Not Yours To Love
CHAPTER 1
The Bennett house smells like cumin and warm ghee, the way it always does on Sunday evenings. Erica sits at the dining table still in her work clothes, blazer slung over the back of her chair, MBA degree three weeks old and framed in her room upstairs like proof of something she fought hard for.
Erica Bennett
(sets down her fork, arms crossed)
"Mom. Dad. I love you both. But a blind date? Seriously?"
Meera Bennett (Mother)
(folds hands, pleading eyes)
"Beta, we're not saying marry the boy tomorrow. Just — one dinner. That's all we ask."
Arjun Bennett (Father)
(not looking up from his plate, voice firm but not unkind)
"His family is respectable. Marsh Textiles. Good name in the city. Your mother's known Mrs. Marsh since college."
Erica Bennett
(sighs, rubbing her temple)
"I just finished my MBA. I have a job I actually like. I'm not exactly sitting around waiting to be rescued."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(grinning, mouth full of rice)
"Nobody said rescued. Just — free dinner. Free interesting-looking man. What's the harm?"
Erica Bennett
(throws a napkin at Naya)
"You're not helping."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(dodges, laughing)
"I'm never helping. That's my whole personality."
Meera Bennett (Mother)
(quietly, setting down her spoon)
"We just want to see you happy, beta. Settled. Loved. You've spent five years with your head in books and spreadsheets. Is it so wrong that we want more for you?"
Erica looks at her mother's face — really looks at it. The small worry lines by her eyes that weren't there five years ago. The way she still serves everyone else before herself, out of habit, out of love.
Erica Bennett
(internal thought)
She's not wrong that I've buried myself in work. Maybe it's easier that way. Nobody looks at a business plan and decides they don't like your arms, your stomach, the way your jeans fit. Nobody rejects a spreadsheet.
Erica Bennett
(softens, looks at her mother's face)
"... Fine. One dinner. That's it. I'm not promising anything beyond that."
Erica didn't know that single word — fine — would open a door she couldn't close for years.
Later that night — Erica's Room
She stands in front of her closet for a long time before she even picks a dress. Behind the row of blazers and work shirts, tucked at the very back, is a garment bag she hasn't opened in three years — riding boots, a leather jacket that used to fit looser, a small locked case on the top shelf that she doesn't look at directly, not even now.
Erica Bennett
(internal thought, quiet)
Not tonight. Some other version of me used to ride at six in the morning before class, used to hit the range on Sundays like it was church. That version of me had a body she didn't apologize for.
(Erica closes the closet door a little harder than necessary and picks a simple green dress instead — something safe, something that "hides the right things," as she's learned to think of it. She checks the mirror twice. Turns sideways once. Sucks in a breath she immediately lets out, annoyed at herself for doing it.)
Erica Bennett
(muttering to her reflection)
"It's one dinner. Nobody's grading you."
(Naya appears in the doorway, leaning against the frame.)
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(softly, no teasing this time)
"You look gorgeous, you know. Not 'for a blind date' pretty. Just — pretty."
Erica Bennett
(small, grateful smile)
"You're only saying that because you have to."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(rolling her eyes)
"I'm saying it because it's true, idiot. Now go, you'll be late."
Three Days Later — The Restaurant
The place is expensive in the quiet way — no flashy signage, just low gold lighting, a maître d' who already knows the name on the reservation. Erica smooths her dress once at the entrance, squares her shoulders, and walks in like she isn't nervous at all.
Julian Marsh (ML)
(stands as she approaches, warm smile, pulls out her chair)
"Erica, right? God, the photos didn't do you justice."
(stands as she approaches, warm smile, pulls out her chair)
"Erica, right? God, the photos didn't do you justice."
Erica Bennett
(small polite smile, sitting down)
"That's a very practiced line, Mr. Marsh."
Julian Marsh (ML)
(laughs, easy and charming, sitting back down across from her)
"Guilty. But I mean it. Please — call me Julian."
(He asks about her MBA. He listens — or seems to. He laughs at her jokes, tilts his head at just the right angle, orders her favorite wine without being told, because he'd clearly done his homework. Every answer out of his mouth is exactly right. Too right, if she's being honest with herself.)
Julian Marsh (ML)
(leaning forward, genuine-sounding)
"An MBA and you still want to go into brand strategy instead of banking? Most people I know would've taken the safer, richer route."
