Condition

Chapter 3 

The world stops, my mouth hangs open. “Wh–what? No. That’s impossible.” 

“You will marry their eldest son,” he says. “You will marry Hayden.” The room spins, my vision blurs, my mind empties. Marry Hayden? A Pierro? The man I met tonight? I don’t like marriage, I never wanted it, not even in my dreams…. And definitely not with a Pierro.

My father scans at me coldly. “This is the only way to save our family.”

I want to scream. I look at all of them, and I realize something. My suffering is their solution. This isn’t just a nightmare.

The following day, I stayed inside my room. They didn’t have to remind me I was grounded, I didn’t even want to leave anymore. I just lay, staring at the tray ceiling like everything in my life was falling one by one.

Despite all the luxuries, my only dream was simple — freedom. To run away, but now…. that dream felt more impossible than ever. My father warned me last night. He said everything would be “arranged”, and until both families agreed, I needed to follow the old rules so nothing would be considered a violation… still confusing.

FLASHBACK

I shook my head without hesitation, “I can’t marry a man I don’t love.” 

“It’s for business, not love,” he answered. 

Look where that obsession from business brought us. This time, I finally gathered enough courage to speak. “I’m not a property,” I told him. “I have a life. What about my life?”

“You are a Salvatore,” he fired back. “This is your life.”

“No! I can’t —” but before I could argue more, my mother’s hand flew to her chest. Her breathing turned sharp, fast, desperate. Her mouth opened like she was trying to pull air from somewhere it didn’t exist. “Mom?” My voice broke. “Mom!”

“Call a doctor! Now!” My father shouted. 

I reached out to hold her arm, but she weakly pushed my hand away.

“Don’t…. Touch…. Me…..” My mom, breathless.

Hearing that felt like someone ripped something inside my chest. I cried like a child, I couldn’t even help her. My father shouted for my brothers, they rushed down and carried her. Within minutes, the emergency team arrived. 

My father turned to me with rage in his eyes. “Look at what you’ve done,” he said. “I will deal with you soon, you ungrateful bitch.” And then he walked away.

All of them left… leaving me behind.

END OF FLASHBACK

My phone rang again… Nairovi. I turned it off. She must never find out the truth. She’d blame herself, I couldn’t let her dragged into this. Days passed, and I finally agreed to my father, I need to save my family. 

The both kins arranged a family meeting… Now here we were. The place looked like a palace pretending to be a restaurant — marble walls, classical paintings, & chandeliers. Every table was decorated with gold accents and soft lights. At the long table there were around six of them. All Pierros, in the middle is an old man – definitely the grandfather. We took our seats.

“I can’t believe an enemy is sitting with us today,” a girl said. She looked my age — fair skin, glowing, soft brown wavy hair, slim, wearing a deep emerald silk dress with gold chains. 

A man beside her said with a firm voice, “Manners, Elly Rose.” He looked around my father’s age, same eyes as Elly Rose, obviously her father.

The table was covered with truffle pasta, wagyu, caviar, fancy wines, and champagne. “I never imagined a Salvatore sitting at my table,” the old man said. “Much less asking for terms.” He continued, “I am Henry Pierro, and this is my wife, Aurora.” Aurora’s hair tied in a neat bun, pearl earrings, and a calm but sharp stare. Then Henry added, “I heard you went bankrupt because of gambling?”

I shot my father with a questioning look, gambling? What? 

“I don’t think we can help you with that,” he said calmly.

“Excuse me,” I said. “I’ll go to the comfort room. 

I leaned on the sink for a second, trying to calm myself. When I finally opened the door to step out — Hayden was right there. Standing in front of the door, before I could even react, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back inside. My back hit the wall, and he stepped closer, trapping me. His grip wasn’t painful. 

“I didn’t know you wanted me to be your husband,” he said. 

I pushed his chest, but he grabbed my other wrist. He lifted both of my hands above my head, crossing them with one while the other pressed against the wall beside my face. My heartbeat turned wild. “Let go!,” I freaked out. 

He smirked, “Why? Feeling guilty?” 

“I don’t like you,” I blurt. “And I never will.”

“Yeah, sure.” His eyes flicked down to my lips for half a second, “me too.” 

I glared at him so hard I could’ve burned him alive. 

“But…” he said slowly, “did you forget the club?” my stomach flipped.

“What —” he cut me off before I could finish.

“What if they find out we met before today?” he asked casually, “Good luck explaining that.”

My jaw literally dropped. He released my hands, stepped back, and opened the door like nothing happened. I stayed frozen for a full two seconds before rushing after him–only to realize we were now walking back to the table together. 

Every eye turned to us the moment we stepped into view. I raised my hands slightly, “What? I didn’t talk to him.”

“No one is asking,” Elly Rose said flatly. 

My brother Josiah coughed softly, awkward. 

My father finally spoke. “There’s no reason for us to stay. We came here thinking you would help, but clearly you won’t.” Before he could stand.

“I will marry your daughter,” Hayden suddenly said. Everyone was stunned, especially me. 

“What?!” I looked at him in disbelief.

Even his grandfather seemed shocked. “Hayden—”.

“If you give all your property to Pierro, I’ll marry her.” he declared.

“No,” my father fired back instantly. “Absolutely not.” 

Hayden bent forward placidly. “It’s simple, you can lose everything and fall to dust… or you can accept my offer. If you want to regain your wealth, give us all your assets. We’ll take care of everything — since clearly. You’re not capable of handling businesses.”

This is fire. I know it sounds strange, I don’t why I thought that. I’ve always been afraid of fire but that’s exactly what it feels like at this very second.