Chapter 3.
GIOVANNA
“Now that it's signed, we can go over to a registry to make it official.” He started grabbing his keys and my phone began buzzing almost immediately.
I stared at the caller ID and picked it up when I saw that it was my father calling.
“Hello Dad—” I was greeting when his sharp, hoarse voice stopped me immediately.
“You better come home now.” And with that, he dropped the call.
“ I'll need some time as I really need to go home and sort things with my father but I've already signed so you know I won't bail out.”
“I'll drive you home.” I didn't argue but instead let him drop me home thankfully and I was just going to go quietly to my room and have a cold shower to clear my head when the light in the dining table turned on.
“Where have you been, young lady?” Dad's voice cut through the air and I sighed as I turned to his direction.
“Dad, why were you waiting for me? Don't make it seem like you suddenly care about where I've been. Besides, I'm only here for vacation.” I walked up to him and dropped my purse onto the table while sitting down opposite him.
“Didn't I tell you not to go through with that stupid thought of proposing to your boyfriend?” He was seething in rage and I just bit my tongue slightly inside of my mouth.
“You did.” I answered straightforwardly, dreading where this conversation was going to end up but still tried my best to mask my expression.
“Then you went ahead to do the exact opposite of what I said and I can't even bear to watch the way that other girl clinged to him. He has been cheating on you the whole time and you didn't even know! How were you so blind?” I raised my brow in confusion as I propped my hands on the table and leaned in.
“You weren't there, how do you know this?” My dad sighed ruffling his hair and then looked up at me.
“You're the daughter of a billionaire CEO. It's only right for Paparazzi's to sneak around you for the latest gossip.” I mouthed an Oh as I realized just how messy things have gotten.
“Did they capture the part where I got engaged?” My dad's oblivious expression made me realize that the paparazzi didn't include the part of me proposing to Marko.
“Fix your mess. My company is down by a 12% ratio. It's going down way faster than I thought.” He yelled and I nodded though he couldn't see me.
“I'll fix it.” I stated with a bored expression.
“Yeah? How?” He asked with disbelief.
“I'm getting married but before you ask, not to Alessandro.” I stated.
“Do you think you can just find a husband? Who is he?” My dad prodded and that was when I realized that I didn't even have any way to contact Marko. He gave me his business card but I had lost it.
“You'll find out soon.”
I didn't ever predict that today was going to turn out like this with me crawling up on my bed and tears gushing out of my eyes.
I was about walking to my room when a soft knock came on the door drawing I and dads attention.
“I'll get the door.” I opened it up only to reveal Marko standing on the front porch.
“Hello sweetheart.” That voice couldn't be mistaken and my breath caught in my chest as I stared at him.
“You didn't leave?” I questioned.
“I was going to but realized you left these and I didn't know important it was so I had to return it.” He said holding up my diary and wallet. How the hell did I lose my wallet? It contained my ID and credit cards, how did it slip out?
“Ohh, thank you so much.” I expressed gratitude when my phone suddenly started buzzing in my hands as Alessandro's call came in again.
“What do you want from me?” I answered immediately when the call went through.
“Take a look at the news and you'd see why breaking up with me is a bad idea, come on, we can work it —” I ended the call immediately and blocked his number.
“Sorry about that and if it isn't too late, can we go to that registry now?” I suddenly asked and he stared at me with a hint of surprise in his eyes before nodding.
“Sure, I just need to grab some things at my place.” I stormed in and got dressed in more proper clothes while we headed outside.
“Where are you off to , missy?” Dad's voice broke in just as I was about to start my car engine.
“To fix the mess.” I simply answered and drove off. In less than 30 minutes, we both arrived at his home.
He went in while I waited in the living room and when he re-entered, He was dressed to the nines like having a fake wedding that would last 2 weeks was something to be excited about.
“To be honest, I wasn't sure you would want to get to the registry so soon.” He commented.
“I guess the sooner I come, the sooner we get over these 2 weeks right?”
As he adjusted the cufflinks on his perfectly tailored suit, he smirked.
“Two weeks can feel like a lifetime if you play your cards right, don’t you think?” I frowned at his comment, the teasing lilt in his voice sending a ripple of unease down my spine.
Two weeks was nothing—it was a blink, a speck of time. Why would he even say that?
Shaking my head, I forced a small laugh, dismissing the thought.
“Well, let’s hope we both survive it.” I stated in a light tone, though my chest felt heavier than it should.
It didn't take more than 30 minutes after we arrived at the registry for us to be declared husband and wife and I rubbed my wrist now and then staring at all the paperwork's scattered on the table.
“You're both officially married now, enjoy your marital life.” The officiant stated, handing over the copy of the contract I had previously signed in Marko's house to the both of us.
“That's kind of loose. We'd be back in 2 weeks to annul anyway.” I said standing up and the registrar stared at me strangely.
“Don't jinx your marriage, you shouldn't wish for divorce. I really hope to know you guys when you finally make babies ” He said while Marko headed for the door.
“Not divorce, annulment and we're definitely not making babies. This is business, you already know that from the contract.” I stated wondering why he was acting weird and he stretched forth his hands requesting a copy of the contract which i handed over and he adjusted his glasses peering at the clauses.
“I don't know what you're talking about business, ma'am. The contract clearly states you both are getting married and if either of you moves for annulment, it's to be declined.” I snatched the copy of the contract from his hands and skimmed through, my eyes landing on the clause.
I turned to Marko but he was no longer there so I had no option but to race outside only to see him waiting inside the car driver's seat.
“What's the meaning of this?” I yelled, shoving the copy of the contract in his face and he stared at me with an amused expression before sighing.
“You know what? I need an annulment right now.” I yelled not believing that I had trusted and practically threw my life into the hand of some weirdo.
He leaned back in his seat, his piercing gaze locking onto mine as a slow, chilling smirk spread across his fa
ce.
“An annulment? Oh, sweetheart,” he drawled, his voice dripping with dark amusement, “the only way out of this marriage might be a coffin. And trust me—you don’t want to test me on that— You should look at your face, I'm just kidding or am I not?”