Erica Bennett
(a little surprised, pleased)
"Most people don't ask that question. Usually it's 'so when are you getting married,' not 'why brand strategy.'"
Julian Marsh (ML)
(smiling)
"I'm not most people."
Erica Bennett
(thinking, sipping wine)
He's saying all the right things. Almost too right. But maybe that's just what confident men sound like. Maybe I've just forgotten, after so long, what it feels like to be looked at like this.
(Somewhere between the appetizer and the main course, Erica catches herself relaxing — laughing at something Julian says, forgetting for a moment to hold her stomach in, forgetting to angle herself so the booth lighting is kinder. It feels, briefly, like being young and reckless again, like the version of herself that used to ride horses before sunrise without a single thought about how she looked doing it.)
Julian Marsh (ML)
(leaning in slightly, voice low)
"I don't usually do this twice in one week, but — dinner again? Thursday?"
Erica Bennett
(a beat, then a real smile)
"... Thursday works."
What Erica couldn't see, across the restaurant, near the private booths at the back — a man in a dark coat, phone pressed to his ear, eyes locked on her table without once looking away since she walked in.
UNKNOWN MAN
(low, to the phone)
"Cancel the Geneva call. I'm staying in the city a little longer."
VOICE ON PHONE
"Sir? The board's expecting—"
UNKNOWN MAN
(quiet, final)
"I said cancel it."
(He doesn't take his eyes off Erica once. Not even when Julian reaches for her hand across the table, thumb brushing her knuckles in a gesture practiced enough to look spontaneous. The man in the dark coat's jaw tightens almost imperceptibly — the only sign that anything in him has moved at all.)
VOICE ON PHONE
(internal thought, cold and quiet)
Six years. Six years and this is the man they hand her to. Marsh. Of course it's Marsh.
(He signals the waiter without looking away from Erica's table, pays for a bottle of wine he never ordered, and leaves before either of them notices he was ever there. But he'll be back. He has no intention of losing her to a man like Julian Marsh — not now, not after everything he's already given up just to stay close enough to watch.)
That Night — Erica's Room
(She lies in bed scrolling through nothing in particular, a small smile tugging at her mouth that she doesn't quite manage to hide, even alone.)
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(TEXT)
"So??? Details. NOW."
Erica Bennett
(TEXT)
"He was... nice. Actually nice. Not fake-nice."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(TEXT)
"OMG. Mom's going to combust with joy."
Erica Bennett
(setting the phone down, staring at the ceiling)
(internal thought)
Maybe it's fine. Maybe some people really are exactly what they seem to be on the first date. Maybe I don't have to brace for the other shoe to drop, every single time.
(She doesn't know yet how wrong she is. She doesn't know that somewhere across the city, a man she's never officially met is already rearranging his entire empire around the sole, singular fact of her existing — and that the version of herself she buried in the back of her closet tonight, the one who used to ride at dawn without apology, is about to be needed again far sooner than she thinks.)
CHAPTER 2
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(bursting into Erica's room, phone in hand)
"Okay so I stalked him. Julian Marsh. Marsh Textiles heir, went to LSE, volunteers at some literacy thing on weekends. He's basically a golden retriever in a suit."
Erica Bennett
(lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling)
"He's... a lot. In a good way? I don't know. It's only been two dates."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(flopping beside her)
"Mom's already planning outfits for the engagement, just so you know."
Erica Bennett
(groans, covering her face with a pillow)
"Nobody said anything about an engagement—"
(Her phone buzzes. A text from Julian.)
Julian Marsh (ML)
(TEXT)
"Thinking about you. Dinner Thursday still on? I already booked the place you mentioned liking. 🙂"
Erica Bennett
(reading it, small smile despite herself)
(to herself) "...Okay. Maybe he really is just this thoughtful."
(Two weeks pass in the story like this — dinners, small gifts, Julian remembering things she barely remembers saying. Erica, cautious by nature, starts to let her guard down.)
Priya(Coworker)
(leaning on Erica's desk)
"So the whole floor's talking about the flowers on your desk. Who's the guy?"
Erica Bennett
(trying not to smile, failing)
"...A blind date. Don't make it weird."
Priya(Coworker)
(grinning)
"Too late. It's already weird. In a good way."
