Chapter 001

~GIA-

Mario Montez... He was my nightmare.

He was a ruthless mafia king who killed for fun and didn't care about anyone's feelings but his own.

He had two little sisters whom he protected with his life, and when my father killed one of the sisters as a failed assassin job meant for Mario, he came after my family and took everything that my father owned.

He made him pay for his sins, and my father was stripped of everything that belonged to him. Including me.

"I'd rather die than marry you," I said firmly, looking him in the eye.

"We will see about that," he replied as he sat down and looked up at me with a smirk on his face.

I gritted my teeth, got up from the couch, and went to my room. He kept me hostage in his house for 6 months, and then all of a sudden, he wanted to make me his wife.

It sounded absurd to me that he wanted to marry the daughter of the man who killed his younger sister.

I thought that he was going to kill me by now instead of keeping me alive just to torture me.

He locked up my parents in one of his dungeons to kill them slowly.

He was a monster, and I wasn't going to marry a monster. Not even if my life depended on it.

Not when he held my parents captive in a dungeon that was so inhumane to have actual people in it.

I detested him. He had to kill me first before I could agree to be his wife.

"Tell me when you are ready, sweetheart. This marriage will be in your best interest." He said while standing outside my room.

The asshole dared to follow me up to my room. If he thought that I was going to be weak and give in to whatever he wanted of me, he had another thing coming.

When his footsteps disappeared down the hallway, I leaned my back against the door and cried.

I had to do something because there was no way that I was going to marry him.

So, yes, I was going to kill myself to prove a point to him that I meant it when I said that I'd rather die than marry him.

I took off my shirt and took the knife that I ate my breakfast with in the morning and went to stand at the corner of the room and looked up at the camera that was installed by Mario.

I wanted him to see me when I killed myself and finally freed myself from him. If I wasn't ever going to be free from him, then by death, I was going to be free.

"You've made my life a living hell, Mario, and I hope you live every single day of your life regretting everything that you put me through. And again, I'd rather die than marry you," I declared.

And for the last time, I cried and tried to brace myself for the pain that I was going to feel after I pushed the knife through my abdomen.

I was horrified of going through that pain and leaving my body for good. But I was as good as dead with Mario.

So, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and quickly pushed the knife inside me.

Or so I thought I did before I felt strong hands grabbing my hands.

I looked down and saw that the knife was close to my skin. And if I had been quick enough and less hesitant, the job would have been done.

He took the knife from me and chuckled. I hated him so much that I felt like bursting into pieces when I heard that mockery laugh of his.

He loved to see me break and drown in misery.

He knew that asking for my hand in marriage would drive me to the edge of my sanity after everything that he did to me.

He wanted to see me die a slow, painful death of a cardiac arrest. I was never going to be free from him until my heart gave up and stopped beating on its own.

Only the walls of the room I was locked in knew the extent of my misery and how much I was longing to be free from him. To escape. To die.

I wanted a day when I would breathe, and there would be no sign of Mario. I dreamt of my death. Fantasized about it and saw myself between the heavens, finally free. It felt real every time.

"I will never marry you, Mario."

"I wasn't asking you to marry me, sweetheart. I was simply telling you that you will marry me."

"I hate you," I said with tears in the corners of my eyes, and it took everything in me not to spill them.

"Well, I hope next time you won't try to kill yourself in my house. I hate ghosts," he said and turned to leave.

"Why don't you let me go?" I asked.

"You belong to me now, Gia, and I will do as I please with you," he replied.

"I didn't kill your sister. I would never kill in my life. Why am I being punished for my father's sins?" My voice was breaking. I was on the brink of crying.

Even though I couldn't control myself from falling apart in front of him, I knew that he enjoyed seeing me like this.

He enjoyed seeing me begging him to let me go or to kill me. It gave him more power. It boosted his ego, and he felt proud. He felt good.

"Anna will come and prepare you for the wedding. I'll be delighted to see you walking down the aisle," he said and then left.

My father was a very skilled assassin before his mission to kill Mario failed and he accidentally ended up killing his younger sister.

He was employed by top government officials and Mafia lords to assassinate people who intimidated them and threatened their power.

My mother and I knew about his job and got used to it over time.

So, my father kept us safe on a remote island, away from people who might discover his identity and go after us.

But little did he know that he was no match against Mario Montez.

When Mario found him and found us, he tried to get the name of the person who had employed my father to assassinate him with no luck because the people who employed my father never disclosed their identities to him.

