson Gino and his darling wife Kelsey I leave a trust of 5 million dollars. Use this to build yourselves and take care of my great-grandson Aiden.

As for my dear, Gia, I leave my estate and all properties required over my lifetime, as well as, my company and all the contents of my bank accounts which adds up to over 500 million. You are the most responsible of all my current living descendants, I trust you know what to do with this inheritance."

My eyes widened as Mr. Hanks stopped talking. An eery silence settled around the room as we all soaked in the information.

Kelsey's head turned sharply, sending daggers at me through her muddy brown eyes, "What did you do? There's no way Grandma Rosie would leave everything to you."

Gino just stared at me emotionlessly while little Aiden looked around with an adorable confused face. The accusation sat heavily in the air.

"I didn't do anything," I mumbled, pulling at the hem of my skirt.

Before Kelsey could say anything else Mr. Hanks said something that left us all stunned.

"There is a clause here, Gia, if at the time of this reading you still have not been married you will have 14 days to find a suitable match from suitors I've picked out for you. Failure to complete my last request will result in Gino taking over the company."

It was like my breath was suddenly knocked out of me. Kelsey smirked triumphantly, snickering under breath while I tried to process what I just heard.

Why would Grandma Rosie do this to me?

I looked up at the lawyer. He gave me a sympathetic smile and held out a folder. I looked at the label and sighed. In big red letters, it read:

SUITORS.

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