CHAPTER 3
1083 Words
CARMILLE'S POV
The iron gates of the Willows Estate groaned as they swung open, a sound I hadn’t heard in exactly five years.
When I left this place at twenty-two, I was a girl with stars in my eyes and a heart full of rebellion.
I thought love was a shield that could protect me from the cold reality of my family’s world.
Now, sitting in the back of a sleek black sedan provided by my father’s lawyer, I realized that I had been utterly foolish.
As the car wound up the long, manicured driveway, I took in deep breaths to brace myself. My fingers traced the edges of a folder in my lap...Elias’s medical reports. He was still in the hospital to be monitored.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw his terrified face in the moment before the crash.
I wasn't here for myself alone. I was here for my son.
"We have arrived, Miss Willows," the driver said, his voice devoid of emotion.
I stepped out, the cool ing air biting at my skin.
I took a deep breath, tasted the familiar scent of expensive pine and old money, and walked inside.
The grand foyer was exactly as I remembered. My father’s butler, Thomas, bowed low. He didn't look surprised to see me. In this house, everything was expected.
"Your father is in the study, Miss Carmilla. He is not alone though."
I nodded and made my way toward the mahogany doors at the end of the hall.
I was too tired to be embarrassed about being used by someone like Silas so it didn't matter what jabs my father would throw at me once I walked through those doors.
I pushed the doors open.
The room was dimly lit, the walls lined with thousands of leather-bound books.
My father, Arthur Willows, sat behind his desk. He looked older, his hair a bright white, but his eyes were still as sharp.
"You're here, Carmilla," he said, not looking up from his papers. "I expected that.”
"I’m not here for a reunion, Father," I said, my voice steady despite the hammering in my chest.
"I’m here to fulfill my end of the agreement. My marriage is over and hence the six-year clause was triggered."
"Because you failed," he said, finally looking at me. "You bet on a man with nothing, and he gave you exactly what he had. Nothing."
"He gave me a son," I countered, my voice hardening.
"And he gave me a reason to never be weak again. Now, are we going to talk about the inheritance, or are you going to keep lecturing me on my poor taste in men?"
A low, smooth laugh came from the corner of the room, near the fireplace. I froze. I hadn't noticed the man sitting in the shadows.
He stood up, the firelight catching the sharp lines of his jaw and the expensive cut of his navy-blue suit.
He was taller than I remembered, his presence filling the room in a way that made Silas Cooper look like a child playing dress-up.
Rafael Hawthorn.
His eyes locked onto mine. Five years ago, I had rejected his family’s proposal. I had called him a "cold-blooded robot" and told him I would rather marry a beggar than a man who saw marriage as a merger.
"It seems the years of torture in that man's hands has sharpened your tongue, Carmilla," Rafael said. He walked toward me, stopping just a few feet away. "You look... different."
"I’m a mother now, Rafael. I don't have time for games."
"Good," my father interrupted, standing up.
"Because the Willows and the Hawthorns don't play games. Rafael has been waiting for you. He needs a wife to stabilize his public image for his upcoming political campaign. You need the Willows fortune and the power to crush Silas Cooper."
I looked at Rafael. "You’re the one my father chose? Why would you agree to this? You could have any woman in the city. Women who haven't spent years raising a child and building someone else’s company."
Rafael stepped closer, his voice dropping to a low hum that vibrated in my chest.
"We have the same enemies, so it's common sense that I would want a woman who is currently planning to dismantle Cooper Fabrics brick by brick. And I think we’d make a rather perfect team."
I looked at the folder in my hand. I thought of Lila’s smug face and the way Silas hadn't visited our son.
"I have conditions," I said, looking Rafael straight in the eyes.
"I’m a businessman," Rafael replied, a smirk playing on his lips. "I expect nothing less."
"One," I began, ticking them off on my fingers. "This is a contract marriage. Three years. No more."
"Accepted."
"Two. My son, Elias, comes first. He lives with us and will get the best care. And you will never, under any circumstances, make him feel like a burden."
Rafael’s expression softened for a fraction of a second.
"I have already arranged for a private speech pathologist to meet us at the hospital tomorrow. Consider it done."
I felt a lump in my throat but swallowed it down. "And three... I don't want a real marriage, so no intimacy."
Rafael stayed silent for a moment, his gaze roaming over my face. For a second, I thought he would refuse.
Then, he took a step forward, closing the gap between us until I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"If that is what you wish," he whispered.
“The real question though is what happens if you fall for me?”
I didn't flinch. "That won't happen, so that isn't something for you to worry about.”
"We'll see," he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a velvet box and opened it. It had a diamond ring.
He took my hand. His fingers were warm, and for a second, a spark of electricity shot up my arm, making my breath hitch. He slid the ring onto my finger.
"The announcement goes out
tomorrow morning," my father said, sounding satisfied.
"The Willows Heiress has returned, and she is marrying the CEO of Hawthorn Marketing. Silas Cooper won't know what hit him."
"Oh, he will know," I said, looking down at the diamond on my finger.
"I’m going to make sure he sees every single second of his world falling apart."
Rafael watched me, his dark eyes unreadable. "Welcome back home, Carmilla.”
- Writer
