Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

INSIDE THE NEWLY BUILT pergola of the Vitali mansion, Chiara and Sophia were engaged in a conversation. It was still early in the morning, but the two women couldn’t help but discuss the current happenings on their rival.

Chiara took a sip on her green tea before putting the cup down on the table. “My husband told me that Isadora’s grandfather was furious,” she told her friend.

“And also, Giovanni was in prison, again,” Chiara rolled her eyes upon saying the word ‘again’ and chuckled. “We don’t have to worry about it. The evidence about him killing his ex-wife’s fiance is strong enough to put him in jail for decades. Your attorney is on the way to present the evidence about him being the mastermind on Marco’s death. It’s only a matter of time.”

Sophia sighed and couldn’t help but to feel relieved and teary at the same time. “A lot of things happened since my husband’s death that I had difficulties to choose where to focus on,” she spoke with a brittle voice before looking at her friend. “I’m lucky to have you as my friend.”Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“No,” Chiara smiled and hold Sophia’s hand. “I’m the one who is lucky to be your friend. Without you, we couldn’t have known their moves. I’m so glad you stayed loyal to us.”

“Silly girl,” Sophia laughed and playfully hit her friend’s arm. “Betraying my friend is one of the least things I would do. Besides, Marco and Ezio were also close,” she gave a bitter smile upon remembering her husband. “If Marco is here, I’m sure he would have thrown a party for the two of you. He really treasure his friends so much.”

Chiara felt touched on her words. “I’m sure your husband is so proud of you while watching you from above,” she replied and the two women looked up at the blue and peaceful sky.

Sophia started to see her husband’s face formed with the use of the white clouds. She can see him looking at her, offering a huge smile where his teeth can be seen, and his eyes were almost close as the smile reached his ears. Just the typical Marco she fell inlove with.

“I remember, when we were still dating, Marco told me that he felt fine and happy as long as I lived happily and peacefully,” she took a deep breath. “From now on, I will do my best to relive my husband’s memories, his dreams, and the legacy he left behind for the two of us.”

Chiara tapped her back twice. “Go and do what you think is right. I’ll be here to support you,” she said.

They shared a small meal with tea for the next minutes. From the balcony of their master bedroom, Ezio watched his wife laughing with her friend on the backyard.

He has a small smile on his face while staring at her. He was so focused on his wife that he didn’t felt that someone entered the room without his permission.

“Yow, lovesick fool,” Dante’s voice echoed in the air out of nowhere.

Ezio snapped back to reality before turning his upper body back to look at his friend. With a scowling face, Ezio asked. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you enter? Don’t you have work?”

“How did you enter?” Dante imitated Ezio’s voice in a mocking manner. “Duh, the door is open,” he said while pointing at the door of the master bedroom.

He walked towards Ezio and stopped just beside him before imitating his friend’s voice again, much to Ezio’s annoyance. “Don’t you have work?” he spoke. “Duh, I’m working for you. You didn’t give me more task so technically, I don’t have work today.”

“Go away,” Ezio pushed him back with his left hand. The force he used wasn’t even enough to move a person yet Dante suddenly fell on the ground and touched his chest, as if he was very hurt.

“Ouch!” he overreacted. “You hurted me, huhu. I will tell Chiara about this.”

Ezio scoffed at him but he couldn’t help but chuckle afterwards because of his friend’s reaction. “As if my wife will believe you,” he said confidently. “Go away, don’t bother me. I’m busy.”

“Busy with what?” Dante nagged like a wife with his hands on his hips. “Watching your wife talk with someone? That made you busy?”

Without giving it a though, Ezio nodded. “You won’t understand since you don’t have a wife.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself. I’m planning to propose soon,” Dante spoke and reach for the railings of the balcony, just a step beside Ezio.

“When is soon?” Ezio teased. “You’ve been together for like, ten years. I thought you’ll stay in dating phase forever.”

Dante sat on the railing, not that they are currently in a higher floor. “I’m just waiting for her to be successful in her field,” he answered, making him almost lost in his thoughts of his girlfriend before snapping back to reality when a leaf hit his face.

