EPISODE 4
1047 Words
THE PROPOSAL NO ONE SAW COMING
The phone slipped from Isabella’s trembling fingers and landed on the polished floor with a dull thud.
Her breathing became shallow.
Her father’s file?
She had never heard of such a file.
Growing up, her father had been an ordinary accountant, so she believed. He worked long hours, came home with a tired smile, and never brought his work into the house.
After his death, her mother had always insisted it was a tragic car accident.
So why would anyone be searching for a file he had supposedly died protecting?
Alexander bent down, picked up the phone, and handed it back to her.
“Are you alright?”
His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed him.
There was fear in them.
Real fear.
Isabella took the phone with shaky hands.
“Mom…”
“I’m here,” her mother whispered.
“Did they hurt you?”
“No… but they warned me.”
A cold knot tightened in Isabella’s stomach.
“What did they say?”
Her mother’s voice cracked.
“They said some secrets should stay buried.”
The call ended.
For a long moment, Isabella simply stared at the blank screen.
Her world had changed again.
First, she lost the man she thought she would marry.
Then she met a billionaire who somehow knew her father.
Now strangers were searching for something connected to a death that might not have been an accident after all.
She slowly lifted her eyes to Alexander.
“You knew.”
He didn’t answer.
“You knew my father’s death wasn’t just an accident.”
Silence.
“Answer me!”
Alexander exhaled slowly.
“There are things I can’t tell you yet.”
The words ignited her anger.
“You keep saying that!”
She slammed her hand on his desk.
“Everyone keeps talking about my father except me. Why? Why am I the last person to know?”
Alexander remained standing.
His face was unreadable.
“If I tell you everything now, you’ll be in even greater danger.”
“Danger?”
She laughed bitterly.
“My life is already falling apart.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make me understand!”
Before Alexander could reply, his grandfather stepped forward.
“Enough.”
The old man looked from Alexander to Isabella.
“The girl deserves the truth.”
Alexander shook his head.
“Not until she’s safe.”
“Safe from whom?” Isabella asked.
Neither man answered.
The silence was louder than any words.
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
Alexander’s assistant entered.
“Mr. King, the board meeting starts in five minutes.”
Alexander nodded.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
The assistant hesitated when he noticed Isabella.
Then he quietly left.
Alexander turned back to her.
“I have an important meeting.”
She folded her arms.
“So we’re done?”
“For today.”
He walked around his desk and reached for his suit jacket.
“I’ll have someone drive you home.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“I can get home myself.”
Without waiting for permission, Isabella stormed out of the office.
…
Outside the building, the city buzzed with its usual afternoon energy.
People hurried along the sidewalks.
Traffic crawled through the streets.
Yet Isabella felt completely alone.
Questions flooded her mind.
Who were those men?
Why had they returned now?
Why did Alexander seem determined to protect her?
And what had her father really been hiding?
She barely noticed the black SUV parked across the street.
Inside, two men watched her every move.
“That’s her.”
The older man adjusted his sunglasses.
“She doesn’t know anything yet.”
“Should we take her now?”
“Not yet.”
He smiled coldly.
“Let’s see if Alexander makes his move first.”
The SUV pulled away before Isabella noticed it.
…
That evening, Isabella returned to the small apartment she shared with her mother.
The front door was damaged.
One of the locks had been forced open.
Her heart raced.
“Mom?”
“I’m in the kitchen.”
She rushed inside.
Her mother looked exhausted.
Papers were scattered across the table.
Drawers had been emptied.
Photo albums lay open on the floor.
“They searched everything,” her mother whispered.
“They even looked inside your father’s old books.”
Isabella knelt beside an overturned box filled with family photographs.
One picture caught her attention.
It showed her father standing beside another man.
The second man’s face had been torn away.
“Who did this?”
Her mother looked at the photograph and turned pale.
“I… I don’t know.”
But Isabella could tell she was lying.
Before she could ask another question, someone knocked on the door.
Three slow knocks.
Both women froze.
Her mother grabbed Isabella’s hand.
“Don’t answer it.”
The knocking came again.
Louder this time.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
“It’s me.”
Alexander.
Isabella frowned.
How had he found her home?
She opened the door.
Alexander stood there in a dark suit, his expression more serious than ever.
Behind him waited two security guards.
“What are you doing here?”
He looked past her at the ransacked apartment.
His jaw tightened.
“They’ve already been here.”
“You knew this would happen?”
“I was hoping I’d get here first.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Alexander stepped inside and closed the door.
He looked directly at Isabella.
“There isn’t much time.”
He reached into his inside pocket and removed a thick envelope.
Inside was a document.
He placed it on the table.
“I need you to read this.”
She picked it up.
It was a legal contract.
Her eyes scanned the first page.
Then she froze.
The bold heading read:
MARRIAGE AGREEMENT
She looked up at Alexander.
“What is this?”
His gaze never left hers.
“The only way I can protect you.”
The room fell silent.
Isabella laughed in disbelief.
“You’ve lost your mind.”
Alexander’s expression didn’t change.
“I’m asking you to become my wife.”
To be continued…
- Writer
