Chapter 4: A Diamond on Burning Ashes
1055 Words
Two makeup artists worked in suffocating silence inside my private dressing room. Their hands moved swiftly, painting my face with bold makeup—blood-red lips and smoky eyes that made me look like a woman ready for war, while inside, I only wanted to disappear.
A dark emerald evening gown made of heavy silk wrapped around my body. The cut was daring—sleeveless, with an open back reaching down to my waist, revealing faint marks left by Adrian the night before.
“Perfect.”
A deep voice echoed from the doorway.
The makeup artists immediately lowered their heads and hurried out, as if they had just seen the angel of death. Adrian stood there in a black tuxedo that made him look ten times more intimidating. He walked closer, one hand slipped into his pocket, his eyes scanning my appearance with cold satisfaction.
“You look like a priceless bride, Elara,” he said, standing behind me while studying my reflection in the large mirror.
He took out a black velvet box. Inside lay a diamond necklace worth millions of dollars, its brilliance sharp and merciless. Without asking, he fastened it around my neck. His cold fingers brushed my skin, triggering waves of trauma and confusion I could not name.
“This necklace… it’s too heavy,” I whispered, my trembling hand touching the diamonds.
“That’s because it is your chain,” he replied flatly. “Tonight is the anniversary gala of the Pramudya family company. Your mother invited every business tycoon to celebrate the ‘success’ of Bella’s marriage to me. She thinks she has won.”
My body stiffened. “Adrian, you can’t do this. Everyone thinks I’m Bella. If I appear there—”
“Then we’ll see how well your mother can act when I introduce her to the daughter-in-law she chose.” Adrian lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his dark eyes. “Remember, Elara. You are my pawn. Play your role well, or Bella will lose more than just her freedom.”
The crystal chandeliers in the Grand Hyatt ballroom blinded my eyes. The air was filled with the scent of expensive perfume and cigar smoke. When the grand doors opened and the host announced our arrival, the entire room fell into sudden silence.
Adrian held my arm possessively, his palm resting on my exposed back, as if he were displaying a trophy of war.
“Look at her,” whispers began to spread. “Bella looks different. More elegant… but her eyes look frightened.”
My mother, Siska Pramudya, hurried toward us with the widest fake smile I had ever seen. She wore jewelry purchased with the down payment Adrian had given.
“Adrian, my handsome son-in-law! And Bella, dear, you look stunning!” Siska tried to embrace me, but Adrian blocked her with his firm arm.
“Mrs. Siska,” Adrian’s voice was calm, yet cutting. “You used the wrong name. The woman beside me is not Bella. Wasn’t it you who sent Elara to my altar when Bella ran away?”
The once-lively atmosphere turned into graveyard silence. Siska went pale, her face draining from white to ash-gray. “W-what are you talking about, Adrian? This is Bella—”
“Stop lying,” Adrian interrupted, his tone cold enough to freeze blood. He pulled me closer, then raised his voice slightly so people around us could hear. “I married Elara Pramudya. And I am not here to celebrate the union of two families. I am here to announce that starting tonight, all assets of the Pramudya family have been transferred to the Vance Group as a penalty for the identity fraud you attempted.”
Boom.
The bomb exploded.
My mother staggered, almost collapsing. My father, who had just emerged from the crowd, looked as if his world had shattered. The guests began to whisper loudly, smartphones rising to record the humiliating scene.
“You destroyed them in public?” I whispered to Adrian, my voice trembling with anger. “You said you would help my father!”
“I helped them stay alive, Elara. That is enough,” Adrian replied without turning his head. He took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray. “Now face them as Mrs. Vance, not as the daughter they discarded.”
Suddenly, a young blond-haired man pushed through the crowd. His face was chaotic with fury. It was Bima, Bella’s former lover—and the only person who knew that Bella and I had different birthmarks on our wrists.
“She’s not Bella!” Bima shouted, pointing at me. “Adrian, you’ve been deceived! Bella is with me! This woman is just a substitute sent to fool you!”
Adrian did not look surprised. Instead, he calmly sipped his champagne. “I know, Bima. I was the one who paid Bella to run away with you, wasn’t I?”
The entire room gasped again. I turned to Adrian with wide eyes. What?
Adrian looked at Bima with contempt. “And now, after you’ve spent the money I gave you, you come back here to cause chaos? Guards, take him out. And make sure he never speaks again.”
Two large men dragged the screaming Bima out of the room. I felt nauseous. The world seemed to spin. Adrian had orchestrated everything—he paid Bella to leave, trapped my parents, and humiliated them all just to prove that I belonged to him alone, with no one else left to claim me.
Adrian leaned down, his lips brushing my ear amid the chaos. “See, my dear. No one will save you now. Not your mother, not your father, not your sister’s former lover. You only have me.”
His grip tightened around my waist until I winced. “Let’s go. This party is boring. And I have far better ways to spend the night… in our bedroom.”
As we walked away, leaving behind the destruction of the Pramudya family, I realized one thing:
Adrian Vance did not merely want me.
He wanted to destroy every bridge that connected me to the outside world, until I had no choice but to depend on him.
His obsession was not just a twisted form of love.
It was the systematic annihilation of my freedom.
- Writer
