Chapter one

Emily's Pov

This was meant to be one of the happiest days of my life.

I was standing inches away from my fiance at our family's charity gala. It was one of the biggest we had thrown together this year and everything was perfect.

He then called on the attention of the guests which included the top elites and of course the press, who were struggling to get close to him to record the moment.

“Everyone, I want to make an announcement”. His voice echoed throughout the hall as he turned to me.

I stared up at him, my eyes practically beaming with curiosity.

What did he want to announce?

“I'd like to thank all of you for showing up this fine evening for this event. It shows how much you care for your community and your people”. He paused and then turned to me but for some reason his eyes looked like they were void of emotions.

I felt this tingle, like something bad was about to happen. But that was impossible.

“My fiance and I, as well as our families have spent so much time and effort into putting this together. And .lay for the work was done by her, thank you Emily”

I smiled brightly but I couldn't shake off a strange feeling. Something about his tone, his mannerism was off, it was strange.

“Of course the announcement isn't me thanking you all.”. He said and the crowd giggled and laughed but his expression remained still and eerie.

“I'm here to announce that I'm calling off my engagement with my fiancé, Emily Cortez”

The whole room went dead silent.

The colour drained from my face immediately those words rolled off Ricardo's tongue like a death sentence.

All eyes turned to us as I stood there frozen in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened. It felt like I was in a nightmare, but no this was reality.

“Wh-what did you just say?”. I asked again, just to be sure my ears weren't betraying me. I could feel sweat beads forming on my forehead.

Ricardo looked at me without an ounce of remorse in his eyes.

“I said I'm formally calling off our engagement and also rejecting you as my mate, Emily”. His voice was as cold as ice.

My heart dropped instantly and I felt this wave of unexplainable emotions wash over me. What just happened? Why would he do such a thing and why here of all places and in front of these people?

I couldn't even process my thoughts and the questions popping up in my head when… it started.

The madness.

One by one the cameras clicked and flashed in front of us. I could hear the murmurs from the guests, they were just as confused as I was.

And they wanted answers.

I looked around me, my perfectly curated world was falling apart piece by piece, right before my very eyes. And then I turned to the man who had caused all this madness with one sentence. Ricardo Marino, heir to the Marino empire. My now ex-fiance.

I wanted to scream and demand answers but words betrayed me. I just looked at him with tears welling up in my eyes and mouthed the word “why”.

But I was met with total silence.

He stood there tall and unwavering, like he hadn't just ruined my life in a single breath.

Bastard

The reporters wasted no time in flooding the scene with their microphones and cameras. They couldn't be more hungry for drama.

“Mr Marino care to tell us the reason for this sudden decision?”

“Surely there has to be a reason for rejecting Ms. Cortez”

“Is it a personal or political issue?”

The voices and questions drowned me in my thoughts. Ricardo didn't answer a single question though. He ignored them plainly. His bodyguards jumped in to shield him from the press and guided him out of the hall.

I stood there still frozen down to my feet, still dazed from what had happened a few minutes ago.

My eyes were still fixated on him even as his silhouette disappeared from the scene. Then the nosy reporters turned to me.

“Ms. Cortez, do you have an idea as to why Mr. Marino called off your engagement?”

“Did you two have a fight prior to this?”

“How do you feel now that your fiancé has left you?”

I was practically surrounded. All my life I had been trained to remain calm under the public eye. But this? I wasn't trained or prepared for this. My mother never told me what to do when my mate rejected me in front of thousands of people. Probably because she never imagined in her wildest dreams that it would ever happen.

I wanted so badly for the ground to swallow me while, but that wasn't going to happen.

As the reporters surrounded me, bombarding me with more questions I felt my legs getting weak and my palms going cold. My head began to spin.

“Emily!”. A familiar voice called out to me from the crowd. I turned to see where the voice was coming from but my vision was blurry.

The questions, the lights flickering, the microphone being shoved in my face didn't stop, it only got worse. I held my head with my hand and called for my own bodyguards to help but they struggled through the crowd to reach me.

Suddenly I felt my legs give away and my head became dizzy. I couldn't even hear anything properly anymore.

“Emily! No!”. It was Rudy. He pushed through the reporters but before he could reach me… I blacked out.

Beep Beep Beep

The beeping sound of the monitor woke me up.

I slowly opened up my eyes and immediately shut them back when the bright light pierced through them violently.

“Oh my she's awake!”. I heard my mother's worried voice and then felt her hands touching my face and arms.

I managed to open my eyes and they met her worried eyes.

“Are you hurt? Did any of those reporters harm you? Oh my baby girl”. She bombarded me with questions

“Mother please. I need some space to breath”.

“Sorry my dear I've just been so worried”

I looked around me and realised that I was in a hospital room, then it all started coming back. Ricardo's rejection, the press and me… blacking out.

I heaved a heavy sigh.

The door opened and Rudy walked in with the doctor.

“Emily.. you're awake.”. He said softly and rushed to my side.

“Are you okay?”. He asked again and I just nodded slightly.

My head still ached and I felt a bit dizzy but I was okay.

“I don't know what got into Ricardo for him to pull that awful stunt! I've been trying to reach his grandparents but they're just ignoring all my messages. I'm beginning to think they orchestrated this.”.  My mother said angrily.

Of course that was what worried her more. I knew her initial show of affection was going to be short lived.

“Doctor, how's her condition?”. Rudy asked the doctor while my mother was still spiraling about Ricardo's actions.

“She'll be fine. She just needs to rest..”. The doctor paused and looked at my mother who was busy making calls. “She needs to rest and be away from… stressful situations.”.

“Understood Doctor.” Rudy nodded and gave me a faint smile.

“She's stable enough to be discharged. You can come pick her up this evening.”.

“Alright doctor”. Rudy answered and the doctor left

My mother finally got off the phone with whoever she was talking to and faced me.

“My darling Emily. I'll need to leave now to attend to some things. The situation is becoming something else. We need to do damage control. I'll arrange a press conference for you soon. The Marino's think they can mess with us, they better think again”. She said and gave me a light kiss on the forehead and quickly made her way out of the hospital room.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Rudy. He was still looking at me worriedly.

“I'm really sorry about… everything. I don't know why Ricardo would do something like this”.

“It's okay. For now I want to focus on getting better. Afterall mother has it under control.”. I didn't believe in my own words. I knew deep down that this was the beginning of a disaster.

Rudy noticed that I was still unsettled. He rubbed my shoulders with his palm and gave me a comforting smile.

“It's okay Emily. I'll be here for you no matter what. Everything will be okay”

For once, he was wrong.

Very wrong…