Married To The Masked Billionaire

Alivia’s POV. “Stay with me, Mrs. Monroe!” The doctor’s voice, loud as it was, sounded muffled and distant as he widened my faltering eyelids with his fingers. It felt like I was drowning. I could feel my breath slowly slipping away, my heartbeat weakly dropping. The pain I felt at my belly was too wide a gash as I got wheeled into the hospital ward. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Daniel getting wheeled into a different ward as nurses troop his stretcher. ‘Will he be fine? I really hope so,’ I wished in my head as I fought the yelp that threatened to escape my lips as the nurse applied pressure on my belly. Would I survive? The likelihood was not high, the lorry had hit the car from my side, not Daniel’s. “A wide cut on the belly, rough shards of glass buried near the liver, she suffered a damage to the skull too. She needs surgery, Dr. Ford!” The nurse yelled, panic evident in her voice as I fought the pain I felt. Pain, too much pain. I felt the sigh escape my chest and I just knew it was the last. I succumbed to the darkness without fighting as I felt the world go still around me. * I sat upright, ignoring the dull pain I felt as I did. I was in a hospital ward. The smell of antiseptic and alcohol flooded my lungs and I almost retched—I never liked it. My mind darted back to Daniel and the night before. The car accident, the lorry hitting the car, Daniel. How’s Daniel? I never saw him since after the accident, did he survive? Did he come in to check up on me? I yanked the drip off my hand and positioned my lower body to get off the bed, but my limbs wobbly failed me as I fell to the ground. They were numb, my knees. I was hopeless. The doctor walked in and stared in a brief fit of disbelief as he helped me off the floor and back onto the bed with the nurse from earlier. “How do you feel, Mrs. Monroe?” He asked once he attached the IV back to my arm. He studied my face, awaiting a response but never got one. I tried speaking but the words never came. I found it difficult to speak and I had no idea why. Was I mute? Was that a complication of car accidents? “It’s fine, your inability to speak isn’t exactly your fault,” The doctor replied as if reading my mind and sat beside me on the bed. “Mrs. Monroe, I have news, a very bad one…and I hope you forgive me for being the bearer of it.” My heart raced in my chest and I couldn’t push away the ominous feeling I felt in me. What could it be? I clutched the bedsheet for support and braced myself as my breathing quickened in anticipation of the doctor’s apparently bad news. “You and Mr. Monroe were in the car when the accident happened, yes?” The doctor said softly and I nodded, although confused by where he was going. “The incoming lorry hit your car from Daniel’s side causing him, the driver, to lose control of the vehicle.” The memory of that was unclear in my head. I felt my brows crease in confusion as I stared at the doctor. “You survived only minor injuries on impact but I want you to listen to me carefully, Alivia; Daniel did not survive it. Daniel died from the accident, his body was never recovered,” The doctor dropped the bombshell and I felt my heartbeat stop in a few seconds. “What? No!” I whispered as soon as I found my voice. The doctor’s eyes widened in surprise but that only lasted seconds before he replied to me. “Alivia, listen to me.” The doctor moved closer to me, his starry eyes staring deeply into mine as he held my face. “You survived a blow to the skull so the memory might be hazy.” “No,” I replied firmly. “Daniel was driving but I was the one whose side got hit. Daniel steered away from the lorry and crashed into the pavement on the road. It was a sunny evening and we were…” The words rushed through my lips as though they were burning. “Well?” My mind went blank and I was unable to recall anything from the accident. Just figments of what had happened which might have either been true or scars of PTSD. Was I really insane? “Dr. Ford, I’ll take it from here,” a feminine voice said from behind as the door closed. A powdery scent assaulted my nostrils and Dr. Ford stood up instantly. I looked up to see a woman whose beauty dwarfed mine in ways I couldn’t imagine. Well, according to my beloved husband, Daniel. She looked like the sun herself, with hair so thick and silky and eyes blue like the sky. The smirk on her heart shaped lips ignited a sense of familiarity between us and I recalled immediately who she was. How could I forget Eliena, the woman who—once upon a time—tried to kick me out of my husband’s life with her endless wits and obsession? “Oh, Alivia, look at you, so pale and helpless.” Eliena strutted around my ward and my cells were active, her eyes never leaving my skin. They held no compassion, her eyes. Nothing but shallow sympathy and mockery, I could only imagine how horrible I looked, as I cowered my head down in shame. Dr. Ford and the nurses shuffled out of the room soon enough and it was just us. “Daniel’s dead,” she began, her voice deadpan. “He only wanted a good life with me. Unfortunately, you came,” I didn’t miss the way Eliena stressed the words and I couldn’t help but feel pangs of sadness as the words hit me. “Don’t sulk, he’s dead now and I bet you felt good. I mean, he loved me regardless of who he was married to. Can I let you in on a secret?” Eliena pulled closer to me, eyes widened like a giant ball. “The red dress he got you on your birthday? I wore it first, and we did things in it. Things he’d consider filthy with you. His business trips to Tokyo were all with me, giving him the peace you never could.” My heart shattered into countless pieces as Eliena revealed Daniel’s filthy secrets. He never loved me, that much was obvious, but he never gave me a reason not to. Even when he hit me, locked me out, I still loved him. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I cursed Daniel and Eliena deep in my soul. I tried my best not to imagine Daniel moaning her name in various languages as he touched her in ways he never did to me. “Since you’re not aware, it’s best to let bygones be bygones. That’s not why I’m here,” Eliena chuckled darkly. “I’m here because Daniel’s lawyer said his will required the presence of the primary and contingent beneficiaries, one of whom is you. It’s been two weeks anyway.” Two weeks?! I’ve been in a coma for two weeks? Which means Daniel’s been dead for two weeks? Oh my goodness. “Alivia!” A deep voice rang from the entrance and I saw a particularly masked man as he walked closer to me. Kinnaird, Daniel’s brother. Well, half. “How’re you?” Kinnaird moved closer to me and assessed my body for wounds. His touch was surprisingly smooth yet it made me jerk up involuntarily. Kinnaird wasn’t particularly known for being so caring or even compassionate so this was a shocker. “I’m fine.” I found myself saying and shifted away uncomfortably from him slightly, his touch still lingering on my shoulder. “You stay in this ward almost all the time and the doctor said she was only comatose, aren’t you a bit jumpy?” Eliena’s question was directed to Kinniard who’s been acting strangely around me since he got here. I stared up to him to find an explanation as I was confused by Eliena’s statement but his masked face betrayed no emotion. Instead, his knuckles turned white until he released his clenched fist onto my shoulder and pursed his lips into a thin line. “Shut up, Eliena.” The hard look on his face melted into something tender as he glanced at me. “Are you ready to leave? I spoke to the doctor about your discharge.” I nodded frantically. I had a thousand questions in my head. Daniel had clearly survived. I couldn’t recall how, but I tried to make out a hazy image of me being wheeled into the hospital with Daniel from the car wreckage. And why was Kinnaird suddenly being protective and worried about me? Since when did that happen? Kinnaird wheeled me out of the hospital and to the car where we prepared to go home. The drive home was silent—boring even. Except for Eliena’s occasional attempt at bitching me which were met by Kinnaird’s cold glare and flat response. I wasn’t sure how far my mind had wandered back to the accident to recollect what had happened—as I found it difficult to place my hands on the memory—but Kinniard opened the door for me and wheeled me while Eliena wouldn’t stop grumbling. Again, weird. But whatever I had in mind, I said nothing about it. We got into the living room and the familiar nostalgic feeling of remembrance hit me. In this house, a lot of memories were made and neither were exactly happy ones. The living room was same as usual, soulless gray wallpapers and colorful chandeliers that tried to mimic life as though there was love, but I’d stared at these walls for two years, I knew too well that it was devoid of happiness. Or maybe they just never liked me. Daniel’s mother lit up the moment she saw me and I was amazed but I never showed that for too long, smiling back at her uncomfortably as she charged towards me. She shuffled past me with a sneer and went to hug Eliena, only then did I realize that she could never like me. And the death of her son even worsened it. “Eliena, my dear. You look hallowed, still. Daniel’s death must’ve really taken so much out of you,” Monica said feigning sorrow as Kinnaird ignored her little charade and wheeled me to a spot. “I know you loved Daniel, and oh, how much did he love you. A shame he had to spend his life with a menace who never gave him peace.” A blow to my chest. Monica had her way with words and frankly, it was her strong point and my reason for being on my toes around her. I glanced at my feet to avoid the tears from falling. “Be careful with what you say. You never know which one would leave you without a tongue,” Kinnaird warned calmly as he glanced at his wristwatch. “Barrister, I suppose this gathering isn’t a circus convention, I’m a very busy one so make it snappy,” Fear gripped me at Kinnaird’s statement. He was the black sheep of the family but he’s never threatened his mother so outright. “Right. I shall skip the formalities then,” The lawyer clicked his tongue and opened Daniel’s will. It was always mandatory that they—The Monroes—wrote their will on their 25th birthday. And Daniel wasn’t an exception. “I, Daniel Carter Monroe, with a sane body and mind, declare that my worldly assets are shared as follows;” I could hear Eliena chuckle but I never let it get to me. This was it. I wasn’t grateful for my husband’s untimely passing but I and Daniel spent years building our company from scratch to what it was today—DCM Corporation. My heart shattered as reality hit me too hard, too fast. This was really it, Daniel was dead. And despite his maltreatment, I couldn’t help the hollow feeling inside me. “For being with me through the highs and the lows of life, I will all my assets and worldly possessions to the woman whom I love with every fiber in me…” all heads in the room turned to me. Mumbles and whispers filled the living room in seconds as they doubted me. I knew it, he never showed it but he cared. He loved me, Daniel loved me with every fiber in him. “Please continue.” Eliena cleared her throat, her expression disturbed. I looked at her triumphantly and she did her best not to betray any emotion however expressions were smoky, I could see her failure at trying to be tough. She was palpitating with tension. I guess she didn’t trust Daniel so much. “Her eyes, clear as the blue sky, bring me comfort. And so, I hope she finds comfort even after death claims me.” My heart sank at the lawyer’s last words. Or rather, Daniel’s last words. Daniel loved a woman, but it wasn’t me. It couldn’t be me, my eyes weren’t blue. My eyes were the darkest shade of green. My gaze darted to the woman who had eyes ‘as clear as the blue sky’. Realization dawned upon me in a fit of terror. He willed everything we worked for to his mistress—Eliena.