Ezio laughed at him instead of helping him friend remove the leaves that were blown to him. When Dante removed the leaves, he went down from the railing and just sat on the chair of the balcony.

“By the way, I went here not to bicker or tease you,” he spoke. “Well, yes. I really wanted to tease you,” he retracted his statement. “But I just want to report that Isadora was grounded by her father. According to my men, Lucio wouldn’t let Isadora out of her room until she confessed the truth.”

Ezio grinned. “Looks like Lucio Romano is still in his right mind,” he commented. “I was doubting if he could punish his precious granddaughter. Turns out he still stuck in his morals.”

After a few minutes of exchanging words and bickering with Dante, Ezio went down to the backyard and told his wife about what Dante reported.

“Interesting,” Chiara spoke with a familiar glint in her eyes. “You only gave a week to Lucio, but knowing Isadora, I’m sure she can wait that long. She can keep her silence for a long time. She’s loyal to Giovanni, after all.”

“What can we do to make her confess?” Sophia asked. “It’s not like she would tell her grandfather out of nowhere.”

Chiara looked at her with a raised eyebrows. “I have a plan, and you’re the star of it. Are you ready to show your acting skills again, Sophia?”

THAT NIGHT IN THE ROMANO MANSION, the maid who is tasked to send food to Isadora entered the bedroom. She was carrying a tray full of heavy meals, which is enough to fill Isadora’s stomach until the next night.

Aside from locking her in her room, Lucio punished Isadora by making her eat only once a day. That’s why, when the maid entered the room, Isadora’s stomach was already twisting in pain. She’s not used on not eating on time, especially because she has stomach ulcer.

“Food,” her mouth watered as the aroma of freshly cooked buttered shrimp entered her nose. “Please, I’m hungry. Give me the food.”

The moment the tray was put down on the ground, Isadora attacked it like a lion that wasn’t able to eat for weeks. She didn’t care how messy she looked, and just focused on eating her first meal since she was locked.

There were no other things inside the room aside from a blanket and a foam mattress. Lucio’s men removed everything inside to make sure that Isadora cannot use anything to escape.

After Isadora finished her meal, the maid put back the plates and utensils back to the tray. Before leaving, she put a pouch on the foam matress and spoke.

“Use that one to escape. Call the number inside the phone,” she said before leaving the bedroom.

Isadora immediately opened the pouch and found an phone with an old model. It is not touch screen, instead, it is the kind of phone that is small and has a keypad.

She opened it and saw that the only applications inside the phone is messages, contacts, calls, and calculator. Isadora opened the contacts and found a familiar number inside. With trembling fingers, she dialed the number amd anxiously waited for the other person to respond.

After a few rings, the call was answered. “Isadora? Is this you?”

“Sophia!” Isadora exclaimed but she hurriedly shut her mouth, afraid that the guards outside her room and in the balcony will hear her.

Locked herself inside the bathroom and whispered. “Sophia, help me. My grandfather locked me in my room! I can’t escape!”

“Yeah, I heard it,” Sophia responded. “Don’t worry. I’ll help you. Just listen to everything I will say, okay?”

Filled with hope and determination, Isadora nodded and listened to Sophia’s plan, memorizing everything she said.

24 hours after that call, Isadora heard three knocks from her balcony. The door to the balcony opened and a man greeted her.

“Madam Sophia sent me here,” the man spoke, while the guards were unconscious. “Come with me.”

He helped Isadora escaped the mansion. They climbed down to the ground before running towards the exit as if someone is going after them. When they passed through the small gate at their backyard, they ran more until they saw a taxi parked just a few blocks away from the mansion.

“Thank you,” Isadora spoke to the man before entering the taxi. Sophia told her that a taxi will be waiting for her near their mansion, and it will bring her to the border of Italy and Slovenia. That way, her grandfather will have difficulties finding her.

It was almost a seven-hour drive, and Isadora breathed a full air of freedom while feeling the cold wind hitting her face from the opened window of the taxi. She didn’t sleep in the entire ride, as she was anxiously looking at the back of the taxi to check if someone is tailing them.

