The Devil I Loved

Chapter 4 : One month

Alexandria’s POV

One month? He can’t be serious. I stare at him, convinced I must have heard him wrong.

“One month?” I repeat.

He looks at me. “Yes that is what i said, we will be married in a month.”

I let out a small laugh. “You obviously can’t be serious about this.”

“I am.”

I look around the room, waiting for someone to say something or at least react, but they all seem unfazed.

My eyes shift back to Elijah. “But you never said we were going to be married in a month.”

“You never asked.” He says simply.

“One month is not enough time to plan a whole wedding.”

“Then I guess we’d have to plan swiftly.”

His calmness infuriates me. I agreed to marry this man less than two hours ago, and now he’s saying we are supposed to get married in a month.

I fold my arms. “And what makes you think I'll agree to get married in just a month.”

“Because you have already agreed to marry me.”

He has a point, and I hate that he knows it.

One month.

In one month, I will become the wife of the man I had spent 5 years plotting to destroy.

And I'm not sure which part of this arrangement scares me more.

The Torres family.

Or Elijah himself.

“Alright then.” I say to him and begin to make my way towards the door, and out of the house.

Elijah reaches me just as I get outside.

“And where do you think you’re going, part of the arrangement is that you live with me.”

“Well if we’re going to have a wedding, I have to invite some of my friends too right?” I say with a smug smile as I continue to head out the mansion.

After leaving the Torres mansion, I go straight to the one person I knew would be a safe place to process everything.

My best friend.

Theodora Jones.

Theodora, her brother Tyler and I have been friends forever. We grew up together in my old neighborhood, went to the same school up until college and even then Theodora and I were roommates.

She is warm, loyal and has the most beautiful smile that made it impossible to stay upset with her for too long.

She has been there for me through everything, especially the worst five years of my life.

When my mother and I were forced to move to London, she never stopped checking on me, even though she knew if her involvement with me was publicized, her family would face the same ruin.

She’s one of the only people I trust completely. And right now, I desperately need my best friend.

The car stops in front of their house.

I stare at it through the window for a moment before stepping out.

Nothing about this place had changed, it still had the same white walls, the same big windows and the same flower gardens surrounding the house.

A small smile forms on my lips, for the first time since I came back to L.A., I finally felt like I could breathe.

I walk towards the front door, but before I could even knock it swings open.

Theodora is standing there, her long brown hair is pulled into a messy bun, and she’s wearing an oversized college hoodie and shorts.

Her eyes widen the moment she sees me.

“Lexie?”

“Dora.” I was barely able to get the word out before she pulled me into a tight hug.

I wrap my hands around her and close my eyes. This is what I needed.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming, and you haven’t been replying to my texts.” she says as she pulls away, looking at me from top to bottom.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s been so long, I've missed you so much.”

“I’ll explain everything Dora, but can I come in first?”

“Of course, of course come in!”

I walked inside and the familiar smell of their house brought back memories I didn’t realize I missed.

I sat down on the sofa, Theodora followed me, still watching me carefully.

“Okay,”she says, crossing her arms. “Something is definitely wrong”

“Nothing is wrong”

“Would you mind explaining why you haven’t been responding to my texts and calls then, I have been worried sick.”

“That’s because-“ before I could say anything else, footsteps came from the hallway.

I looked up, it was Tyler.

He stops when he sees me. “Alexandria?”

“Hi, Tyler”

His lips curve into a smile. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too.”

I notice Theodora glance between us before rolling her eyes.

“Okay enough of this, what were you saying Lexie.”

“I stopped responding to your texts and calls because I didn't want to let you know about my return to L.A.”

Her face turns into a frown. “Why not?”

“Because I know that if you knew what I planned to do, you’d try to stop me.”

“What did you do?”

I took a deep breath before answering. “I broke into the Torres company.”

I could see the shock on both their faces.

“WHATTT???”

“Why would you do that?”

“I was trying to find evidence that could prove my father is innocent.”

Theodora’s eyes widened. “So what did you find?”

I tell them everything, the key card I stole,the restricted office, Elijah finding me, the envelope.

By the time I’m finished, they’re both staring at me like i’ve completely lost my mind.

“And then,” I say quietly, “in exchange for the envelope, I made a deal with Elijah.”

“What deal?”

“I’m going to marry him.”

“And I have to live with him too.”

Silence fills the room.

Tyler’s expression changes and Theodora blinks several times.

“You’re joking.”

“I wish I was.”

“You’re actually going to marry Elijah Torres?”

I nod, she stares at me.

“Alexandria, that man is the last person on earth you should be marrying.”

“I know Dora.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because this is my chance to finally prove my dad is innocent.”

Theodora shakes her head and starts pacing around the room and Tyler just stands there, looking deep in thought.

“This is insane.” He finally says, “He’s making you marry him after all he did to you and your family.”

“I know, but this is my chance to finally find out the truth, and I can't just walk away from it.”

“This is crazy.” Theodora says, before sitting back down on the couch.

“And there’s one more thing..”

“The wedding is in a month.”

“What? How are you going to plan a whole wedding in a month.”

“I don’t know, but I know I want you both to be there.” I turn back to look at Dora. “And I want you to be my maid of honor.”

Tears begin to form in her eyes “Of course I'll be your maid of honor.”

“But Lexie..” She says while holding both my hands and looking into my eyes, I could tell she was about to ask something very serious.

“Are you sure you don't still love him?”