THE BEGINNING OF AN END
***ANNA***
"You!" Tears strolled down my eyes as I growled from the dept of my heart, "you deserve to die," I said, aiming the gun in my hands at my husband who stood before me, his face laced with a mixture of betrayal, confusion, yet unending love. The air in the room which was always full of love and laughter was now thick with tension.
"Anne put the gun down, we can talk this out, don't do something you'd regret." Aiden beckoned, hands in the air, showcasing he meant no harm nor was he planning to harm me as he moved slowly towards me.
"Stay right there, don't you dare come any closer!" I ordered, as my hands shakingly pulled the trigger, Aiden's eyes widened as he heard the sound, and he realized I meant business "You, your family, everyone around you, I could never trust, you all live in this lie, this empire, that was mine, my family's, and now…." I began to sob harder.
"Anne, this is not you baby, all of this, we can leave it behind, go far away and love ourselves," he begged, tears now streaming down his own eyes too, "it'll be just you and I, just like the old times, just like yesterday, just like this morning." I knew he meant all he said, but I had come too far to go back now, and with that, I fired the gun, at my husband, the only man I had ever loved and still very much love.
You are probably wondering how I got here. Well, let's tell the story.
***A YEAR AGO***
I never had big dreams to accomplish in life, I took life as it came and all I ever wanted so badly was to take revenge on the one family who had orchestrated the murder of my parents, which was why I tried my best to make my way into Aiden West's life and as though the heavens were helping me, he reached out to an acquaintance that he needed a bride for a year when I was informed and found out who the client was, I accepted the offer immediately, it's my chance to avenge my parents and I was not going to lose it.
As I walked straight into the front of the restaurant, I clutched the straps of my bag tightly as though holding onto it for life. Standing in front of the restaurant, I knew my life was about to change depending on the outcome of the meeting I was to have here, I also knew what I had been hoping for, for the last 20 years was about to come true, if I played my card well, I'd in no time finish my plan for revenge then lay off the hatred and emptiness my heart has felt over the last 20 years.
Taking in a deep breath I pushed the door of the restaurant open, then walked straight to the man I was to meet. He sat in his well-tailored Italian suit, legs crossed, with his elegant face adding to his overall elegance and grace.
He sat in his chair, carried away with his phone with a cup of coffee in front of him and an envelope laid on the table, I walked towards him, knowing fully well I was late, well that was intended. I reached the table but he didn't seem to notice, as he was lost with whatever he was doing on his phone.
"Mr. West?" I called.
He raised his eyes from his phone to meet mine, "that'll be me, Miss. Anne?" I nodded in affirmation. "You're late" he grimaced.
"I'm so sorry" I started as I found my way into the chair opposite him, "it wasn't easy finding this place" I lied.
He conceded and pushed no more.
"Would you like to have anything?" He asked.
"No, thank you, I'd rather we get to business first, then order later on."
"Very well then," he paused to take a sip from his coffee, then began "you were highly recommended for this job, but I wanted to know, do you believe you can pull this off?" He asked.
If there was something I could do, it was definitely to fake things and lie, it'd always been easy for me to take on anyone and make them believe I was who I wasn't easily.
I nodded, "yes, I can."
"We will be married for a while year, and this is not like any job you've done before, you'll be my wife, the richest man in the country, duties will be expected of you, elegance, you'll be more like royalty, can you pull this off?" I could see he's trying his best to make all of this work out.
"I'll need time to map out some things, but yes, I can, once I set my mind to it," I stated trying to put his mind at ease, I needed to be the one in a contract marriage with him, no one else, I needed to be legally inside to exact my revenge.
"You sound so reassuring. You should have been meeting with my secretary today, but I wanted to make sure and check myself, and I guess you're the right choice." He sounded satisfied, "Now, you've to be in love with me, well, pretend to be, make my meals, bring lunch to me, be extra touchy when anyone is around, everything couples do, but don't worry, nothing more than that will happen between us, my heart already belongs to another." He firmly stated I sat there listening to all he had to say, this was surely not my first rodeo in a contract marriage, but this might be my last.
Then he continued, "We must never be caught if we get caught, my mother won't be getting her surgery, and that's of utmost importance, to make her see I am happily married and get her heart surgery, after which we could divorce, so this should happen within a year," he emphatically stated.
"I can work with that" I confidently said.
His eyes scanned me from head to toe, he made a face and then said, "Yeah, we need to change your wardrobe"
Ouch! If this deal wasn't going to favor me and my cause more, I'd have walked away right in that moment, but I sat back, with smiles and nodded to his remark.
"So when do we sign the contract?" I asked.
"Whenever you feel you are ready, I felt you might want to give it more thought, as it's a lot, so I was thinking we move at your pace," he said, sounding genuine.
"It's fine, I am ready right now" I confidently replied to him, I had been waiting for this day for a long time.
"Well then," he said as he placed his hand on the table, passing over the envelope I had earlier seen to me from across the table, "you just have to sign this, you might want to take it home to check out the terms of the contract" he advised.
Without second thoughts, I brought out the papers in the envelope, reached for a pen in my bag then, and signed everything, except a paper, I could feel his surprised stare as I signed it all without reading through, but he said nothing. I looked at the last paper, hesitated a bit, took a deep breath with my eyes closed then signed it, it was the marriage papers, with a simple signature of mine, WE WERE NOW MARRIED.
