Thanks once again you guys for the great reviews! It honestly does help me keep this going! Now on to the next chapter!

Julie had performed like an Oscar winner when she returned inside after her meeting with Mitchell. She had her grandfather and Daniel convinced she was anything but scared. She kept her cool till she was alone in her room. Once inside her locked doors she collapsed and spent the entire night crying, feeling angry and scared to death. Sometime before dawn she came to an end point. She knew her life's fate was waiting before her, she just had to persuade herself that. She'd always feared this, and finally it was happening despite all her attempts to change it.

"I'm going to be locked in a cage for the rest of my life, one way or another." She groaned softly to herself as a fresh set of tears rolled down her face. She laid another hour then drug herself to the shower then dressed and sat back down on the foot of her bed. She slowly pulled on her shoes, then twisted her head back from her face. She stood and straightened her skirt then slowly made her way out her door and downstairs.

She heard voices in the office and walked towards them. She walked in shoulders slumped and eyes still puffy. She glanced upwards for only a second to receive a pair of victorious smirks. She said nothing and sat down in a chair. She spent the following hour staring blankly into the fire, saying nothing and being asked nothing. "It's out of my hands now." She mused silently to herself.

Most of the Ducks sat around eating breakfast wondering where Julie was.

"She probley is still sleeping, they didn't get in till late from the sounds of it." Connie answered.

"Not as late as you two." Goldberg grinned at Connie then at Guy.

"Shut it Goldie." Guy smiled.

"Ok, ok!" Goldberg said raising his hands in mock surrender.

They finished up their breakfast then went off in groups. Connie, Guy, Kenny and Dwayne went into town to kill time before watching a movie. The rest hung around the estate. They were surprised and struck by wonder when Alex found each of them and asked them to come to the library. They filed in noticing Julie standing leaning slightly aginst a table. She never once looked up at them, but they noticed in her stance that something was terribly wrong.

"Glad you all came, well most of you. Aren't we missing some birdies?" Alex asked very haughtily. Julie kept her head down but looked slightly around the room noticing Connie, Guy, Kenny and Dwayne gone. She then also noticed no Fulton or Portman. "Just as well they aren't here for this." She thought solemnly.

"They'll find out the good news soon enough." Alex smiled then started to speak again when Mitchell cut him off.

"Oh do let me tell this wonderful news." Mitchell smirked and stepped up before them. "I'll get right to the point, Julie will be marrying me." He finished glancing over at her taking pure joy in her defeated silence.

Her grandfather got up and walked over to Julie, "Honey this can't be true." He said as he tipped her face up to look at him. When he looked in her eyes he didn't see that spark anymore. "No angel." He whispered then pulled her into a hug. Mitchell, Alex and her mother enjoyed a glance at one another.

"This can't be real." Muttered Luis.

"What the hell do you have on her?" Charlie grumbled.

"Yeah truly, no way she'd voluntarily marry you!" Jesse added.

The three gloating pigs didn't respond they simply smiled at their comments and ignored them.

"Outta get beat down." Russ said to a nodding Goldberg.

Charlie got up and crossed over to Julie and her grandfather.

"Whatever it is Jules, we can help. Don't do this!" He said angrily.

She turned her head and looked at Charlie, wishing more then anything to be honest and tell him. "But he can't help." She cried to herself. She answered him with a short shake of her head.

Mitchell walked over taking Julie's hand and pulled her away from them, then stood before them arm around her and announced.

"There will be a party tonight celebrating our engagement." He spoke as Julie visibly shuddered.

"That would be a waste of time." Daniel's voice rang out as he entered the room with the missing ducks behind him.

"And just why is that?" Mitchell smirked taking a sip of his drink.

"Because Julie is otherwise engaged." He stated.

"Whatever her plains were for tonight she can just cancel.." Her mother started but was quickly silenced.

"No no, you seem to not understand. Which isn't shocking, let me put this in very small words for you." Daniel said enjoying the glares.

