Chapter 3: Zolandria's POV

"Have a seat", he gestures to the couch in the middle of the office.

I walk with confidence, but my insides crumble. I've never felt this intimidated.

Don't get me wrong. I've met a lot of Mafia Lords growing up because of my dad, but this level of intimidation is new to me. There are Mafia Lords who are just all talk when they find out about my family.

This man, sitting comfortably in his chair, isn't one of them. He could put a bullet in my head and not blink.

I sit.

His gaze follows my every move. Unsettling.

After a few minutes, he finally stands. His height is unbelievable. Now the intimidation feels overwhelming. He walks over and sits across from me.

I catch a wisp of his cologne—a woody and minty smell, subtle yet projects perfectly. He smells heavenly.

Hazel-green eyes, prominent nose, beautiful lips—a well-structured face with a faded scar at the top of his right eye.

Features of an angel. Yet, there's nothing angelic about him. Well, the devil was once an angel.

"You're not going to stare at me all day, right?" he says bluntly.

"I wasn't," I answer too quickly, giving myself away.

"Your family doesn't seem to care about you. There's no report about you being missing."

Family—the sound of it makes my tongue feel metallic.

"Well, that makes my job easier", he continues when he realizes I wasn't going to say anything. "We have a deal and I expect you to hold your end of the bargain, no excuses."

"I don't know the details of the deal," I finally speak.

"You don't have to bother yourself with that."

"But I need to know."

"No, you don't. You do what you’re told to. No questions asked." He stares at me hard. I can tell he's getting irritated, yet I don't give up.

"You can't just dump a deal on me without giving me the details. I need to know what I am getting myself into." Great, now I'm feeling restless.

"You're late then, you already agreed to it."

"And what if I choose not to cooperate anymore?" I stare right back at him.

" You don't have a choice. Have you always talked back like this? To your elders? You should have done that with your family all these years," he counters.

I feel a jab in my heart.

"We have a deal and there's no backing out. As and when I need you, you'll prove yourself useful," he says while rising from his seat. His tone indicates there is no room for discussion.

One day, you think you're getting married to the love of your life, and then the next, you're being told you're only useful for one thing. I rise and walk to the door without uttering a word. Right before I can get to it, he speaks.

"Zolandria." I turn.

"Having second thoughts about this deal proves what your family thinks. You're weak", he says coldly.

"What—"

"Kane." He bellows, and the oak doors open widely. The bodyguard I came with enters and doesn't spare me a glance.

"You can take her back to her room now," he commands dismissively.

My chest aches. Kane— I now know his name— tries to give me a nudge when he realizes seconds have gone by.

"Don't touch me," I hiss.

I walk out and head right back to my room. Kane trails behind me. I bang the door right in his face before he can enter. I lock it, walk to my bed, and collapse.

I need to organize my thoughts and find a way to get out of here. If he thinks he's going to boss me around, then he has another thing coming. I'm tired of living my life on everybody's terms.

Wait—where's my phone, and what happened to the driver I booked? I hope he's safe. I walk to the door and shout Kane's name.

Silence.

"Kane!" No response.

"Can you tell me where my phone is?" I continue because I know there's no way he's leaving me unguarded.

"Check the drawer beside your bed," he grunts.

"Thank you!" I dash for the drawer.

My phone and purse lie in it when I pull it open. I open my phone, and there are a whole lot of notifications from Raven.

Raven Skylar is a friend I made during college when I decided to work during the summer holidays one time. My dad wasn't aware of it; he wouldn't have allowed me to do so. Meetings with high-profile people or mafias were all he cared about, and that was suffocating.

Raven and I worked at an ice cream shop, and we hit it off on the first day. A gorgeous lady with chestnut hair. I was naive at the time, and Raven was confident.

"Hi, you're welcome", she approached me with a big smile on her face.

"Hi", I replied timidly.

"What would you like to order?" She grabbed a menu from the counter and gave it to me. "Our salted caramel flavor and waffles are really great, you should try them", she added.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm not here to order. I saw the post outside and thought I could give it a try," I replied.

"Great! I'm Raven, girl, you're gorgeous!"

I remember her giving me the tightest yet the most comfortable hug I've ever received in my life. We hit it off and had the best summer ever. She wasn't from here; she had come to visit that summer, and after we went back to school with busy schedules, we hardly kept in touch.

Seeing her numerous notifications means something is up. My thumb hovers over the notifications.

My stomach knots.

I almost don't want to know, but curiosity gets the best of me. Her messages are links and a couple of "Where are you?", "How are you doing?", "Zoe!!!", "Don't do anything stupid.", "You can talk to me."

I tap on one of the links, and my fingers tremble; there are pictures of Xena and Damien's wedding plastered all over the page with a headline written in bold, "Azaeres legacy restored: Xena secures family honor by replacing disgraced sister at the altar."

Disgraced sister? Family honor? If anything, Xena is the disgraced one!

Suddenly, the words are blurry, and tears stream down my face.

My heart aches.

I go ahead to open the other links, and they all have atrocious headlines like "Heiress abandoned: sources say she was too fragile for life in the spotlight", " Damien finally free from cold, unwanted fiancée—insiders say Xena was always the perfect match".

This can't be.

There's definitely someone behind all these. I scroll further, and that's when it hits harder—the comments. "Damien dodged a bullet—Xena's the price." "She was never strong enough for this life."

My throat burns.

My stomach tightens as I click on the last link. "Love wins at last: Damien and Xena's fairytale wedding." There are intimate pictures of Damien and Xena on dates, and they appear to be recent.

The phone nearly falls out of my hand. The betrayal becomes ten times worse.

How long has this been going on for? Why didn't I get any clue? Did my dad know? In fact, did everyone know? Was I a clown?

I check my call log to see if Damien had called, and there's nothing.

He didn't call me.

He didn't want me.

Cast away by family.

Betrayed by the man I love.

Ridiculed by the public. Is this what my family wanted?

Blood is thicker than water? Well, that blood doesn't matter anymore.

If I'm the disgraced one, I'm ready to drag them through the mud with me.