"Megan Rose, you make me the happiest man on earth. Will you marry me?"
The man dropped to his knee and held out a small, velvety box. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. She was made for this day, heralding her happily-ever-after. Yet, right now her seething resentment inside her had nearly reached a boiling point.
How could he do this to me? Megan thought bitterly as she stared down at the man, her face darkened.
James was still on his knee and Megan stood there silently as the crowd around them started cheering.
"Marry him! Marry him!"
They were in a posh restaurant, one of James' favourite. Megan stole a few glances at one of the women in the crowd in her peripheral vision, the only one who was clearly not happy with the proposal. Blair, her younger sister had been shaking with anger with her fists clenched tightly on either sides. If she had not known, she would have thought her sister was reluctant to see her getting married.
Earlier that day, Megan had heard James' little admission to one of his friends when they were at the bar ordering drinks for the ladies. She had stood behind the pillar, listening to every little details he shared with his friend.
"She was amazing in bed you know. Stir up the beast inside me!" He laughed and said to his friend.
"Man, you're for sure going to hell. Marrying her but fucking her sister?" His friend had cursed.
It took everything within her not to storm out there and punch the hell out of him.
"I'm sorry James." She shook her head. "I can't do this." She muttered softly under her breath so only James could hear her. She did not want to embarrass him even though there was no feelings left for him ever since his admission. James had been one of her father's acquaintances. The last thing she wanted to do was provoking him.
"What? Why not?" James stood up and gripped her shoulders tightly.
She whimpered and tried to shove his hands away but it only made his grip tighter. "You have to marry me!" He exclaimed and this time, the crowd started murmuring with one another.
She delivered a sharp slap to his face, leaving him stunned. "I will never marry a cheater!"
"I know you made a deal with my father. But you never loved me. My father had two daughters so maybe you'd like to consider the other option now." Megan said through gritted teeth and shot a glare at Blair, letting him know she knew about him and Blair. His eyes grew wider as he turned to look at Blair.
"Megan-"
"Save it!" Megan snickered and leaned into him, her lips just beside his ear. She whispered into his ear. "The last thing I wanna hear is you telling me how amazing she was in bed."
With that, she flipped her hair and walked out of the restaurant elegantly. Her mind though, was unrelenting. She was sure her father would not be happy to hear about it. After all, her parents were excited to get her married off to James for their own benefits.
Megan was born in a wealthy family, but her father Talos did not come from clean money. The outside world had known her father as a man of honour, a polished man. But the people who really knew him had thought otherwise. Megan knew very little to what her father was doing in the black market, but that much she knew. That her father had been involved in money laundering, solicitation and many more.
She had hated her father for as long as she could remember. He had never been one for physical affection or effusive praise, always controlling his wife and daughters. Many times, Megan wished she was born in a different family. A normal happy family. She had yearned for love a long time. Her friends always comforted her, telling her money can buy you happiness. Maybe it was true but she had never felt real happiness deep down.
Megan had met James, her father's acquaintance at seventeen.
"James is an appropriate companion for you. It is almost time you had a husband and he would be a suitable choice." Her father had said to her.
The thought of spending the rest of her life with this man made her insides wither in disappointment. She had remembered the hard line of her father's mouth, the flat black of his eyes. She could not argue with him at that time because she was only seventeen. Wordlessly she only nodded even as a spark of rebellion lit her soul.
She had tried to fall in love with this man. Initially he was a very sweet and gentle man but he too, slowly became very much like her father. Controlling and a male chauvinist.
She truly wished she had a chance in life to meet her one true love. The one and only for her.
******
"Darling why did you reject James' proposal? I thought you were excited about it." Astrid, Megan's mother asked softly and held her hands in hers while they were at the dining table.
"Let's not discuss this anymore. We're over." Megan said flatly as she took a mouthful of chicken.
"You are to marry him, whether you like it or not. I made it clear four years ago." Talos prompted coldly, his expression terrifyingly blank.
"Maybe Blair can marry him since she likes his bed so much." Megan retorted and Blair, who was sitting across her choked silently on her food.
Talos slammed the dining table hard, causing the cutlery to fall on the ground. Nobody dared say a word as the man shot Megan a death glare.
I'm so done with this. Megan thought angrily.
"You're the one who pulled me into this mess. I never wanted to be with James. He cheated first and you still expect me to marry him? He was the one who ruined it and I have the right to refuse his proposal now! I am your daughter. A woman of my own. Not a tool. Or was that what we were here for? For you to manipulate and exploit to your own benefits!" Megan breathed heavily. Astrid and Blair gaped at her outburst.
Before Megan could say anything, a slap stung her cheeks and it made her gasp. Talos had never put his hands on her his whole life.
"Don't test my patience, young woman. You'll do as I say as long as you're in this house." Talos warned through gritted teeth.
I need to get out of this hellhole. Megan thought to herself as she stared at her father, tears brimmed in her eyes.
"Now sit your ass down and eat your food!" Talos yelled, causing all three women to jerk.
"Megan..." Astrid pleaded as she patted lightly on Megan's hand, telling her to sit down and listen to her father.
"I'm full." Megan pushed the plate forward and stood up to leave.
"Megan-" Astrid had wanted to stop her daughter.
"Let her be! Make sure nobody makes her food when she's hungry later tonight." Talos demanded and the maids nodded at that.