(Erica glances at the card tucked in the flowers.)
CARD FROM JULIAN
"Every day I don't see you feels wasted. — J"
Erica Bennett
(quiet, to herself)
This is fast. This is really fast. But... it feels nice to be wanted like this.
(What Erica doesn't know: three floors down, in the lobby of her own office building, a black car has been parked for the last four days. The man inside never comes up. He doesn't need to. He already knows her schedule better than she does.)
UNKNOWN MAN
(watching the building's entrance, jaw tight)
(to his driver)
"Marsh again?"
Tomas (Diver)
"Third time this week, sir."
UNKNOWN MAN
(quiet, controlled fury)
"Get me everything on Julian Marsh. Everything. By tonight."
CHAPTER 3
Midnight, the top floor of Vale Tower. The city glitters below in a way that means nothing to the man standing at the window, whiskey untouched on the desk behind him. A thick manila folder sits open under the desk lamp — photographs, financial statements, a life laid bare on paper.
UNKNOWN MAN
(flipping through the folder, expression unreadable)
(internal thought)
Julian Marsh. Textile heir. Charming on paper. Charming in person, according to every account I've pulled. Charming is the word people keep using, like it means something good.
Tomas (Diver)
(standing at a respectful distance)
"There's more, sir. Financials aren't as clean as they look. Marsh Textiles took a hit two years ago — bad overseas contract. The public numbers are propped up. Barely."
UNKNOWN MAN
(not looking up)
"And the woman he's seen with at the club on Fifth?"
Tomas (Diver)
(hesitant)
"Selene Cross. On and off for over a year. Still active, as of two weeks ago."
(Chris closes the folder slowly. For a long moment he says nothing at all — just stares at the closed folder like it's something he wants to burn.)
UNKNOWN MAN
(quiet, almost to himself)
Of course. Of course it's not real. Men like that don't change just because they finally found someone worth changing for. They just find a woman patient enough not to notice, for a while.
Tomas (Diver)
(carefully)
"Sir, if I may — the girl. Miss Bennett. You've had eyes on her for over a year now. Longer, if I count the university surveillance. If you're this invested, why not simply—"
UNKNOWN MAN
(cutting him off, low and final)
"Because she doesn't know I exist, Tomas. And the day she learns who I am, it won't be because a stranger cornered her in a parking lot with a business card. It'll be on my terms. When it means something."
(He turns back to the window. Below, the city hums on, indifferent. Somewhere out there, Erica Bennett is probably asleep, unaware that a man who has never spoken to her directly has just decided, for the second time in his life, to let something ruin itself before he steps in to pick up the pieces.)
UNKNOWN MAN
(quiet, resolute)
Let him have his fun, Marsh. Let him show her exactly who he is. I've waited six years. I can wait a little longer for her to see it herself.
The Next Evening — Erica's Apartment
(Naya is sprawled across Erica's couch, a bowl of popcorn balanced on her stomach, scrolling through her phone while Erica gets ready in the next room.)
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(shouting toward the bedroom)
"Third date in two weeks! Someone's speedrunning a relationship!"
Erica Bennett
(calling back, adjusting an earring in the mirror)
"It's not a speedrun, it's just — going well. Is that a crime now?"
(She studies herself in the mirror a beat too long. Same old habit — turning slightly, checking the angle, exhaling the breath she's been holding without noticing. Behind her reflection, barely visible through the open closet door, the edge of the garment bag she still hasn't opened peeks out from the shadows.)
Erica Bennett
(internal thought, quieter now)
Julian hasn't once made a comment about my weight. Hasn't once looked at me like he's doing the math on it. Maybe that's what normal feels like. Maybe I've just never had it before.
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(appearing in the doorway, popcorn in hand)
"You're doing the mirror thing again."
Erica Bennett
(startled, quickly composing herself)
"I am not doing a thing."
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(gently, no teasing in her voice now)
"Erica. You used to ride horses at six in the morning in front of half the county. You used to hit bullseyes at the range with Dad cheering like it was the Olympics. When did you start needing a mirror's permission to leave the house?"
Erica Bennett
(quiet, honest for once)
"...I don't know. Somewhere between business school and every 'you'd be so pretty if' comment I've collected since I was fifteen, I guess."
(Naya crosses the room and hugs her sister from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder so they're both facing the mirror together.)