They just gave him a call and sent him money to get the job done. He didn't ask questions but did what he did best.

So, for revenge, Mario took my parents hostage in a dungeon and then took me hostage in his house.

He took me once to see my parents being tortured in their cells. They were being fed small portions of food once a day with a glass of water every 2 days.

They were being starved. He wanted my parents to be malnourished until they died.

They relieved themselves right where they were chained and not offered a bath for days.

I stood there and watched my parents as they suffered, and there was nothing I could do.

All I could do was hope that they get through each day. I hoped that someday a miracle would happen and they would be free and I would be free.

That we would be together as a family again. Happy. Mario would be a distant memory of the past.

So, since hoping for how things could be didn't help me, taking my life was the only way out of this. Or it was until Mario walked in on me trying to take my own life.

"Cheer up, Gigi, you're getting married to Montez," Anna said when she found me on the bed lost in thought.

She was the house help and very kind to me. She was like a friend some days when I needed someone to talk to.

"He's a monster," I answered.

"It doesn't mean he won't be a good husband to you," Anna replied, trying to keep a very positive mood.

"He wants to marry me so that he would torture me all my life," I protested.

"I'm positive that he will have a change of heart once he sees you in one of these dresses," she said with a smile on her face, and I looked at the dresses... My gosh, they were beautiful.

I imagined myself in one of the dresses, stealing the hearts of those who would be at the wedding.

Getting many of them to fall in love with me and a prince in shining armor would come to my rescue and sweep me away from the arms of the beast to his safe and kind hands. And then he would run away with me.

It was a dream. But fantasizing about my freedom kept me going.

I wanted to have a little hope that someday I would see Mario no more. I didn't want to give up and accept my fate that I would forever be his prisoner.

"Did he buy them?" I asked in disbelief.

"He bought them, especially for you. He bought two so that you could choose the one you want."

I got up and looked at the dresses carefully. They were just too beautiful, and I couldn't help myself but admire them.

I've always wanted to get married someday in a beautiful ball gown wedding dress. And Mario had bought two for me to choose from.

And for a split second, I wanted to get married to him. I scowled after I had thought of myself walking down the aisle to him instead of running away in the arms of my savor.

"They are beautiful," I admitted.

"So, which one are you going to wear?" Anna asked, holding up the two breathtaking beautiful dresses.

"Choose the one for me you think will be perfect," I replied, trusting her choice.

I didn't care which dress I had to wear to marry Mario.

"I think this one will be perfect," she said, putting the one with glitters on the bed.

It was my choice when I saw the dresses and I smiled lightly.

A few minutes ago, I would have taken my own life and freed myself from him. But now, I was going to be his wife.

That thought alone crippled me and made me feel like weeping. I needed an escape.

"Go and freshen up. I'll take care of everything," she said.

I smiled at her and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

I loved Anna. She was an older sister that I never had. She tried to make me smile even though she knew that I was dying inside being kept in this house against my will.

Many times, she tried to convince me that Mario didn't hate me, that he did everything that he did to me because it was expected of him since my father killed Francesca, his sister.

It was his way of doing things to torture the whole family of anyone who betrayed him. And if he didn't, he would be seen as weak.

He had to be a ruthless and heartless mafia king to maintain respect and loyalty among his people.

But I hated him.

***

A few hours later, Anna took me to the ballroom for my wedding.

The ballroom was filled with people who I assumed worked with Mario.

There was no one I knew. I felt like a lamb going for a sacrifice.

my heart was beating fast against my chest as I strolled down the aisle.

I could see Mario with a smirk on his face through the veil that covered my face.

He was proud of himself to see me do everything that he wanted. He was seen as powerful by his people.

He knew that no matter how much I tried to fight him, he would always win.

I was kept in the house for 6 months and now, I had my dream wedding in the house. With the wrong man and in the wrong venue.

Mario was crushing me bit by bit, and all those pieces hated him more.

He could have at least had our wedding outside and allowed me to see the sky again before I handed myself to him as a peace offering.

He would have at least brought my parents for me to see so that I would give myself to him with a smile on my face.

But no, he wanted me to feel small in a room filled with people I did not know. His people probably knew why I was in his house.

When I arrived at the altar, he took my hand and lifted the veil from my face. And he smiled when he saw the ruins of the makeup on my face.

And when the so-called Minister pronounced us as husband and wife, I kissed my life goodbye. Mario Montez won.

I was now married to him.

Gia Montez.