Married to Miss Grumpy

Chapter 3: Alternative Proposal

{Serena}

I stared at the antique hourglass on Marcus Grey's desk while he was fuming. It had been two days since that disastrous evening I had to face with his second son. Thunder brewed outside and another in my mind. I had already picked a hundred ways to destroy Ewan Grey and everything he loved. But that involved a whole tub of complications.

"I don't know how he could have the heart to say that to you," the man sighed and looked at me. "I never taught him to treat women like this. Where did I even go wrong while raising him?"

I gave him no answer to that. Ewan's words were harsh but I felt the need to explain myself. "He called my methods harsh. But does he know how competitive this business world is at the moment? If I hadn't been harsh, people would stop taking me seriously."

"Child–"

"Listen," I looked at him. "After my father died, the people on his board tried to make another the CEO. They had been trying to buy shares secretly while he was ill. If I hadn't acted quickly, I would've lost the company. And do you know why they did that? Because I wasn't a male."

He was aware of that issue and how I solved it.

"He called me cold and entitled," I went on. "Not understanding that it could mean that I was reserved. If I greeted everyone nicely, people would see me as being timid. From insults to s****l advances, I faced it all. I'm sure your son didn't know all of that when he decided to impose judgment on me."

Marcus sighed and looked at me with sadness in his eyes. Probably pity. "He went too far. I would make sure that he faces the consequences."

"Consequences?" I scoffed. "What would you do? Ground him? Hit him? That isn't enough punishment for him. My niceness was reciprocated with hostility and there won't be a third time. The last person who insulted me lost everything tangible that he owned."

Marcus Grey surveyed me with shock, hoping that I wouldn't take that path. That path down the darkness. But I lived in darkness for a while now. Not much surprised me.

"You don't need to involve your uncle in this," he began speaking. "We can talk this out. Ewan probably reacted that way because he was too rash but this marriage is fixable."

"What makes you think that I want to marry him after all of that?" I asked him calmly. "It's not like we ran out of choices."

This was the alternative proposal; a thought that hadn't even been on my planner. Ewan wasn't suitable for me anymore.

"You mean..." Marcus's eyes widened. "Zavien?"

"Precisely," I replied. I would rather lose one of my businesses than marry that party fox. But if I did, it would enable me to make Ewan regret his actions. I wasn't angry that he had a girlfriend, who was a rising star in the model market, but I was more provoked by the words he chose to fling at me.

I went through a storm, only to face a tsunami immediately.

"Your youngest son, Zavien Grey is going to be my husband," I replied and reached for my briefcase. I pulled out the copies and placed them on his desk. "And since he is nothing but a spoiled child who avoids responsibilities, I shall have the right to correct his behaviour. You will have to make him sign the agreement himself."

I stood up and watched him drown in silence. "I would've killed Ewan if he hadn't been your son. This is the only consideration I can give you, sir. If he follows all my terms and conditions, he shall be awarded 3% of my shares in the hotel business. Or else, I'm selling the 7% shares I have in your company and cease all communication. We have no bond of godfather and goddaughter."

I picked up my things and just when I reached the door, I stopped and looked back. "You just had a grandson recently. If my uncle is involved without my knowledge..." I let the threat linger before walking out.

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I stared at the three black cars outside my house the moment Ace stopped by. Damn it. Ace looked at me from the driver's seat with a questioning glance.

"Weren't you expecting them, ma'am?"

I raised an eyebrow. "No, why?"

He looked stunned. "But boss called me twenty minutes before, saying that you know that they would be here..."

I scoffed at my uncle's strategy to meet me. He knew that if he called me, I would say no. With an intake of breath, I opened the car door and walked inside my house. I met three of my uncle's men near the door, and they greeted me with a nod of their heads.

"Dove si trova?" I asked them in Italian.

"La cucina, signora." One of them replied.

I nodded and placed my things on the couch before walking towards the kitchen. I found my uncle, Lorenzo, cooking something on the stove.

"Welcome back, La mia amata nipote," he said, without looking back.

"Zio," I replied, before sitting on one of the stools around the kitchen table. "How unsurprisingly surprising to see you in my house."

He chuckled before transferring whatever he made onto a plate and picking up a spoon from the holder.

"Risotti, your favourite," he said before placing the dish on the table. "You and your mother used to jump in delight whenever I made it."

"Thank you," I said before looking at the dish. "But I wonder why you're here. And tricking Ace like that was so cruel."

He chuckled before pulling another stool and sitting on my opposite. "You talking about cruel is like a crow calling a raven black."

I shrugged. "Touché."

"And don't forget that I'm the one who appointed Ace to be your bodyguard," My uncle rubbed his hands together. "Forget about that. Now, tell me what you're planning regarding the Grey family."

I signed and took a bite of the risotto. It was good like it always was. Ace used to work in the mafia my uncle operated and he was one of the most skilled out there. I had assumed that he was here to spy on me for my uncle but didn't care much. I didn't have many personal events in my life. Besides, my uncle was one of the greatest assets I had in my arsenal. I used the family on my mother's side as a last resort when things spiralled downward.

But my uncle was...very protective of me.

"I have my plans this time, uncle," I continued eating. "Marcus Grey and his family are untouchable. My father would roll in his grave."

He rolled his eyes. He once said that he hadn't approved of my parent's union. Until my mother refused to talk to him for three months and he couldn't take it anymore. Now, I was the only girl child in the Caruso family.

"If he had loved my sister that much, he wouldn't have started dating so quickly after her death."

My mother lost her life due to lung cancer when I was eight. And in the two years after that, my father spiralled into depression. He began locking himself in his room and drinking to the throat until he passed out. That's why I still had resentment for him. The only reason I wanted to marry into the Grey family was because Marcus had helped me in my battle with the shareholders.

Not only did I owe him, but my marrying one of the Greys was my father's last wish. I needed a husband to stand as an accessory by my side so I could solve two of the troubles I faced. One was to keep leeching men away and the second was to shut down Alexander Hathorne's advances.

I didn't want to be the reason the Italian mafia warred against the American mafia.

"I'll be marrying Marcus's youngest son," I looked at my uncle. "It would be a courthouse marriage and a contract one. And I know that he would hate the terms I set for him to follow but he won't be able to do anything about it because of you, zio. Ewan would watch his beloved younger brother suffer and do something he doesn't like and what's more better of a torture method than that?"

My uncle watched me with amusement before laughing for a good minute.

"I wish you had an official role in my work, note," he said after his laughter receded. "No one would even think of becoming our enemies."

For the first time in a while, I smiled.