The ultimatum

Episode Six

CHIARA

"I got married yesterday, Father."

Arthur froze, his hand tightening on the thin white bedsheet. "That's not possible. You left yesterday, and Levi has been..."

"I didn't get married to Levi."

"What are you talking about?" my father snapped, his voice suddenly sharp and loud enough to echo off the tiled walls.

I grew stiff at the sound. He had never raised his voice at me in a hospital room before.

"Arthur, please, don't stress yourself," Eleanor murmured instantly, stepping in to press a hand against his shoulder. "I'm sure Chiara just made a mistake, right?" She turned her cool eyes on me, silently commanding me to back down.

"No, I didn't," I stated clearly.

My father looked at me, then down at my left hand. He stared at it in sheer disbelief, and then a new emotion flickered across his face—something that looked dangerously like fear. His breathing turned ragged as his chest heaved under the hospital gown.

"Have you lost your damn mind, Chiara?" my father shouted, pushing Eleanor's hand aside as he sat up further in bed. "First of all, you ran away, humiliating this entire family, and now you show up here claiming you're married?!"

"Daddy, please," Lillian whimpered softly from the other side of the bed, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. "My sister isn't like this. I'm sure... she must have been forced into..."

"I never asked you to speak on my behalf, Lillian," I interrupted coldly.

Lillian let out a soft shriek and shrank back against her mother's side, hiding her face in Eleanor's coat.

I looked at my father. The anger on his face was dark and suffocating. It was a familiar anger. It was the exact same look he gave me whenever Lillian felt offended or left out. If I chose a dress and Lillian wanted the exact same one, I had to give it up. If I asked for something after working hard for it, but Lillian wanted it first, I was accused of being selfish. It was always the same furious, disappointed glare directed at me, reminding me where I truly stood in his life.

"Look, I don't care if you were high or on drugs when you made that insane decision," my father growled, pointing a trembling finger at me. "You are going to annul that sham of a marriage immediately, apologize to Levi, and get married to him like you were supposed to!"

"No."

"What?"

"I said no, Father," I snapped back, my chest heaving as I looked from him to Lillian. "I am not getting married to a man who cheated on me!"

"That's ridiculous, Chiara!" Arthur barked, waving his hand dismissively. "Levi would never do something like that! I don't know what kind of delusional story you've built in your head, but you are mistaken!"

Eleanor stepped forward before I could respond, her tone shifting into something smooth, reasonable, and utterly sickening. "Your father is right, Chiara. Think about what this does to the family name. A marriage to some random stranger? The board of directors will use this against us. You need to fix it before the press gets hold of it."

"The last time I checked, you are not part of the board, Eleanor," I said, my voice dripping with venom. "Neither are you a shareholder in Vance Logistics. So I don't see how what the board thinks affects you in the slightest."

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Eleanor yelled straight in my face, her composed facade completely crumbling.

"I'm not annulling my marriage just because it's inconvenient for the board," I said, keeping my ground.

"Inconvenient?" Eleanor's voice reached a shrill pitch, the first raw emotion I had seen from her all day that wasn't rehearsed for an audience. "Chiara, your father has spent thirty years building this company, and you're going to let some nobody unravel it because you're too proud to admit you made a mistake?!"

"I didn't make a mistake."

"You married a man you met yesterday!"

"And I still trust him more than I trust anyone standing in this room right now!"

The words flew out of my mouth sharper than I intended, cutting straight through the sterile air of the room. I didn't take them back. I meant every single word.

Eleanor's mouth thinned into a tight, murderous line. Beside her, Lillian kept her head down, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Chiara! Enough!" My father's voice cut through the room like a blade.

"Father..."

"I meant what I said, Chiara," he commanded, his eyes cold and unyielding. "Annul this marriage today and marry Levi to secure the merger."

"No."

"If you don't annul this marriage within three days," my father said, leaning forward as his voice dropped into a terrifying threat, "I will strip you of all your legal rights to the company, revoke your access to the family trust, and you will no longer be known as my daughter."

