Chapter 5

What am I kidding? Valentino wasn't going to rescue me after I escaped from the penthouse. I was all alone, left to face the agony I had pulled closer without knowing. I couldn't say a damn thing anymore; Dave had predicted this incident quite well.

Tears escaped my eyes as the men came closer, ready to plunge their devastation on me for making them go through a lot. I kept on screaming, but they didn't shut me up. "This place is known as the alley of crimes. Any crime committed here would die here. You're all alone now, pretty girl." I felt something hard hit me on the neck, making me lose focus on my surroundings. My eyes were defaulting, closing with every accommodation I made.

"Some people don't learn until they are faced with circumstances that change their lives," his domineering yet attracting voice reached out to me as he walked into the alley.

"Don't think you can save her all by yourself; we aren't the typical goons you face on a daily basis." Upon hearing his name, I lifted my head up, ripping off a glance at his body. Before falling unconscious.

"You really aren't the typical goons I take on; you're much weaker than them." Valentino says he is throwing both men into a recycling bin. "Now to get you home.".

I woke up straddled by the immense pain in my limbs. Much better than earlier, but they still hurt like never before. The maids had declared Valentino absent from the penthouse and had come to keep my company in the room.

"Did he treat you like this?"

"Our boss is so damn cold and icy. How did you even come to settle with him?" The housekeepers were all curious about my relationship with Valentino. After narrating the incident at the club to them, their eyes were filled with sympathy for me. I still have no clue why they did that, but it felt like something stood in the way of their happiness in the penthouse.

The chief maid came in, chasing the other housekeepers away from the room. With a little bit of turmoil in her lips, she finally sat down, looking at me with the same eyes the housekeeper used.

"What happened to me?" I couldn't construct any means by which I was brought back to the penthouse.

"The boss brought you back; he is currently away on a business deal."

"Oh, that's great."

"The boss is not the definition of a man. He is a monster; I can say that with my full chest." I could see the fury in her eyes; her sorrows were drawing in, and she would be bursting into tears any minute from now.

"The boss is such a nice man, even though he's cold and icy towards everyone. You're our only hope of retrieval. Please save him." Quite a confused young lady.

I sat on the sofa, thinking about who Valentino truly is. Some claimed he was a demon in human clothing, and the chief maid made it clear that he was just a man looking for something he'd lost a long time ago. Their sanity lived on the fact that I was getting married to the boss and I could make him a better person. I didn't know how to, though; in novels, one could only get an ivy and cold man if they made them smile. This man was an exception to that rule.

After being rejected to become his maid, I didn't really have a chance to make any money out of him. Still in thought, the door plunged open. Valentine came in holding a red briefcase; it was a rare model, mainly used to secure money and all other very valuable things. It was worth far more than an average brief case.

"Thanks for saving me," I say, bowing my head down to show my respect. A smirk appeared on his face. He glared at me a little before turning his back and heading for his chamber.

He returned to the living room not too long with the brief case in his hands. He tossed the briefcase towards me, leaving me to grasp it before it grasped me. "Open it," he ordered, taking his seat opposite mine.

I gaped, starting at what was in front of me. It was a little bit for me to handle. It was money in bundles, arranged in the briefcase with a contract on top of it.

"Is this for me?" I asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"It isn't just yet."

He looked like he had something mischievous up his sleeves, and he was going to get me to go on with it no matter what.

"The contract inside the brief case is for our partnership.". Partnership? What partnership is he speaking of? This man is much weirder than I thought.

"The contract entails you becoming my wife and performing wifely duties with me." Dumbfounded by his words, I opened the contract, clarifying the information it contained.

"That's two million US dollars in that briefcase. It should be enough to settle the debt your father owed and also take care of you and your grandmother. A fair trade, right?"

Anything to pay off my debt and make my grandma live comfortably would be the dream. Accepting this money meant I could fulfill it, but this was just too good to sign.

"What would happen to me if I signed this?" I ask, a little threatened by the money in front of me.

"Signing this means you get the money; that's all that matters."

"No compensation in case of an accident or anything that occurs during the speculated period of time." Does he think my life is a joke? Money isn't everything, and this is one of the dangers money brings.

"What if I refuse?" I ask once more, not giving into his scary and menacing eyes. He snapped his finger, making my heart quiver in shock. Two men came to close the briefcase.

"Make your choice, princess, your family, or your ego?"