the art of being decived

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2: The Trap

Daniel Blackwood Point of View

I watch from my office window as Vero runs out of my building. Her blue dress flies behind her like a flag. She looks scared.

Good. She should be scared.

I sit back in my chair and smile. Everything is going just like I planned. She saw the newspaper article. She knows who her father is. And she knows I know.

My phone rings. "Sir?" It's Marcus, my helper.

"Did you get the pictures?" I ask.

"Yes, sir. She went straight home. She looked upset."

"Perfect. What about the father?"

"Still sick. The doctors say he needs surgery in two weeks or..."

"Or he dies," I finish. "Even better."

Marcus doesn't say anything. He thinks I'm being mean. But he doesn't understand. Some people deserve to suffer.

I pick up the old newspaper article from my desk. The headline makes my chest tight with anger. "Blackwood Family Lost Everything in Scandal."

Samuel Reyes. That man stole everything from my family. My parents trusted him with their money. He took it all and ran away. My parents were so sad and scared that they crashed their car trying to leave town.

I was thirteen when they died. Thirteen and alone.

I lived in different homes after that. People who didn't want me but got paid to keep me. I counted the days until I turned eighteen. Then I started working. Working and planning.

It took me fifteen years to get rich again. Fifteen years to find the people who hurt my family.

Most of them are dead now. But Samuel Reyes is still alive. And he has a daughter who loves him.

Now I'm going to make him watch her heart break. Just like I watched my parents' hearts break.

The phone rings again. This time it's a different number. Her number.

"Hello, Vero," I say.

"How did you know it was me?"

"I told you. I'm careful about everything."

She takes a deep breath. "I read the article."

"What article?"

"Don't play games with me. The one about your family. About my father."

I lean back in my chair. "What about it?"

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"You didn't ask."

"This is crazy. You want to hire me because of something that happened fifteen years ago?"

"No," I lie. "I want to hire you because you're perfect for the job."

"I don't believe you."

"Then don't take the job. But your father will die without that surgery."

I can hear her breathing hard. She's crying.

"Why are you doing this?" she asks.

"Doing what? Offering you help?"

"You know what I mean."

I do know. But I'm not going to make this easy for her.

"Vero, I'm a businessman. I make deals. You need money. I need an assistant. It's that simple."

"Nothing is simple with you."

She's right about that. But she doesn't need to know how right she is.

"Do you want the job or not?" I ask.

Long pause. "If I say yes, what happens?"

"You come to work for me. You help me with meetings and dinners. You get paid. Your father gets his surgery."

"And if I say no?"

"Then you say no. But don't call me again when your father gets worse."

I hear her crying harder now. This is the moment. This is when she breaks.

"I need time to think," she says.

"You have until tomorrow morning. After that, I found someone else."

"That's not enough time."

"It's all the time you have."

I hung up the phone. Marcus walks into my office.

"Sir, are you sure about this?"

"Sure about what?"

"About the girl. She seems... nice."

I laugh. "Nice? Her father destroyed my family. She's going to pay for that."

"But she was just a kid when it happened. She didn't do anything wrong."

"She's Samuel Reyes' daughter. That's wrong enough."

Marcus looks uncomfortable. "What if she doesn't take the job?"

"She will. She has to."

"And then what?"

I turn to look out the window again. The city spreads out below me like a game board. "Then I marry her."

"Marry her?"

"She'll be so grateful for my help. So happy that I saved her father. She'll do anything I ask."

"Even marry you?"

"Especially marry me."

Marcus shakes his head. "This is going too far."

"My parents are dead because of her father. Too far doesn't exist."

That night, I went home to my big empty apartment. I eat dinner alone, like always. I watch TV, but I don't really see it. I kept thinking about Vero's face when she realized who I was.

She looked scared. And hurt. And confused.

For just a second, I felt bad about lying to her. But then I remembered my mother's funeral. I remembered being thirteen and having nowhere to go.

The feeling went away.

My phone buzzes. A text message from Vero.

"I'll take the job."

I smile. She's mine now.

I text back. "Good. Be at my office at nine tomorrow morning."

She doesn't answer. But she doesn't need to. I know she'll be there.

The next morning, I got to work early. I want everything to be perfect. I have papers ready for her to sign. I have a plan for her first day.