She plopped down to her bed and screamed in her pillow, releasing everything she had built inside her since this afternoon. She was so done being his puppet. She strolled to her closet and took her
luggage out from the dusted wardrobe. She had packed a few clothes in her luggage and squeezed some cash and her phone into her LV Palm Springs backpack. She had also taken her Cartier bracelet and Bvlgari necklace with her. These were her babies and she was not ready to give them up.
Megan had bought a flight ticket online, from London to Rome, Italy. It had been her top one place to go ever since she watched the movie 'When In Rome'. There was just something about that place that was so captivating to her. She had always wanted to visit the Fountain of Love. Call her naive or a fool but she had always wanted to know if throwing a coin into the fountain could actually lead her to her true love. One could only hope.
She had called a cab to the airport. She made sure everyone in the household was already sound asleep before she made her move. It was 1am and her flight was to take off at 2:30am so she had plenty more time.
******
"I'm done playing his game. Let Antonio deal with him." Xavier Vellutini hung up the call and glanced down at his watch.
In line at the airline's business check-in, he groaned in frustration as he noticed the crowd. He had always hated taking commercial flights but he hated waiting more. Rico, his underboss, in another word, second in command had wanted to arrange his private jet but that would mean he had to wait for another few hours before he could take off due to the pilot's negligence. He had commanded Rico to fire the pilot for wasting his time.
His attention was suddenly drawn to the slim brunette in line ahead of him. He'd noticed her perfume—French and expensive but cool and light and refreshing. Was it only her perfume that captured his interest? Neat and conservative weren't his type but there was something about her. Something timeless.
The notion tickled him for a moment before his phone started ringing again.
"Boss it's done." Antonio said over the phone. Xavier nodded and disconnected the call without saying anything in return. His eyes still focused on the back of the woman's neck. Shaking away the odd feeling she'd invoked, he studied her from a purely objective viewpoint.
She stepped up to the counter and slid a high end brand-name suitcase onto the conveyor. A moment later, he watched her walk away, those mystery eyes hidden behind a pair of supersized sunglasses.
It's 2 in the morning. Who wears a freaking sunglasses indoor? A celebrity or a wealthy socialite? He wondered. Whoever she was, he didn't recognise her.
Boarding the flight, he had realised she was sat in the aisle seat one row back and across from him, AirPods plugged into her ears, fingers stiff on her lap. She'd occasionally look around to see if anyone was watching her, as if she was afraid if somebody had followed her. Whatever the reason for her tension, she'd been an intriguing distraction. Her apparent lack of interest had given him the opportunity to glance back every so often and wonder whether that peach-glosser mouth would taste as luscious as it looked.
He shook away the thought and fished out his phone, texting Rico letting him know his arrival time.
******
Megan had followed her fellow passengers into the terminal, yawning. She did not manage to get any sleep in that two-hour flight. Her stomach still tying itself in knots over her fear. She was afraid her father would send someone and take her away. She had only managed to breathe a sign of relief when she had safely landed in Rome. Her father would know where she went, but if she hid herself well enough, there was still a chance that she would not be found.
She took a cab to Del Corso Hotel, located just a kilometre away from the Fountain of Love. She checked into her hotel and took a short nap. Much needed after her long sleepless night.
By the time she had woken up, it was already seven o'clock evening. Feeling thrilled to explore the city, she had asked for a city map from the receptionist. Although she had her phone with her, she still wanted to try the old-fashioned way of travelling.
Megan had worn a black off-shoulder maxi dress paired with a black Hermes sandals. Casual yet elegant. She stopped by the nearest restaurant for dinner, appreciating her alone time. However, the small conversation two women had across her table had caught her attention as she listened to them quietly. Something she knew she shouldn't have done but could not help herself.
"Laura said she bumped into Xavier Vellutini in the airport this morning." A woman in blonde squealed as she said.
"Oh sweet Jesus! When can I bump into him too?" The other woman in brunette placed her face on her hands and said, her eyes looking dreamy.
"In your dreams probably. You know there's gonna be a war again right? I don't think Vincenzo will let him off the hook that easily now that he's back."
The woman nodded. "Well let's just hope we don't see anymore dead bodies in the news."
"Let me tell you something." The woman in blonde gestured her friend to move closer to her. Megan had leaned into the table a little more to see if she could catch the little conversation.
"Dante told me Vincenzo hired a hitman to take out Xavier and they had planned to make it look like an accident." The woman whispered into her friend's ear, but they were loud enough for Megan to hear. The woman in brunette gasped and covered her mouth.
"Are you supposed to be telling me that?"
"I don't tell. You don't tell. Nobody knows." The woman shrugged and took a sip of her wine.
Megan frowned at the women's admission. It sounded so easy for them to talk about somebody else's life and death, like it meant nothing to them. She shook her head in disagreement and made her way to the counter, paying for her dinner and walked out of the restaurant.
She took a leisure walk around the city near her hotel and finally found her way to the Fountain of Love. She squealed inwardly as she stood in front of the fountain. Fishing out a coin from her purse, she closed her eyes shut and made a wish.
"Please let me find my Mr.Right." She murmured the words quietly.
She had wanted to throw the coin into the fountain but felt a hard bump on her shoulder, losing her grip and causing her coin to fall and roll into one of the drain holes on the ground.
"Hey!" She yelled. The man who had just bumped into her ignored her rebuke and had ran off to one of the dark alleys. She could only see his back but he was clutching his side waist and his walk was unsteady, like he was badly hurt.
