CHAPTER 41

Luca's POV

I was raised in a family where I constantly had to take responsibility. From a young age, I knew what needed to be done. I was the heir, and I was accustomed to making difficult decisions for the good of the family

Sharon Gray was supposed to be my pretend wife for twelve months. It was a contract, an arranged marriage marriage. That was all to it

However, when I found out she was the same woman I had a one night stand with, I was instantly filled with hatred for her

I was going to make her life miserable, I was going to follow the script.

I had laid out my plan from the very beginning. When twelve months had elapsed, I would reveal her secret identity to the public, say I had no idea, and she wasn't who she said she was. Say I was hurt, and divorce her

Until that time, I had given her a set of rules to remind her of her place, to make sure she didn't get any ideas.

When she disobeyed them, I punished her

When she kept them, I downright ignored her

She was nothing but a chess piece in my grandfather's plan. A player who would be thrown away, when the aim had been achieved. There was to be no emotional connection of any sort

I told her I hated her, made her understand she was insignificant, made her life miserable, broke her heart over and over again—

But everyday, it was becoming more difficult to act like she didn't exist

Because when she got irritated, it amused me. Teasing her have me a kind of satisfaction.

But whenever I felt I had become too lax, whenever I felt I was losing my composure, I fucked Sandra

Because I needed to remind Sharon that she was nothing to me. But deep down, I knew I was trying to convince myself.

The question tormented me day and night

Did Sharon really mean nothing to me?

No

And I found out the day Sharon disguised herself as Riann, and broke my most important rule

Seeing her dance with a stranger, who had his hands all over her made me sick to my stomach. Made me jealous

For no good reason

I wanted him gone, I would've beaten him to a pulp if I had the chance. Because he touched her, and she was mine

That was when I realised I felt something for her, something deep, something I wasn't willing to accept. Because falling in love with her was never in the script

When I invited her Mr Gray over for dinner, I could sense her uneasiness. I knew she was uncomfortable around her father, but I didn't know why.

It wasn't in my place to ask, since she was only my pretend wife.

And I didn't want to give off the impression that I gave a shit, even though I did

I continued to suppress my emotions, till our honeymoon was over

And I could pretend to work instead of fighting the urge to kiss her, and tell her how I felt

********************

Drinking

My coping mechanism was drinking. When I couldn't find the answer I was looking for, when I couldn't wrap my head around something, when I was trying to get over someone

Everywhere I turned, I saw her face, I heard her voice echo my name

Drinking away my consciousness made it easier for me to escape the reality of my situation. Made it easy for me to ignore the fact that for the first time in my life, I was happy with someone

And I had to treat her like shit

I watched her watch me devolve, I watched her spite me, I watched her hate me

But she never threatened to leave me, after everything I had done to her. She never backed out—

And I was the coward for running away from my true feelings

Everyday, I fought the urge to love her. Everyday I did something to convince myself that I didn't care about her

But the more I tried to run away from her, the more my heart yearned to close the distance between us

To make things worse, she just had to be beautiful, and she was completely oblivious to it. Whenever she called me an asshole, there was something she did with her mouth

Like she was pouting, and I always suppressed my emotions, or at least I tried

I was falling apart

As if my grandpa knew, he visited my company. To remind me to stick to the script. To remind me that I couldn't afford to have feelings

So I tried to be an asshole, a monster.

But instead of running away from me, she came closer. She hugged me like she loved me, like she just didn't want to see me hurt

I couldn't give in, I knew what was at stake.

But just when I had almost convinced myself that I had everything in control, I saw her go down a memory lane, a very sick disturbing one

I wasn't even planning on hitting her, I would never hurt her like that

But someone else did. Someone had hurt her before.

When I heard the words

“Daddy stop!”

My blood boiled, and I felt like strangling Hillary Gray for whatever he had done to her

And everything I did made her remember that tragic experience.

At that moment, whatever restraints I had before broke lose. I wanted to protect her more than anything, to make her feel safe, feel loved. Because she was broken

Seeing Sharon curled up beside me on my bed reminded me that Family came first

And Sharon was my family—

End of Luca's POV