CHAPTER 2

 The Bad News

Isabella's POV

"Gabriel, stop!"

"YOU ARE MINE NOW!"

I snapped my eyes open and I began to pant in fear at the horrible nightmare I had. My entire body was soaked in sweat and the rays of sun radiating from the window shone across my face. I gulped a lump down my throat and sat upright. I looked over myself and that was when it suddenly clicked to me that none of that was a nightmare, they were just memories. Memories of everything that had transpired between I and Gabriel last night.

A drop of tears rolled down my cheeks as I recalled how Gabriel forcefully had sex with me last night, he kept yelling one thing that stuck like glue in memory. It was the fact that he kept claiming I belonged to him. It got me completely afraid. What had he meant by I was his?

The door to the small room suddenly opened wide and I hastily placed my hands over my chest to cover my naked body. Gabriel had aggressively ripped off my clothes last night and left me to sleep on the hard cold floor with no clothes on. I looked up to gaze at the culprit, it was an old lady dressed in a maiden outfit. She sighed heavily and smiled at me with a pitiful look directed at me. "Oh dear, you must be frightened." She rushed towards me with a towel clutched tight to her hands.

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from breaking down into tears but the look she gave me, it made me want to cry even more. I felt pathetic and the fact that I was naked made me feel like I had been stripped of my own dignity. It was hard to process.

"Let me help you. My name is Sandra and I am the head maiden of the Santos mansion." She introduced herself. I remaind quiet because I was reluctant about trusting anyone around here. Look what happened to me when I trusted Gabriel's boys. The story behind all of this was that Gabriel had gotten into a fatal accident and was rushed to the hospital where I worked, the moment I had set my eyes on him, I knew he was the one who killed my parents and took my brother as a captive, I could never forget his unique eyes.

I had the chance to kill him back at the hospital, Gabriel's life was in my hands for a brief moment yet I chose to save him because I wanted him to suffer the right way, I wanted him to slowly pay for his deeds but I planned to do all of that right after saving my brother.

After saving Gabriel, days later, his boys came around the hospital saying Gabriel wanted to honour the doctor who saved his life, I saw it as an opportunity to request for my brother's freedom but I was too stupid not to notice that I was indirectly walking into a trap.

I had blindly trusted Gabriel and his boys, now here I was, suffering for choosing to trust anyone.

"I know all of this is going to be hard for you to process darling but I need you to stay strong, I promise you that everything is going to be okay." The so called Sandra lady said, she paused to flash me a reassuring smile. Her hands reached for my shoulders and she rubbed them gently. It broke my heart entirely and at that point, I could no longer hold back the tears.

I allowed them flow down my cheeks as I broke into sobs. "I just want to go back home with my brother. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Oh dear." Sandra muttered. She went on her knees and pulled me into a tight embrace. Sandra allowed me to cry in her arms for what looked felt like hours when it was only just a few minutes. I felt better crying into her arms and afterwards, she helped me up my feet and wrapped a towel around my body.

"Now, let us get you cleaned up. Follow me." She said. I obeyed Sandra and she escorted me down the hallways. I got a lot of eyes staring at me from other staffs in the mansion, some of them made snickering noises while the others flashed me pitiful gazes.

Sandra led me into the elevator. We stopped at the third floor and she pointed at the first room on the left. "You can go in there, get dressed, clean up and meet me on the last floor, I will be up there waiting for you." Sandra said. I nodded my head in agreement at her and flashed her a grateful smile. "Thank you for helping me." I said in a low tone barely above a whisper.

Sandra waved at me and I watched her slowly disappear out of my sight. I hated to say this but as Sandra disappeared, I felt lonely and afraid. I felt like it was just me and Gabriel alone in the mansion regardless of the fact that there were several guards lurking around each floor.

I shrugged off the thought and did as Sandra had instructed. I showered and met some neat clothes already arranged for me on the bed. I changed into them and although they felt a bit too fitted but I did not have a choice, prisoners do not have choice.

I made my way to the last floor and just as she had explained, there was only one room on that floor. I pushed the door open and stepped inside. I stood by the door in shock, of course Sandra was there but so was the beast himself, Gabriel Santos.

I watched him hand a brown envelope to Sandra, she walked towards me and handed it over to me. I curiously ripped it open and read through the contents. It was a contract marriage proposal.

Two things about the proposal left me in utter shock.

One was for the fact that it was signed on my name, the other one was that the document was from five years ago.

In other words, the document legally meant I had signed a marriage proposal with Gabriel five years ago.