FROM HUMILIATED BRIDE TO HIS OBSESSION

Episode4

Zoey’s POV

I didn’t know a person could still shake hours after danger was gone, but my body was doing exactly that even inside the quiet moving car I couldn’t stop trembling.

My hands were folded tightly in my lap, like I was holding myself together so I would not break apart completely, this beautiful dress I had worn for revenge now looked like a costume from someone else’s life.

Lili sat beside me in the backseat, rubbing her scalp gently where that man had pulled her hair, she kept muttering words like “idiots and “animals” under her breath, but I wasn’t really hearing her.

Because my eyes kept going to the man driving the car

Christian Bellucci, the billionaire my fake gigolo, the plan that was supposed to be simple.

He sat in the front seat as he belonged there, like danger, luxury, and silence all agreed to obey him, his hands rested calmly on the steering wheel his face looked straight ahead, focused on the road like nothing unusual had happened tonight.

Like he hadn’t just appeared out of nowhere and saved two women from something terrible. I should have been scared of him, I should have been confused, I should have been asking a million questions but all I could think was why did he come back for us?

Because that part didn’t make sense, he wasn’t part of the party anymore he had already left, the deal was done and the contract was supposed to be over the moment we stepped out of the wedding event, so why did he come back, different thoughts were coming to my mind but I couldn’t ask.

I looked down at my hands, Lily leaned closer to me and whispered, “Girl…I don’t care what kind of contract you signed, that man is not normal.” I almost laughed because she was right.

Christian Bellucci didn’t feel normal, he felt like something from a different world, a world I wasn’t supposed to enter. The car slowed as we got to a red light, the glow of the light spilled into the car lighting his face in soft gold and shadow

And for the first time, I really looked at him not as a plowman, not as a revenge, not as a fake boyfriend but as a man. His jaw was sharp, like it had been carved carefully, and his eyes when I looked at them in the mirror, were dark and unreadable. Not cruel, not soft but something in between, something that made it hard to look away.

I quickly looked down again, because if I kept staring I didn’t know what I would feel, gratitude? Confusion? Or something worse? The car stopped outside Lily’s building first, and Christian parked smoothly in the parking space.

Lily turned to me immediately “Are you sure you’re okay to go alone?” She asked softly. I nodded quickly, “Yes, I’m fine.” That was a lie, but that was the kind of lie people say when they don’t want to fall apart in front of others.

Lily didn’t believe me, but she didn’t push further, she leaned forward slightly toward the front seat, “Hey,” she said her voice softer now. “Thank you… for earlier.”

Christian didn’t turn fully but he said in a low voice “You’re welcome” That was it, two words, very simple. Like everything he did had limits. Lily opened the door, then suddenly leaned back toward me and whispered, “Call me the second you get home. And… Zoey?

“Yes?” She gave me a serious look “Be careful with him.” The second she got out and just like that, I was alone with Christian Bellucci

The door closed, and the silence changed it felt heavier now. The car moved again, and I swallowed nervously “You can drop me here,” I said quickly. “I don’t want to take more of your time.”

His eyes met mine through the rearview mirror, “I’m not dropping you anywhere unsafe, I’ll drop you directly at the front of your building” he said and that was final. I pressed my lips together “I live two streets away from here.”

“I know.” That made me freeze, I stared at his reflection “You know?” “Yes,” he said simply, turning the wheel “I read your file.” My eyes widened.

“My…what?” He didn’t react like I was crazy for asking “your contract file,” he corrected. “Basic information, address, job, background.” Of course, this wasn’t personal for him, it was business, everything was business even me.

I turned my face toward the window, outside, the city lights blurred into streaks, I should have felt safer but instead, I felt small. Not because of him, but because of everything, because my life had become something I didn’t recognize anymore.

After a few minutes, he spoke again “They hurt you.” It wasn’t a question. “I’m fine,” I said quickly, “You’re shaking,” he replied. That made me freeze, I looked down at my hands again and they were still trembling.

I hated that he noticed, I hated that he cared enough to mention it. “I said I’m fine,” I repeated softer this time.

“No, you’re not.” He said quietly, something in his voice made my chest feel tight. Not anger, not judgement it was more like certainty.

I turned away again, hugging my arms “Why did you come back?” I suddenly asked. The car slowed at another turn.

“I was already gone,” I added. “The deal was over.” Then his voice came lower “I saw what was happening.” That wasn’t enough of an answer, “so?” I whispered “You could have kept driving.”

“I didn’t want to.” He said and that stopped me, my heart did something strange a small confusing jump that I didn’t understand. So I did what I always did when I didn’t understand something, I pushed it away.

We finally got to my building, the car stopped this time, I didn’t move immediately because something about getting out felt like stepping into a different life again.

Christian got out first and walked around the car, opened my door like I was that important. My hand touched his as I stepped out, his hand was warm. That same strange shock ran through me again. I pulled my hand back quickly, “Thank you, for the ride and earlier” I said quietly.

He studied me, not in a creepy way but in a focused way like I was something he couldn’t easily understand. “You’re welcome,” he said again. “Then, you should go inside.”

I nodded but I did not move because something in my chest felt heavy like I had left something unfinished. I hesitated before I called out “Christian?” He looked at me “Yes?” I swallowed “why me” it came out before I could stop it.

His eyes narrowed, I expected him to brush it off but instead, he came closer, not enough to scare me but to make me feel him. “I didn’t choose randomly,” he said. My breath slowed “What do you mean?”

His voice lowered, “You were selected,” My heart dropped “Selected?”

“Yes,” I frowned “for what?” His gaze held mine “for this role.” The world felt quiet suddenly, I took a step back “What role?” I asked carefully but he didn’t answer directly instead, he said “Go inside, Zoey.”

“Okay,” I said softly I turned towards my building, stopped, and looked back he was watching me with blank eyes. Christian? I called again. He didn’t look away. “Yes?”

I hesitated “Don’t make me regret tonight.” And for the first time, something shifted in his face, his voice came out softer this time “I won’t.” I didn’t know why but I believed him and that scared me more than anything that had happened tonight.

I turned and walked inside, even as the elevator doors closed I felt his eyes still on me and I had no idea yet that this was only the beginning of the lie that would change my entire life.