My breath hitched. The air vanished from my lungs.

"Father, Levi cheated on me with my own sister!" I pleaded, my voice cracking under the sheer weight of the injustice. "He was with Lillian right before the ceremony!"

"Oh, lay off it, Chiara!" Eleanor interjected harshly. "Don't try to drag my daughter into your pathetic excuses!"

I looked past Eleanor straight at Lillian. For a fraction of a second, while my father was looking away, Lillian lifted her head. The tears were gone. A small, cruel smirk touched the corner of her lips before she quickly buried her face back into Eleanor's shoulder.

My chest twisted hard. I looked back at my father, my eyes practically begging him to believe me, to look at me just once like I was worth fighting for. I had spent my entire life trying to prove my worth to him, trying to earn a fraction of the affection he lavished on Lillian. But his eyes were fixed on me with a terrifying mixture of disgust and cold authority that told me everything I needed to know.

"I would like to rest now," Arthur ordered coldly, sinking back into his pillows. "Everyone leave."

Eleanor immediately leaned down, kissing his forehead and whispering something soft into his ear, to which he gave a weak nod. When his eyes shifted to Lillian, his expression softened instantly, and he pulled her down to kiss her cheek.

"Get some rest, Daddy," Lillian whimpered softly.

I stood there, invisible. A complete outsider in my own family.

Eleanor ushered Lillian toward the door, throwing me one last unreadable glance before pushing her daughter into the hallway. I stayed behind for two seconds longer, staring at the man who had raised me, watching as he closed his eyes and turned his head toward the window, completely shutting me out.

A single, hot tear escaped my eye. I wiped it away fiercely with the back of my hand, pulled my shoulders back, and stepped out into the corridor.

I found Alessio and Sofia waiting in the lobby near the large glass windows. Alessio was standing with his hands tucked into his suit pockets, staring out at the rain, while Sofia sat on a vinyl chair, her knees bouncing rapidly in a full panic spiral.

Both of them looked up the moment my heels clicked against the floor.

"Well?" Sofia bounced up immediately, rushing toward me. "What happened? Chiara, you look like you saw a ghost!"

"He's stable," I said quietly, my voice hollow.

"Hey... are you okay?" Sofia asked, wrapping her arms around me in a tight, protective hug.

I leaned into her for a brief second before pulling back. "I'm fine, Sof. Really. I think you should head home and get some rest. You've been up all night with me."

"Let's go, Chiara," Alessio said softly, stepping up beside me. His tall frame provided a sudden shield between me and the rest of the hospital.

Sofia looked at Alessio, her eyes still filled with suspicion and caution, but she gave a slow nod. She leaned in, kissing my cheek warmly. "Call me as soon as you get home. I mean it."

"I will," I promised.

As soon as the heavy door of the Maybach clicked shut behind us, sealing out the storm, I let out a long, shuddering sigh. I sank deep into the leather seat, releasing the tension I hadn't realized I was holding.

Beside me, Alessio sat in that same unhurried, careful stillness he had maintained all night, watching me quietly.

"He wants me to get the marriage annulled," I said, breaking the heavy silence. I chose my words carefully, revealing only what was necessary. "He gave me an ultimatum. Three days."

Something dark flickered behind Alessio's gray eyes, gone as quickly as it appeared.

"And what did you tell him?" he asked, his voice low and unnervingly calm.

I hesitated, staring straight ahead at the rain running down the windshield. "I told him no. But if I don't sign those annulment papers by Friday, he's stripping my rights to the firm, cutting off my trust, and disowning me."

Alessio didn't look shocked. He slowly leaned closer, his shadow falling over me in the dim light of the car, his gray eyes locking onto mine with a cold, terrifying certainty.

"Good," he whispered. "Then we don't wait three days."

"Wait what" I asked, frowning.

"Well my dear wife," Alessio said, reaching for his phone, "we're going to leak our marriage certificate to every news outlet in Manhattan before your father even leaves that hospital bed."