Chapter 5

Ella POV

The words landed somewhere in my chest but I kept my face still.

“So? why are you telling me? It’s your loan not mine. Fix your own mess.” I said flatly.

“Fine.” He shrugged. “Then I’ll decline their offer and use your brother as collateral instead.”

My stomach turned.

Mom’s letter flashed through my mind.

“Give me till morning.” My voice came out quieter, carefully constructed. “Let me think about it.”

“That’s my girl.” The excitement in his voice was immediate and noticeable. “Get some rest, I am expecting your decision in the morning.”

I turned toward my room.

His door clicked shut behind me.

I stopped.

Waiting for any sound from behind.

When I heard none, I turned back around and walked straight to the study.

The room greeted me with darkness and dead air. I slipped my phone out of my pocket and switched on the flashlight, sweeping it slowly across the room until the bookshelf came into view.

I crossed the room carefully, counting my steps, making sure the floor gave no sound.

The last panel shifted under my fingers. A brown envelope dropped out.

I picked it up. Opened it.

My flashlight moved across the first page.

Illegal transactions. Dates stretching back years. Names I didn’t recognize connected to amounts that made my heart beat unevenly.

I turned the page.

Forged business documents. Fabricated contracts. Money laundered through shell companies with clean sounding names.

I turned again.

Photographs.

I almost dropped the envelope. Bodies. Faces I couldn’t place. Men who had probably been erased from history. Neat handwritten notes in the margins, dates, locations.

I kept reading.

Then the last page.

A single document.

My mother’s name at the top.

I read it twice.

Then I stood completely still in the darkness of my father’s study and felt my whole body switch off.

He hadn’t just driven her away.

He had made sure she couldn’t see us again. I hid the envelope in my pocket then block the flashlight a bit from full brightness. Then made way to room.

I stared at the celling of my room, sleep refuse to step in, I guess everything I saw decided to stay with me.

At the sun slipped through the window I had made my decision. My father was going to pay for every single thing he did to my mother. Her only sin was falling for him and he made her suffer the penalty.

I stood up slowly, shielding my eyes from the light. I had no idea when sleep finally took me.

I checked my phone. 7:30am.

Surprised my father hadn’t come bursting in already. I guess money had a way of stopping certain kinds of nonsense. I sighed and moved to close the window.

My door bust open.

“Etiquette was clearly not part of what you taught me and Aaron.” I said flatly, climbing back onto my bed.

He stood in the doorway, visibly trying to control his anger. “A good morning shouldn’t be a difficult thing to start with, should it?” He stepped inside, eyes already scanning every corner of the room the way he always did.

Does he still think I am a child who needs monitoring? I shook my head at his annoying performance.

“There is nothing good about this morning.” I replied, pulling the duvet over myself.

“What is your decision? Do we use your brother or any other option?” He asked, barely concealing his eagerness.

“Can you at least leave your son out of this.” I jolted up, irritation sliding through my voice.

“Then your answer.” He said, moving slowly around my room, opening anything his hands landed on.

Thank God I hid the letter and envelope well.

“I am going to marry him.” I said, standing and walking toward him. Pushing his hands away from my things. “And can you stop going through my belongings.”

His entire face shifted.

“You are really going to do it.” He stepped toward me, pulling me into a hug. “Today I can truly say you love me as your father.”

“No.” I pulled back and shook him off, dusting my clothes like our contact had left something on them. “It comes with a price.”

He stilled.

“Aaron comes with me.”

“What?” The word came out fast and defensive. “Why should he come with you? He is young. He needs his father at this crucial time.” He scrambled for excuses, his eyes shifting and that reaction alone made me more certain than ever.

“He is coming with me.” I said, rearranging my things. “Or there is no deal.”

“But Mr Salvatore may not agree to that.” He replied, still reaching for something to hold onto.

“Then I will tell him myself.” I turned and gestured toward the door. “Now please get out of my room.”

“Now you are chasing me out”

“Out.” I said flatly, steering him toward the door with one firm hand.

“Ella!” His voice rose from behind the closed door. “You and this your lousy attitude. Thank God I found you a husband because no man would willingly take a nuisance like you as a wife!”

I climbed back onto my bed and pulled the duvet over my head.

The noise outside meant nothing to me.

Some noise coming from the sitting room shook me awake.

I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes and reaching for my phone. 3pm. I had slept longer than I had in a while. I dragged myself to the shower, did my usual routine, dressed and headed downstairs to find something to eat. Whatever noise was happening below wasn’t my concern.

Until I got to the sitting room.

Aaron was being held back by one of the guards, his arms pinned, his face twisted with anger.

“What are you doing? Let him go.” I crossed the room immediately, pulling him behind me. My eyes landed on my father and beside him, the man from yesterday.

“I thought I was the one you wanted.” I said flatly. “Why is my brother involved in this?”

“Ella.” Aaron grabbed my arm, his voice shaking. “Is it true? Are you actually getting married? Tell me they are joking.”

The words hit somewhere deep.

“I will explain everything later.” I kept my voice steady, squeezing his hand. “Just calm down?”

“Dad made you do this.” His eyes filled immediately, tears spilling before he could stop them. “He forced you.”

“No.” I turned to face him fully. “I did this for me and you.” I gestured around the house slowly. “So we can have a better life outside of this.”

He looked at me for a long moment.

“Go and pack your things.” I said quietly. “You are coming with me.”

His eyes went wide. “Really?”

I turned to my father, keeping my voice completely even. “He can come, can’t he?”

“He can.” The man beside my father answered before my dad could open his mouth.

“But” My father started.

“Do you want your debt cleared or do you have the money now?” The man asked, his voice carrying no emotion.

My father’s jaw tightened. “He can go.” The words came out through gritted teeth, a storm of anger buried just beneath the surface.

“Thank you, Dad.” I smiled at him. “You really are the best.”

He said nothing. But I heard him curse under his breath as he turned away.

Aaron and I walked out side by side. The guards carried our things without a word. At the door I stopped and turned back one last time.

My father stood in the doorway watching.

I smirked.

Your armour is already coming apart. And I will make sure to strip every last piece of it.

I got into the car. Aaron slid in beside me, pressing close. Through the window I watched the man hand my father a brown envelope papers, probably. The debt officially settled.

I pressed my bag closer to my side, feeling the outline of the envelope and letter hidden safely inside.

The car pulled away.

When a the white villa came into view, he let out a slow breath.

“Wow.”

An elderly man stood at the entrance, carrying a little girl. His eyes found our car, his stared felt like contempt before we had even stepped out.

My stomach tightened but I kept my expression still.

First impressions matter.

We stepped out of the car. The man beside me shot the elderly man a look that could have cut glass. The silence between them was its own conversation entirely.

Then the little girl in the elderly man’s arms wriggled free and dropped to the ground, running straight toward us with her arms wide open.

“Daddy!” She skidded to a stop when she saw me and Aaron, head tilting slowly.

Then her face broke into a smile.

“Daddy.” She tugged his sleeve, voice dropping to a whisper but the whole compound could hear. “You brought us another mommy?”

The words cut through the stillness in the air.

I felt Aaron go completely still beside me.

The elderly man’s eyes moved to me slowly. The smile that crossed his face held nothing warm.

“So what I heard is true.” His voice was quiet. His gaze cut briefly to the man beside me then came back. “Seven years and you still haven’t learned your lesson.”

He looked me over one final time.

“Let’s hope she doesn’t disappoint like the last one.”