4.
1649 Words
KYLIE'S POV
I always thought I hated the Grifone brothers equally.
But now, staring at the shitty face a few inches from mine, I realize how terribly wrong I was.
Sure, Gianni's cold, cruel, calculated, and often merciless. But Raphael… he’s entirely something else.
And now, I’ve come to realize that I hate Raphael Grifone with everything in me. It’s not just any hatred, but the kind that settles deep in your chest and refuses to leave.
If there were a stronger word for it – something darker and uglier – that’s exactly what I’d be feeling right now.
The cool breeze brushing against my face does nothing to calm the storm raging within me as Ralph waits for my answer.
My heart is hammering too loud.
My thoughts are at war, crashing into each other aggressively until I can’t even tell where one ends and the next begins.
My father.
Gianni.
Tyler…
The names echo in my head, each one seeming to mock me as I suddenly start to feel sick.
Is it all true? Did my father actually sell me off, just so he could keep his precious company and reputation?
The thought alone pushes the thousand arrows already fired into my heart deeper.
Gianni’s reason for wanting to marry me isn’t exactly shocking. Men like him don’t love – they own. He was never going to see me as his wife anyway, just another thing with his name stamped on it.
But Tyler…
My heart aches, barely keeping itself together as the pain of his betrayal threatens to tear it apart.
I… I still can’t wrap my head around it.
The messages.
The calls.
The planning.
The way he’d looked me in the eyes and lied so easily about… about everything – right from the very beginning. Every damn thing was a lie. The promises, the late-night confessions…
Tears prick at my eyes, and I hate myself for it. Hate myself for falling so stupidly in love with him, and let everyone use me as some kind of pawn in their stupid games.
“I don’t have all day, kitten.”
Ralph’s voice slices through my thoughts, calm and impatient all at once. I lift my head slowly, summoning the courage to meet his gaze.
Those sharp, unreadable eyes make something twist in my chest, and it’s only when I feel my nails biting deep into my palms that I realize my fingers have curled into fists at my sides.
He knows.
He knows I’m cornered and he’s clearly enjoying it. But I refuse to let myself be used by anyone else, let alone by Raphael Grifone…
There’s no chance in hell I’m going to sign that contract, just like there’s no way he has any proof to back his false claim of catching me trying to flee at the airport.
I mean, I’m the bride! Who’d believe him over me?
Even if he drags me back to the wedding, I’d just spin the narrative in my favour and say he was the one who kidnapped me and tried to make me sign a contract marriage with him so Gianni doesn’t claim the inheritance that’s up for grabs.
So, with a slow and deep breath, I straighten up and look him straight in the eyes.
“I’m not doing it,” I say flatly, the words leaving my mouth before I even have a rethink.
Ralph’s brow lifts slightly, like I’ve just said something mildly amusing.
“No?” he echoes. “That’s your answer?”
“Yes.” My chin lifts. “You can take your contract and shove it down your ass. I’m never going to marry you.”
A slow, dangerous smile tugs his lips, sending a chill slithering down my spine. But I will myself to remain strong, refusing to let him see the effect he has on me.
“You say that like you actually have a choice.”
I scoff matter-of-factly. “Because I do. You can’t force me.”
He takes a step closer, then another, cornering me against the side of the car until I can feel his warm breath on my face.
My heart continues to pound against my chest ferociously, and now, I can’t even tell if it’s because I'm furious at his audacity or… dare I say it, because I'm finding myself strangely flustered by it.
“If I were forcing you,” he stresses,“we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
“There’s nothing you can do to make me sign that contract, Ralph. Nothing,” I snap, “because either way, you’re going to lose.”
"So, it’s either you let me walk away freely and we can both pretend none of this ever happened, or you ‘drag me back to Gianni’ like you say and I debunk your claim by telling everyone what you actually planned to do.”
My chest heaves with pent-up fury as I conclude, glaring at him as if I could shoot arrows from my eyes.
The tension between us feels suffocating, and I expect Ralph to have realized that he’s the one at a loss here and not me.
But, from the looks of it, he doesn’t. Instead, that devilish smile of his appears to widen just a fraction.
He doesn’t say anything as he keeps his gaze fixed firmly on mine.
Then, he pulls out his phone, breaking eye contact with me for just a few seconds to unlock it and pop open an application which he brings to my face.
The moment my eyes land on the screen and read a few of the texts being lit up, my heart drops to the dreary pits of my stomach.
I snatch the phone from his hands, hoping – praying – it’s just a trick of the light as I desperately scroll through the messages.
Everything we ever discussed – plans for the fake abduction, our personal day-to-day chats, my revelation of my father’s company struggles – everything was passed on to Ralph by Tyler.
“You–” I stutter, my breaths turning ragged. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He tilts his head, smirking. “You planned a fake kidnapping from your wedding with your little boyfriend just so you could run off to la-la-land together. I’d say daring left the conversation a long time ago.”
The air feels too thin, too tight to breathe in.
How… how could Tyler do this to me? Did everything we ever shared truly mean nothing to him? Was he really just doing what Ralph sent him to do — playing me for a couple thousand bucks?
My throat feels clogged with defeat and raw shame as a mix of pain and rage swirls in my chest. Ralph casually takes back his phone from me, as if he didn’t just ruin my entire world.
“I’m literally the only one on your side here,” he starts. “I’m giving you an easy way out of your mess but you’re just too stubborn to see that. Now, let me spell out what’s going to happen to you if you decide to do things your own way.”
I try not to look at him, directing my gaze to my still-curled up fists.
“If you refuse,” he continues, his voice carrying a hint of that smooth confidence I know all too well, “you’re going to marry Gianni. That, I’ll make sure of.”
My breath hitches.
“If you refuse,” he goes on, “the press is gonna get an anonymous tip about the runaway bride who staged her own kidnapping for a man who was playing her.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting back the tears threatening to break free.
“And your father’s company?” He tuts mockingly. “It’s going to collapse. Slowly and publicly.”
Memories of my childhood come rushing back to me in that instant. I know my father wasn’t the best dad in the world, but what I do know is that he truly loves his company. He’d do anything to save it – including selling off his own daughter just to clear the debts he put himself in.
“So, just sign the contract, Kylie,” he adds quietly. “Be my wife for six months, and after that, you walk away with your reputation intact. Your father keeps his life’s work, and Gianni never gets to touch you.”
My chest tightens painfully as I slowly force my eyes open.
I hate that he’s right.
I hate that he knows he’s right. That’s why he’s taking his time to enjoy this. And if I do sign that paper, I’ll never hear the end of it.
I guess I really don’t have a choice.
But, if I'm going to sign away six months of my life to a man I’ve hated since high school, I’ll be doing it on my terms.
I’ll be doing it because I’m not entirely a bad daughter who wants to see the downfall of her father.
I’ll be doing it because I want to ruin the life of that bastard, Tyler Kenwood.
And finally, I want to give the bane of all my problems a.k.a.Raphael Grifone a taste of his own medicine.
So, with a newfound determination, I lift my chin and look him dead in the eye. “Fine,” I spit. “I’ll do it. But don’t mistake this for obedience or submission.”
His eyes light up almost immediately, filled with a mix of barely contained excitement and what looks like wild hunger.
A dangerous smirk forms on his lips that sends a dreary shiver through me, and now I’m filled with nothing but regret for accepting his deal.
“Good,” he says. “I’d have been disappointed if you made it easy.”
- Writer