At exactly nine o'clock, she walks into my office. She looks tired, like she didn't sleep. Her eyes are red from crying.

"Good morning, Vero," I say.

"Good morning, Mr. Blackwood."

"Please, call me Daniel. We're going to be working very closely together."

She sits down in the chair across from my desk. "What do you want me to do?"

"First, sign these papers." I push a stack of forms across the desk.

She picks them up and reads. "What are these?"

"Work contracts. They say you'll work for me for one year. They also say I'll pay your father's medical bills right away."

Her eyes get wide. "Right away?"

"I already called the hospital. Your father's surgery is scheduled for next week."

She starts crying again. But this time, she's crying because she's happy.

"Thank you," she whispers. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet. This job isn't easy."

She wipes her eyes. "I'll do anything you ask."

"Anything?"

"Yes. Anything."

I lean forward. "Even marry me?"

Her face goes white. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I don't understand."

"It's simple. I need a wife. You need money. We help each other."

"But... but I don't love you."

"Love has nothing to do with it. This is business."

She stands up fast. "You're crazy."

"Am I? Your father's surgery costs half a million dollars. I'm offering to pay it all. Plus, I'll give you money to live on. All you have to do is marry me."

"For how long?"

"One year. Then we get divorced. You keep the money. Your father stays healthy."

She walks to the window and looks out at the city. "Why marriage? Why not just the job?"

"Because I need people to believe we're real. I need a wife who can go to fancy parties with me. Someone who looks good next to me."

"And after the year?"

"After the year, you're free to go."

She turns around. "What if I say no?"

"Then your father dies. And you go back to your tiny apartment and your three jobs that don't pay enough."

I watch her face change. I can see her thinking. She's trapped and she knows it.

"I need to see the contract," she says.

"Of course." I pull out another set of papers. "It's all here. One year of marriage. I pay for everything. You get a million dollars at the end."

She takes the papers with shaking hands. "A million dollars?"

"That's what I said."

She reads for a long time. "This says I have to live with you."

"Of course. Married people live together."

"And I have to act like I love you."

"In public, yes."

"What about in private?"

"In private, you can hate me all you want."

She looks at me with those big eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can. Because I want to."

"That's not a real answer."

"It's the only answer you're going to get."

She sits down and picks up a pen. Her hand shakes as she signs the papers.

"There," she says. "It's done."

"Not quite." I open my desk drawer and pull out a small box.

"What's that?"

I open the box. Inside is a ring. A big, expensive ring that cost more than most people make in ten years.

"Your engagement ring," I say.

She stares at it. "It's beautiful."

"Put it on."

She slides the ring onto her finger. It fits perfectly. Of course it does. I had it made just for her.

"When do we get married?" she asks.

"Next month. I've already planned everything."

"Next month? That's so fast."

"I don't like to wait."

She looks at the ring on her finger. "My father is going to ask questions."

"Tell him you fell in love with your boss."

"He'll never believe that."

"Make him believe it."

She stands up to leave. "Is that all for today?"

"No. There's one more thing."

"What?"

I walk around the desk and stand very close to her. Close enough to smell her perfume. Close enough to see the fear in her eyes.

"Kiss me," I say.

"What?"

"Kiss me. We're engaged now. We need to practice."

"I don't want to."

"But you will. Because you signed the papers. Because your father needs his surgery."

She looks trapped. Like a bird in a cage.

Slowly, she stands on her toes and kisses me. It's soft and quick. Over before it really starts.

But something strange happens. For just a second, I forget why I'm doing this. For just a second, the kiss feels real.

Then she pulls away and the feeling is gone.

"I should go," she says.

"Yes. Go home. Tell your father the good news about his surgery."

She walks to the door, then stops.

"Daniel?"

"Yes?"

"What happens if I fall in love with you for real?"

The question hits me like a punch. "You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I won't let you."

She looks at me for a long moment. "What if you fall in love with me?"

I laugh, but it sounds fake even to me. "That's not going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"Because I don't love anyone. I can't."

She opens the door. "Everyone can love, Daniel. Even you."

After she leaves, I sit in my chair and touch my lips. I can still feel her kiss.

This is supposed to be about revenge. About making her father suffer.

So why do I feel like I'm the one who's trapped?