Chapter 4: Seven Days to Live
738 Words
The words on the screen stole the air from Isabella's lungs.
YOUR WIFE DIES IN SEVEN DAYS.
She read them again.
And again.
"They're threatening me?"
Alexander's face remained unreadable.
"They're threatening both of us."
His assistant, Ethan Brooks, looked pale.
"Sir, every major news outlet has already picked up the story. The marriage certificate leaked less than three minutes after it was signed."
Alexander's jaw tightened.
"Someone inside my company."
"It appears so."
Isabella stared at him.
"Who would do this?"
Alexander slipped the tablet back to Ethan.
"I have a long list of enemies."
Ethan hesitated.
"Should I call the security team?"
"No."
"Sir, they already attacked you once tonight."
"They weren't trying to kill me."
Ethan looked confused.
"They were creating panic."
Alexander turned toward Isabella.
"The real target..."
"...was you."
A chill ran down her spine.
"Me?"
"The moment you married me, you became vulnerable."
"I don't even know your world."
"Unfortunately..."
He looked toward the dark street.
"...it already knows you."
---
The black Rolls-Royce sped through the sleeping city.
Neither of them spoke.
Isabella sat beside the window, replaying everything that had happened during the last twelve hours.
She had woken up expecting to marry the man she loved.
Instead...
She had married a billionaire she'd known for less than two hours.
Outside, flashes of cameras suddenly lit up the night.
Dozens of reporters surrounded the front gate of a massive estate.
"Mr. Knight!"
"Who is your new wife?"
"Is this marriage real?"
"Did you marry her for business?"
"Mrs. Knight, how do you feel about your husband's former fiancée?"
Alexander frowned.
"They're faster than I expected."
The security gate opened.
The Rolls-Royce drove inside before reporters could reach them.
As the gates closed, Isabella finally saw the mansion.
It wasn't a house.
It looked more like a palace.
Glass walls reflected the moonlight.
Fountains stretched across enormous gardens.
Luxury cars lined the circular driveway.
She whispered,
"This place is unbelievable."
Alexander replied calmly.
"It doesn't feel like home."
---
Inside, nearly twenty staff members stood waiting in perfect lines.
The elderly housekeeper stepped forward.
"Welcome home, Mr. Knight."
Her eyes shifted warmly toward Isabella.
"And welcome, Mrs. Knight."
The title felt strange.
Mrs. Knight.
Alexander introduced her.
"This is Martha."
She has managed the estate for twenty-five years."
Martha smiled kindly.
"We've prepared the master suite."
Isabella looked at Alexander.
"The... master suite?"
Alexander answered before she could panic.
"We'll use separate bedrooms."
Martha looked surprised but nodded politely.
"Of course, sir."
As servants carried Isabella's luggage upstairs—luggage she didn't even remember packing—she turned to Alexander.
"I have another question."
He looked at her.
"You've already broken Rule Number Two."
"I know."
"But I need to ask."
He sighed.
"One question."
She took a deep breath.
"Why did you really choose me?"
For several seconds, he didn't answer.
Finally, he walked toward one of the enormous windows overlooking the gardens.
"Five years ago..."
His voice became quieter.
"My grandfather changed his will."
She listened carefully.
"He believed our family had forgotten what loyalty meant."
Alexander looked into the darkness.
"So he left one condition."
"What condition?"
"If I wasn't legally married before my thirty-second birthday..."
"...I would lose control of Knight Global."
"When is your birthday?"
He turned toward her.
"Tomorrow."
Her eyes widened.
"That's why you needed a wife before midnight."
"Yes."
She finally understood.
"This wasn't about love."
"It was never about love."
"So who gets the company if you fail?"
Alexander's expression hardened.
"My cousin."
"And you don't trust him."
"No."
She nodded slowly.
"Now I understand."
"You understand part of it."
Before she could ask another question, Ethan rushed into the room.
"Sir!"
Alexander immediately stood.
"What happened?"
Ethan handed him another tablet.
"We've identified the source of the leak."
Alexander scanned the screen.
His face darkened.
"It can't be."
"What?"
"The security footage."
Ethan swallowed nervously.
"It was deleted..."
"...using your personal access code."
Silence filled the room.
"That's impossible," Alexander said quietly.
"Only three people know that code."
Ethan nodded.
"Exactly."
"Me."
"You."
"And..."
Alexander stopped speaking.
His expression turned colder than Isabella had ever seen.
"And my younger brother."
Just then...
Every light in the mansion suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A piercing alarm echoed through the estate.
INTRUDER ALERT.
INTRUDER ALERT.
Then Martha's terrified scream came from upstairs.
"Mrs. Knight!"
"They're inside the house!"
To Be Continued...
- Writer
