Vows and vendettas

Episode3

ISABELLA’S POV

Little steps flew outside my door, and then quiet chuckles followed. Sitting up, stretching my arms, a grin pulled at my lips. Even though I had only just recently relocated into Nathaniel's home, his children were not yet used to me but I planned to make them warm up to me and win their hearts in the process.

I watched Nathaniel drive them off, leaving me alone in his big mansion after assisting them in getting dressed and checking their school bags. I grabbed my bag and hurried out when the car vanished down the road.

I had to return to my former home and complete the rest of my packing. Nathaniel had made me move in with them immediately when the paperwork was completed. I didn't have much stuff left there, only a small few personal things and clothes.

Sophia was sitting on the floor in front of her laptop when I walked in. Crossing her arms, she looked up at me.

Raising an eyebrow, she inquired, "So how is Mr. Billionaire treating you? Did you get breakfast in bed? "

I rolled my eyes and slammed some folded garments into my packing bag. “Sophie, I am not there to be treated like a queen. You know that. ”

She looked serious. “Sure, I do. This is why I've got you something important for your stay there.”

She passed a gentle silver necklace. Though it appeared like any other piece of jewelry at first, I saw a small, nearly invisible chip set into the back when she turned the pendant over.

"A tracking device? " I whispered, looking her way.

Sophie gave a nod. “In case anything goes wrong, I need to be able to locate you, so don’t ever take it over.”

My stomach churned. Living with Nathaniel, getting closer to his children, pretending to be who I wasn't, just to gather enough evidence to take him down, was I really doing this?

Sophie said softly, almost as if she were reading my thoughts: "If you're afraid, you can still back down. You still have time before the wedding. It’s not to scrap the whole thing.”

I shook my head and held the necklace with all my strength. “I must do this. It's the only way to get justice for my father and make him rest in peace."

She handed me another item, a small camera and voice recorder that she made. “Since we are pushing through with our plan, get these set up in his office. We have to know all he is up to. ”

Though my hands shook, I swallowed hard but accepted the items and stuffed them inside my bag before she could notice how scared I was.

"Be careful, Isabella," she sighed as I headed towards the door.

I nodded once and headed off.

********************************************************

The house was quiet when I walked in. My mind was reeling with confused feelings. I went to my room and fell on the bed and thrashed about on the bed, trying to get rid of the confusion I was feeling.

I was doing the right thing. Sophie and I had everything planned out since we were at the orphanage home. I couldn’t back out at this point. Not when I was this close.

My phone vibrated in my bag and I pulled it out to see that it was a text message from Alex.

Alex: You have six months, Isabella. Don't ever forget why you're here.

My hand closed around the phone in a firm grip as another message popped up. I opened the second message.

Alex: And when it's done, you'll go quietly. No trail. No accusations. Or I'll personally ensure you're never given the chance to speak.

I took a deep breath. That was it. I was already deep into this and there was no going back now. Taking a deep breath, I stood up. The moment was now. No one was in the house. There was no better chance than now

I walked out the door of my room, keeping my ears open for any sound from the main entrance in the living room. I couldn’t afford to get caught or draw any suspicion to myself. I crept into Nathaniel's office, it was easy to find in the huge mansion because I had studied the blueprints of the house, and I knew where the security cameras were and where they were not.

For some reasons, Nathaniel didn’t install any cameras in the hallway to his office and inside his office. We were able to get all that information due to Sophie's professional hacking skill that she learnt after we left the orphanage.

After I went in and shut the door, I sighed out in relief. I didn't want to waste a second even within the room. I pulled out the tape recorder and the camera from the jacket pocket and moved in the direction of the massive wooden desk. My hands trembled slightly as I installed the camera at the back of the ornament, at an angle more or less towards the desk. I fitted the tiny recorder into the hole where the drawer was, camouflaging it.

I crawled up to peer in the camera. It was on. The tape recorder was running. Good. Now I just need to grab and run before I get caught.

As I backed away, my eyes caught something on the desk. A necklace. My necklace. The one I'd lost at the art show a few months ago when I was stalking Nathaniel.

I picked it up and closed my hands around it, ‘Why on earth would Nathaniel have it?’

Does he know about my plans already? No, he wouldn’t trust me around his kids if he did.

Looking down at the necklace, I remembered it was a common design. It could be for anybody. I placed it back on the same spot and left the office.

Since there was nothing else to do, I cooked dinner for Nathaniel and his kids. The distraction allowed my inner gnawing to go away. Every action I now took needed to be computed. One error would cause all to collapse.

The front door opened just after I'd finished preparing dinner. I looked at the time and scowled. It was too early for the children to be home yet, so it couldn’t be them.

Who could it be? Nathaniel?

As the footsteps approached into the kitchen, I dried my hands on a towel and turned around. He gazed at me sharply, and for a second, something fluttered in my heart..

I tried to keep calm and stated, "You're home early. "

His eyes swept me, resting briefly before he loosen his tie. "Meetings were postponed. "

I nodded. “Oh okay.” I excused myself and headed to my room to use the bathroom without saying more.

Warm water soothed me, but it did very little to clear the lingering guilt in my mind. Wrapped around in a towel, I headed out just to freeze when he yanked the door opened.

"Nathaniel," I breathed slowly and pulled the towel around me tighter. “What are you doing here? ”

He did not reply right away. As he passed over me, his eyes darkened and his jaw rolled.

Stepping back, my heart pounding in my chest.

He said at last, "I didn't intend to intrude," with a lower, coarser tone of voice. “I just wanted to discuss the plans for our wedding this weekend.”

He slowed off as he raked down my body that was cover by a short towel. I tightened the towel around my body as he closed the distance between us. My breath caught as he stretched out his hands to touch my cheek, his fingers running over my moist skin.

I ought have left. I ought to have said something, anything to shatter whatever spell was connecting us. Still, I didn't.

His hand curled my cheek; his thumb stroked my lips. He whispered, "Damn it, Isabella," he crashed his lips on mine before I had the time to react..

His hands gripping my waist and yanking me against him sent heat running through me. For a second, everything that I was supposed to do, why I was here slipped my mind. All that counted was his impact on me. His lips left my lips and continued their attack on my neck. He sucked and bit on it, making me moan out his name.

“Nathaniel.”

I should be repulsed by him and pushed him away but instead, I wanted more, I wanted more of him.

His hands touched my bare skin under the towel and his hands crept up between my legs. My brain was screaming at me to stop but my body was doing the opposite.

Just as suddenly as he started, he pulled away and panted. He stepped away from me, running his fingers through his hair.

"I should not have done that," he murmured.

I gulped once more, still shaken from what just happened. Before I got the chance to respond, the noise of little feet dashing into the house caught our attention and Nathaniel walked out of the room without even taking a second glance at me.

The kids' voices rang out from the lower floor: "Daddy! "

I gazed at him in his retreating form, my pulse still beating.

“My angels are back.” I heard him shout from the corridor, followed by giggling.

Isabella, what were you thinking?