Chapter 7
1298 Words
ZARA’S POV
“We have a deal… husband.”
The words lingered on in my heart after I said it and I reassured myself that it was the right thing. Cael gave me a light smile, as if it was a reward.
“We will need to tell everyone about our marriage. After we announce it, I will be able to get my inheritance,” I said carefully. “You should know a few things about my family though.”
“I believe I know more than enough already.”
I frowned, “Are you pretending to know me so well or-”
“Do I actually do?” he completed the question on my behalf. “Do you truly wish to know, Zara?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I shrugged. “I will tell you about my family still. There are only two of them and they’re both noteworthy characters. My step-dad, Victor, and his daughter, Nadia.”
“Your step-sister?” he asked.
I scoffed, “Foolish me, I really used to refer to her as my sister. Not anymore, I found out she has been toying with me all along. She and her father were using the stick and carrot method with me.”
“I believe Nadia offered the carrot?”
“Yes,” I affirmed. “Her father would give me harsh words and then she would come with soothing words, words that freed the way into my heart. Her father was rough with me but she was gentle, the kind of gentleness that made my heart melt. Everything… All her life, she has been lying to me. She had me wrapped around her finger and she must have enjoyed it. When I caught her in my own bed with the man I was supposed to marry, there wasn’t a look of remorse on her face, just surprise. She wasn’t supposed to get caught.”
Cael didn’t interrupt me and when I was done, he took a deep breath.
“She sounds like an awful person.”
“She is an awful person,” I affirmed. “Nevertheless, you will end up meeting with her very soon. Victor and Nadia will be the first people to know about our marriage. No matter how much I hate them, it is true that they are my only family, at least on paper.”
“Why should you tell them first?” Cael asked, a smirk on his face.
“But they are-”
“I thought you were rebellious,” he muttered. “I guess you aren’t such a rebel afterall.”
“You have a crazy idea, don’t you?” I asked curiously.
“Let’s leak news of our marriage to the press. When it goes viral, no one will be able to stop us, not even Victor,” he told me firmly.
This was the first time he had done this; speaking like Victor was a threat. He surely knew him very well. I didn’t ask though, that was a matter I could handle earlier.
**
By the next morning, chaos had erupted. Cael had secretly utilized his friends in the media and all that trended was the shotgun marriage between the CEO of Ashford Group and the stepdaughter of Victor Calloway, Zara.
I wasn’t much of a media person but it seemed as if that would be changing soon. I didn’t go out of my apartment as Cael had advised in order to make sure I wasn’t sighted by the press.
I had several calls but I picked none. Not the calls from my best friend, Lena, or my stepdad. I simply watched them ring until the ringtone stopped. I had started to drift off on the sofa when I heard the doorbell.
Slowly, I moved to the door, listening hard to see if I could detect who was out there. Cael had told me that sometimes reporters knocked on their target’s doors and things could get messy from there.
My phone beeped and I checked it. It was a simple text message from Victor.
“I am outside your door. Open it.”
I opened the door and truly, he was there. He entered and I locked the door after him. I heard as he dumped newspapers on my table and turned to face me.
“What is this mess that you have created?”
“Mess?” I asked. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Oh, you sure do,” he muttered. “Just tell me the truth. Did you… by any chance, did you get married to Cael Ashford?”
I kept my mouth shut and naturally, he began to make assumptions.
“Oh nevermind!” Cael exclaimed. “You are as busy enough as it is. There is no way you could have gotten married. You don’t have the time and Cael isn’t even someone you’re familiar with. I’m sure you only heard of him recently. It’s impossible.”
“The news is true,” I said coldly.
“I don’t understand,” he replied, clearing his throat nervously.
I smiled, “I have gotten married to Cael Ashford. If you had waited for a couple of hours, you would have seen our press conference scheduled for this evening.”
Victor clenched his fists in anger. He had always been cold towards me but today’s anger was on a new level. He was literally boiling and I watched with amusement.
“I won’t allow this,” he ended up saying.
“You don’t really have a choice,” I replied confidently. “The wedding happened already, you surely don’t mean to get us to break up.”
“Hold your tongue, Zara!” he shouted angrily. “As long as you bear my surname, you will bend to my will. If you will ever have a wedding in your life, I will be the one who leads you to the altar. The name Calloway ties you to me.”
“Then I should drop the silly surname. I could take Ashford as my new surname, I find it more pleasant anyway,” I replied comfortably.
“You can’t think straight again. What has gotten over you?” he asked. “This is because of your inheritance, isn’t it? That’s why you did something so absurd.”
“It is none of your business,” I replied firmly.
Victor smiled, “You are still in denial. This issue is my business and I will resolve it personally. You had better not give any statement to the media. Trust me, you don’t want to find out the aftereffects.”
Right after this, he marched out of my apartment, slamming the door in the process. I knew Victor well enough to know he never made empty threats. Instantly, I called Cael over the phone but he didn’t pick up, not until hours later.
“Why did you ignore my calls?” I asked out of frustration. “Victor came to my apartment earlier and he… he sounded so pissed off. He threatened our marriage and I have a feeling he would try to dissolve it.”
“He won’t be able to do that,” Cael replied, all relaxed.
“No, you don’t know Victor. If he says he will do it, he already has a plan,” I replied eagerly. “If I were in his shoes, I would target you. Victor is dangerous, trust me. You should go into hiding for a while. When things die down, you can…”
“Shh,” Cael muttered. “I can take care of myself, do not worry. Also, your warning came a little too late. Victor is right outside my door as we speak.”
Oh, f**k.
- Writer
