Bound by Deception

Chapter 2: The Trap Closes

Elena stormed out of Alexander office. She was aggravated at the sheer audacity that the man had. He tried to corner her and then manipulate her into a marriage. He must have really thought that she was just a chess piece that can be moved at his will

Well she was never going to give in to his ridiculous demands. Someone needed to show this guy that he could not get away with everything and by God, she was going to be that person.

Yanking her phone out, she called her best friend James as she ran through the cold evening air.

"Tell me you have found something, anything at all," she asked the second he picked. But she got no response. Still she held on hope and called out to him again

"James?"

"Elena, there is nothing. Every single investor, every single bank I reached out to all want absolutely nothing to do with the Moreau name."

Elena’s pace slowed down as the weight of the words James said pressed down on her. Her voice was low as she spoke. "You cant say that. There has to be someone who wants to work with us. There just has to be."

Her voice cracked. She was getting desperate.

"There isn't. I have checked literally everywhere."

"Great and now I have a stupid deal hanging over my neck," Elena blurted out and immediately rejected why she did.

"What deal?" Was James next question and he asked it with urgency. Elena had no other choice than to fill him in.

"Look Elena I know its not ideal but right now, I think the best thing to do is take the deal."

Elena recoiled as if James had slapped her. "What kind of sick joke is that?"

"Look, I don't want to say this but right now, we have less than forty-eight hours before they take every single thing. Do you know what that means? Your father’s legacy, your home, every single thing that your family has worked for and built will be taken. Do you want that?"

Elena inhaled deeply "I don't want that but I won't do it."

"Elena..." James called out, trying to convince her

"James, I said no. I cannot sell myself like that," her voice was cracking again but this time, she ended the call before James could say a word. One thing was sure, she was going to find another way.

---

As she sat in her dimly lit study that night, a call entered her phone and Elena looked at her cell. She was already surrounded by all these crumpled papers of her rejected proposals. As she looked at the cell, her eyes were blurred by confusion to see the caller ID and she just picked it.

“Elena Moreau?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“This is St. Vincent’s Hospital. Your father was admitted—”

She didn't wait for the rest of the sentences. All she knew was that the phone fell from her hands as she rushed to get her coat and run to the hospital.

She arrived at the hospital within the next 30 minutes and she was met with the smell of antiseptic and despair that filled every hospital

Elena ran straight to her father’s room and when she saw him looking so pale and weak, she could barely hear the sound of the machines beeping. Her pace reduced as she moved to his bedside

"Dad?" She called out softly and watched as his eyes fluttered open. The second he saw her, he tried to speak but his voice came out thin and strained.

"Elena...the company..." he managed to utter before she quieted him down.

"Dad, don't worry about that right now." She said as she held his frail hands and forced a smile on her face.

Still the man curled his fingers around hers and whispered, "do everything you have to save it."

Elena couldn't speak, she just nodded her head yes.

"Elena, I know what Alexander wants. You have to give him. There is no other way," Victor said, his eyes darkening in sorrow.

Elena looked at her father and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "Dad, no. I cannot let him win. I wont."

"You have no other option," he whispered and those words shattered her.

Suddenly she felt a new wave of anger at Alexander for forcing her to this corner.

The next morning, she knew what she had to do and so, she marched into his office. Again, she did not wait for the guards to let her through. She just threw the doors of his sleek empire opened and marched straight to the receptionist’s desk

"Get me Alexander. Now!"

The woman could not help but look up at the woman who was almost commanding her. "Do you have an appointment miss?" She asked politely.

"Tell him its Elena Moreau. Trust me, he will want to see me."

There was a pause before the receptionist smiled and made the call. "Mr. Hawthorne, Ms Moreau is here to see you."

Immediately the call ended, Alex office doors opened to reveal him sitting behind his desk, at ease. He watched her with the same infuriating smirk that he had on the last time.

"So, you came back," he said, slightly amused. "Had a feeling you would."

Elena looked at him, burning with anger but she managed to shove her feelings aside. "I want better terms."

"Is that so?" Alexander asked with his left eyebrow lifted.

"I will not be your obedient wife. I want to have full control over my life."

"Tell me more," he said as he leaned formed and rested his elbows on the desk.

"I mean every single word I am saying right now. I will not be locked away and paraded on your arm like some sort of trophy. I am a strong woman and i will not allow you to manipulate me. And if you for one second think that I will be smiling through this, then you are awfully mistaken."

Alexander did not say a word but something in his eyes screamed that he could not wait to break her. Slowly, he pulled out a file from the drawer and slid it across the desk

Elena hesitated but then she picked it up and read its content. She was shocked to see that every single one of her demands were already included in the modified contract.

"You knew," she said sharply as she looked up.

"Sweetheart you need to understand that I plan for everything and thankfully, you are very predictable," he admitted smoothly.

Elena looked at him baffled, looking for the right words to call him out. But then Alexander smiled and said "sign it and the company is yours again."

With shaking hands, she realized that she could not walk away. So she grabbed the pen and scrawled her name across the bottom.

Alexander took the contract from her hand as he inspected it. Slowly his gaze flickered on her and his eyes glinted with a dark amusement.

“Welcome to your new life, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

Before she could say a word, a tall elegant woman walked in like she owned the place. She had dark red lips, a piercing blue eyes and a confident posture.

"And who are you?" Elena asked

"You're worst nightmare but for now, you can just call me Victoria Sinclair. "

The woman’s lips curled into a knowing smirk as she turned to Elena.

“Oh, darling,” she purred. “You have no idea what you just signed up for.”