Finally, Isadora saw the border from a far. There were no other cars aside from their taxi, which is unusual but Isadora put the worry away as she thought that she could finally escape.

However, just as when they were a few meters towards the border, several cars and vans lunged towards them, blocking any form of escape.

Panicking, Isadora looked around to look for an exit, but all she can see wete the vehicles blocking them. Suddenly, familiar armed men stepped out and walked towards them.

Isadora exited the taxi and tried to ran to the other side of the road, but her speed cannot be compared fo the speed of those men. She was pulled back before she could run away.

“Let me go!” she screamed while trying to kick the men holding her. However, her screams fell on deaf ears.

She tried to bite one of the men but was slapped by another one. The force used was too much for her body that her ear started ringing from the inside, and lost her hearing for a few moments.

Her eyes widened as she saw her grandfather emerged from one of the cars. He looked furious, as his eyes seethed with exasperation. As he reached Isadora, another slap was given to her face, worsening the pain in her cheek and ear.

“Nonno,” she spoke with a brittle voice. She tried to look pitiful, but she knew it wouldn’t work now that her grandfather is in the brink of bursting at her.

“You really dare to escape from me?! To escape from your mistakes?!” Lucio shouted at his granddaughter. “You think I’m fool enough not to know you will try to betray me?!”

“No!” she replied with teary eyes. “I didn’t mean to do that, nonno. Please forgive me!”

But Lucio was cold and stiff as a rock. He didn’t let her pleadings to blind him. He will have her to confess, one way or another.

“I’ll only forgive you if you will tell me who ordered you to kill that man!” Lucio exclaimed, the veins in his neck showing up because of anger. “Confess now or you won’t like what I can do to you, Isadora!”

However, she didn’t respond. In her mind, her grandfather wouldn’t so much worse things to her. He won’t torture her to confession. She thought that those were just empty words.

Besides, Isadora thought that Sophia will help her again and again, since she thought that Sophia needed her to “clean” her late husband’s name.

But her hope came crashing down when she saw Sophia stepped out of a car, followed by Chiara and Ezio. The couple has a smug expression on their face, while Sophia just looked at her blankly.

“Sophia,” she spoke as her voice broke. “Sophia, I th-”

“No hard feelings, Isadora,” Sophia spoke and grinned at her. “You were behind my husbands death. It’s just natural for me to turn you in.”

Now, Isadora realized that she had been played. She was manipulated by the hands of their enemies, and the woman she thought was dumb enough to believe her. Isadora realized that everything was planned, from the way they met Sophia, to how their plan failed, and how her grandfather found out about her deeds and her relationship with Giovanni.

Her legs lose their strength as the weight of her actions took a toll on her. Now, with Giovanni in prison and no friend to help her, Isadora cannot escape her grandfather’s wrath.

Isadora knelt on the ground and started wailing, but her grandfather wouldn’t buy it until he got what he want. “Isadora, confess now and everything will be fine,” he urged her granddaughter softly, hoping that she will follow his words.

Crying, Isadora looked up at her grandfather. “It wasn’t me, nonno! I just paid them using our account, but the money didn’t came from us! It was Giovanni and Kazimir who ordered those men to kill Marco!”

Suddenly, Ezio’s head snapped towards Isadora upon hearing a familiar name aside from Giovanni.

“Kazimir told Giovanni to kill Marco to close Ezio’s case! He played us, nonno! We helped him in bringing the Vitali down, but he just abandoned us when Giovanni was caught!”

Aside from Ezio, the other people around Isadora doesn’t know who the other man is. The person they knew is only Giovanni.

Chiara felt her husband tensed up. She can even hear his breaths getting sharper, and his fist trembling slightly as if he wanted to punch someone.

“Tesoro?” she called for him. “Are you okay? Do you know who is that Kazimir?” she asked.

With a shaky breath, Ezio answered. “Of course. I wouldn’t forget that man,” he gritted his teeth as his eyes became filled with hatred. “That Kazimir killed my father.”