"Julie you see is otherwise engaged, not meaning plans but meaning engaged in the traditional sense." He smiled then noticed the strange look Julie was giving him, he gave her a wink as Mitchell shouted.

"And just who the hell to!"

"Me, golden boy." A voice confirmed.

Everyone turned around to see Portman standing next to Daniel, who was trying very hard to not laugh out loud at that moment. Everyone started glancing around wildly at one another, while Julie just stared in shock.

"No way in hell is my daughter engaged to you!" Her mother yelled slamming her drink down.

"Hate to disappoint you, but she is..mom." Portman smirked at the fuming woman.

"Impossible, she's engaged to me." Mitchell incoherently said.

"The impossible occurs each day." Her grandfather quipped and winked at Daniel.

Mitchell then turned and grabbed her by the arms then glared, "What game are you playing huh!" He yelled at her.

"First get your hands off her, and second you want to yell at someone direct it at me." Portman said calmly as a few giggles escaped some of the ducks.

He glared at Portman then shoved her backwards slightly. She quickly went and stood beside her grandfather.

"I don't know what this is but no way in hell she's marrying you." Mitchell spat out.

"Yeah yeah chat chat, whatever." Portman said boredly then asked. "Ready to leave Jules?"

Her grandfather started towards the door behind them with her in toe. Daniel and Portman left with a smirk and followed them, with the ducks chasing right behind them.

They crossed over into the dining room and shut the doors just as the various comments began to fly.

"Oh my god, what is going on!" Connie squealed.

"That's what I'd like to know." Julie mumbled.

"I'll explain everything to everyone later, but for now we need to have a small meeting with just the four of us ok?" Daniel stated.

The ducks all nodded and jogged outside still giggling and talking loudly. Julie then turned and looked at Daniel and Portman.

"Ok, what in the lord's name is going on?!" She asked annoyed.

"Take a seat and I'll explain." Daniel began as she walked over and did as she was asked.

"You know that meeting I had yesterday?" He continued as she nodded. "I was talking with Portman here. He told me everything that has happened and been said around here. And in doing so confirmed my fears that again they were planning to railroad you into marrying him somehow. So I looked into it legally trying to find a way to protect you, the problem is you're of legal age. Therefor your parents would have no say in the matter, of course you mother wouldn't stop it, and your father isn't here sadly. So I looked again and came up with no legal way of preventing him to force you into marriage."

"But wait, I can't be forced into it right? I mean that's illegal forcing someone to be married when they refuse isn't it?" Julie asked.

"Well you can refuse, but his family owns this town he'd buy off anyone who objected and tried to stop it." Daniel answered.

"So explain everything else." She asked.

"The only loop hole in this is, if you are already married then obviously he can't force you. Because your husband then would be in sense your guardian." Daniel asked waiting for the explosion.

Julie turned her head slightly then asked a bit more clam then any of them expected. "You're expecting me to marry Dean?" She asked shocked.

"No. Look Jules, this is just a cover. This buys us time till your birthday, then you own everything and can use that power aginst them all. It would have been a more elaborate plain, but this all happened a bit ahead of what we were expecting." Daniel responded quickly.

She shook her head trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. "Ok, so you need me to pretend I knew about this all along, right?

"Right." Daniel answered. "And it has to appear truthful."

"Ok. But I have one question."

"What's that Jules?" Daniel asked.

"Why risk it?" She asked glancing at Portman truly for the first time.

"A promise." Portman answered simply remembering the walk they had before the will was read.

"A promise?" She asked confused.

"Yes a promise." He then added. "Ducks fly together Jules, on and off the ice. No matter what." He finished and after a minute she finally smiled slightly.

"I guess they truly do." She nodded.

"Ok so, we have some things to take care of now." Her grandfather spoke.

"Like what?" Daniel asked.

"Well real or not, my granddaughter is going to have a ring!" He laughed and soon they joined in.