Naya Bennett (Sister)
(softly)
"For what it's worth? I think you're stunning. And I think the version of you that used to gallop across Dad's property at full speed with her hair flying everywhere was the most alive I've ever seen you. I miss her."
Erica Bennett
(eyes a little glassy, laughing it off)
"Okay, don't make me cry, I just did my eyeliner."
(A car horn sounds outside — Julian, right on time. Erica takes one last look in the mirror, squares her shoulders the way she does before every big meeting at work, and heads for the door.)
The Restaurant — Third Date
(Same low gold lighting, a different table this time, tucked into a private alcove. Julian is already seated, standing the moment she walks in.)
Julian Marsh (ML)
(smiling, pulling out her chair)
"You look incredible. I mean that."
Erica Bennett
(smiling, sitting)
"You say that every time."
Julian Marsh (ML)
(grinning)
"Because it's true every time."
(Dinner unfolds easily — comfortable, familiar now in a way that surprises her. Julian asks about her week, remembers a coworker's name she'd mentioned only once, laughs at the right moments. It's easy to let her guard slip further down with every glass of wine.)
Julian Marsh (ML)
(reaching across the table, taking her hand)
"Erica, I know this is fast. I know everyone's going to say it's fast. But I don't remember the last time I felt this certain about anything. I want to talk to your parents. Properly. About us."
Erica Bennett
(caught off guard, heart pounding)
"Julian, we've been on three dates—"
Julian Marsh (ML)
(earnest, thumb brushing her knuckles)
"Sometimes you just know. I know my family's excited. Yours seem to be too. Why wait and overthink something that already feels right?"
Erica Bennett
(internal thought, torn)
This is either the most romantic thing that's ever happened to me, or the first sign I should be running the other way. Why can't I tell which?
Erica Bennett
(quiet, a small unsure smile)
"...Let's take it one step at a time. But — I'm not opposed to it. To us."
Julian Marsh (ML)
(pressing a kiss to her knuckles)
"That's all I needed to hear."
(Outside, in the parking lot, a black car sits three spaces down from Julian's — engine off, headlights dark. Chris watches through the restaurant's front window as Julian kisses Erica's hand, his own jaw tight enough to ache.)
UNKNOWN MAN
(low, to himself, gripping the steering wheel)
"He's moving fast. Too fast. He knows exactly what he's doing."
Tomas (Diver)
(from the passenger seat)
"Sir — do you want me to intervene? A word to her father, perhaps, about the financials—"
UNKNOWN MAN
(sharp, immediate)
"No. Not yet. If I move now, it looks like sabotage. She needs to see him clearly on her own — not because a stranger whispered in her father's ear. I won't take that choice away from her, even if it costs me time I don't have patience for."
(He watches Erica laugh at something Julian says, watches the way she still, even now, angles her body slightly away from the light, like she's bracing for a verdict nobody's actually delivering. Something in his expression shifts — not just possessive hunger now, but something quieter, almost tender.)
UNKNOWN MAN
(internal thought, barely above a whisper)
She still doesn't know how she looks when she laughs like that. Someone made her forget. One day, if I ever get the chance, I'm going to make sure she remembers.
Later That Night — The Bennett House
(Erica sits at the kitchen table with her parents, phone still warm in her hand from the goodnight call with Julian. Meera can barely contain her excitement.)
Meera Bennett (Mother)
(clasping her hands together)
"He wants to talk to your father? Already? Beta, this is wonderful news!"
Arjun Bennett (Father)
(more measured, studying his daughter's face)
"Erica. Is this what you want? Not what makes your mother happy. Not what looks good on paper. You."
Erica Bennett
(quiet, then nodding slowly)
"...I think so, Dad. He makes me feel wanted. Chosen. I haven't felt that in a long time."
Arjun Bennett (Father)
(searching her eyes a moment longer, then softening)
"Then that's enough for me. We'll have him over this weekend."
(Erica goes up to her room that night lighter than she's felt in years — humming under her breath, already imagining a future that feels, for the first time in a long time, solid and certain. She doesn't check the mirror before bed. She doesn't think once about the closet door, still shut, still hiding the woman she used to be.)
Erica Bennett
(whispering to herself in the dark, smiling)
"Maybe this is just what it feels like when it's finally right."
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