The drive back was no better than the one before. Every nerve in my body was on edge. We might be couples now, but it wasn't compulsory we had to live together since it was a fake wedding. I thought of asking him to drop me at a motel, but something about his calm, cold demeanor made the words stick in my throat.
The car came to a stop, and I got out of the car without waiting for Alexander.
Looking up, my jaw dropped at the sight before me. If I thought my father's estate was splendid, then this was on another level. The mansion was grand, like modern castle and had about five floors or so. It was impossible to tell. Even the beautiful garden was as large as a small park… Not to talk of the fountain in the middle. This was a kind of place you only see in magazines… so perfect.
As we stepped inside the grand entrance, I was surprised to see staff lined up on either side, bowing there heads as we neared.
"Welcome, sir," said respectfully an older man at the front of the line. "And to you, Mrs. Vaughn," he added, turning to me with a polite smile.
Mrs. Vaughn. The name sounded odd in my head.
I nodded awkwardly, unsure of what to say. If nothing else, they were polite. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
Alexander didn't acknowledge the staff as he led me up the staircase to the second floor.
We stopped in front of a large set of double doors. Alexander pushed them open, revealing a bedroom that was as grand as the rest of the house.
"This is the master bedroom," he said flatly.
Why was he showing me the master bedroom instead of my room? A gasp almost escaped my lips as it hit me. Wait… what? I turned to face him, panic creeping its way to my chest.
"You mean… we will be… sleeping here? Together?"
"Yes," he simply said.
"But we don't have to…" I protested. "It's a fake–"
He cut me off with a sharp glare.
"You're my wife now. Fake or not."
"Only on papers," I muttered, not enough for him to hear, as I looked away.
Ignoring me, he walked further into the room and gestured towards a door in the corner. "That's the dressing room. Everything you needed is inside."
I moved forward to see, but stopped when he turned around to face me, his expression hardening.
"Listen," he began, stepping closer, his shadow swallowing the space between us. "We might be married, but don't mistake this for power. You will stay out of my way. And if you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone…" His face was inches from mine now, "I'll make sure you regret it in ways you can't even imagine."
The threat sent a chill down my spine. The way he said it, the look on his face told me he wasn't joking.
I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.
"Good," he said, turning toward the door. Then, he left, shutting the door behind him.
I stood there, staring at the empty space, then told myself it was alright. As long as I stayed away from him, everything would be perfect.
****
Later that night, Alexander was spending time with his cousin and friend in the VIP room of an exclusive club in the city. His eyes narrowed, staring down at the drink. He didn't know why he was angry. There was something he just couldn't get out of his head, and that was the white-haired thing in his home. Each time he thought of her, it would feel as if his blood was boiling.
His jaw clenched and unclenched before gulping down the full glass of hard liquor.
"Your assistant is here, Alex," his cousin, Nathan said, as he was about to pour himself another glass.
"Boss," Ethan called, standing in front of his table with an unusual, professional smile. "Mr. Ben withdrew his shares out of the Steele's Corps. The company is a step away from being bankrupt."
"He did?" Alexander asked, surprised. Mr. Ben had the biggest share in George's major company and the latter was a close business acquaintance to George. Coaxing him into withdrawing his shares was hell. He had to promise the old man that he could be the next board executive in his firm if he agreed to it.
Perfect.
"We can move to the next step now," Ethan said.
"Right. Before that, I want you to schedule a meeting with the new investor guy as soon as possible. We can't let George get him before us."
"Sure, boss," Ethan said lastly and left.
If he could get that investor off George's line of sight, then he could kiss farewell to his 76 billion dollars Estate and Resort, because they were about to be his.
"Alex," Nathan's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"What?"
"Just wanted to know if you're still after that old hag," he said, referring to George. "I think it's time to let the bastard go and suffer retribution. Why bother yourself with him?"
"I don't believe in retribution. I haven't even started yet. Bankrupting his company was nothing compared to what he did."
"He's just kidding, Alex," Lucas intercepted.
Lucas was an old friend and he had been a good friend to Alexander and Nathan ever since they became neighbors in Ford estate. He knew every detail about what happened fourteen years ago and how much it affected him.
Lucas exchanged a hard glare with Nathan, a way of telling him to keep shut, before he faced Alexander again.
"I heard that your step-father is stepping down and handing over to Seith. What do you think about it?"
Alexander raised a brow. He didn't care what the man did for Seith, because he wasn't his son. His mother remarried when her husband died, making John Ford his step-father. The only time Ford took responsibility for him was when his mother was still alive. When she died, everything changed drastically. He was thrown out of the Ford's property and forced to live on the street. "You're useless, I have no use of you anymore." He would never forget those words John Ford said to him.
Homeless at 13, he slept on alleys, endured the freezing cold during winter and scavenged for scraps of food from trash bins. He was beaten, robbed by other big street kids who saw him as nothing but an easy prey.
Everything changed the night he was attacked. His body was wounded badly and blood drilled from every inch of his skin. He lay, barely breathing in the dark, cold alley. He thought he was going to die there alone. But fortunately, he was rescued by some people who he thought were heaven sent, only for him to realize later that he had fallen into the clutches of the city's notorious gang members.
Viktor Reno. The familiar name rang in his head, sending a shiver down his spine. That was the name of the bloody gang leader.
Alexander took a sip from the wine, the rich sweetness of the liquid suddenly tasting bitter in his tongue.
"I hate how uncle is unfair. How could he hand clean everything to that motherfucker without even thinking about you? Now that jerk would feel even more powerful than he already was. Fuck..." Nathan scowled, cursing under his breath.
"I don't think I need it, and never would I." He had gotten everything he needed in life, built everything from scratch. But a lot of sacrifices were made.
The one thing that he kept in mind all these years was that he would make George Steele fall on his feet and beg for mercy. But then, mercy would be long gone, because the bastard didn't think about mercy when he killed his mother in the most horrible way, and made him suffer. Those memories made him tremble, it made him seethe with anger whenever he got reminded of it, and the only thing he could think of was how he would unleash his wrath on them all. Starting from the white-haired one under his roof. His daughter. He would make her atone for every single sin of her father and feel the pain her father caused him.
His phone on the table buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the screen and his expression darkened when he saw who it was.
"What happened?"
"Sir," Mr. Harrison, the butler's voice came through, "there is an incident in the house. Mrs. Vaughn… she broke the sculpture in your room."
"Which one?"
"The rare one."
Alexander's fingers tightened around the phone. "I will deal with it," he said as calmly as possible, then ended the call.
"Is something wrong?" Lucas asked, looking up at him with a frown as he grabbed his jacket from the lounge.
"Nothing. It's just… my wife. I will tell you about her next time," he hurriedly said, irritation clear in his tone at the mention of 'wife'.
Nathan choked on his wine and spilled it out. "Your what?"
Lucas's eyes widened in shock. "You have a wife? When? How?"
But Alexander was already at the door. He strode out without even sparing them a backward glance.
Disappointed, Lucas turned to Nathan, whose face had turned pale from the news. "Did you know about this?"
Nathan shrugged. "I'm just as shocked as you, dude."