Breaking Point

All heads turned at the ding of the doorbell. They watched the young woman, who could easily pass for a high schooler, hold tightly to the tote bag on her arm as she skipped into the cafe with a big smile on her face.

Multiple faces tried to stifle their laughter as she walked up to the counter in clothes that looked to be three times her size, but she couldn't be bothered. It hadn't even occurred to her that she was the centre of attraction.

"Good morning. Two cups of caramel machiatto and one walnut pie, please." Cara ordered as she thought back on the last time her family had walnut pie. It used to be a tradition. Whenever there was good news to share, they always had walnut pie.

She decided it was time to renew the tradition. It seemed like only good things would happen from now on.

"Your coffees and walnut pie." The attendant said, and Cara received them with an overly excited thank you.

She pulled up the tote bag on her shoulder for the third time since she'd reached the cafe as she tried to balance the coffee and walnut pie box in her other hand. Waddling out of the cafe, she turned away from the cafe street, heading down the street to her home.

She couldn't remember if she had ever felt this peaceful since the death of her mother. She had never been this spontaneous, but to her, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She recalled her conversation with Adonis...

.

.

.

"It doesn't have to, bellissima. How about this? Agree to marry me for a year, and I'll f*ck you into oblivion after."

As much as she loved his proposition-mainly the bonus, but she wouldn't say that to his face-Cara didn't think it was a sane thing to get married because of hot sex. She had reluctantly refused and was all set to leave when he read out information from the brown file.

Cara Camila Rodriguez

5'5

Age: 22 years

Spanish-American

Third Generation Immigrant

College Dropout

Lives in a moderate-sized family house in the middle part of town-Washington Street, to be exact.

Works part-time as a dishwasher during the weekdays, tutors high schoolers, and serves as a waitress every weekend.

Dead Mother due to Stage Three Lung Cancer

Father used to work as marketing team manager but is now a chronic drunk and an addicted gambler.

Only acquaintance is a coworker known as Augustina Brooks.

Current debt: fifty-five grand, and 95% is from your father's gambling addiction.

Adonis took a pause as he viewed the next line but decided not to read it out. Beside a picture of her ex-fiancè was the name, Kane Roberts. His guts told him something was fishy, as he could clearly remember Cara calling him Timothy the day before. Making a mental note to have his men look him up, he looked up at Cara.

"I can continue if you want me to."

Cara felt anger at the intrusion of her privacy, but that was secondary.

How the hell did he get all this information in less than twelve hours? He never even left the room. More importantly, what did he need the information for?

Cara inhaled before taking a seat on the bed. "Who are you?" She asked, and Adonis placed the file down.

"Adonis Alessandro Bernardi."

"No. Who are you? What do you want? Why do you have information on me and my family?" She questioned with a frown.

"You can say I'm your Savior. You need money, no?"

Cara felt her nostrils flare. "You want me to sell myself to you."

Adonis exhaled in frustration. "La ragazzina arriva sempre alle sue conclusioni. No. I'm telling you what you stand to gain. Look, I need a wife for a year, and you might just be my best fit at the moment. Agree to sign the contract, and I'll pay off your debts. You-

Cara cut him off.

"That's it?" Adonis replied with a glare.

"Cut me off one more time, and you'd be screaming my name as I leave my handprint on your butt cheeks." Cara gulped.

"Now, your father needs help; I can get him the help he needs. I'll clear your debts, and you get a million dollars every month till the end of the contract."

Cara struggled with herself as she gaped at Adonis with her mouth opened for the second time that day. She always liked to view reality as it is, and right now, his offer seemed like the best option. She gets to clear her family's debts and send her father to rehab. Most importantly, she can go back to school and start a new life with the money he'll pay every month.

The deal sounded too good to be true. Was there something he was hiding? Or does he just have a lot of money lying around?

She was conflicted.

Yes, marriage shouldn't be taken lightly, but if she failed to pay back the money her father had recently loaned within a week, she doubted she'd be allowed to live to even get married at all.

"Tell me about yourself."

"Adonis Alessandro Bernardi. I'm thirty-four. Italian. I own businesses." He gave monotone, carefree replies, and Cara rolled her eyes.

If only she could afford a private investigator too.

"Is that all?"

Adonis hummed.

"That's all you need to know. The rest won't matter anyway; this will be done in a year." He gestured between them.

"Why me? Why not fall in love and get married?" She asked suspiciously, and Adonis chuckled dryly.

"I don't do love, and I need a wife. I have limited time, and like I said, you're my best choice at the moment."

Cara nodded. At least he's not as psychopathic as she thought.

"Why do you need a wife?"

"To inherit the family business."

"What's the family business?"

"This hotel. The club, amongst many others." He shrugged.

Cara eyes widened as it dawned on her. He was rich. Like rich rich. And he owned the club. She just slept with her boss's boss's boss! How was it she never suspected? The hotel was named after his family's name for Christ sake. A million thoughts ran through her head, and she contemplated her choices.

Was this one of the scenarios she usually reads in her romance novels? The one where the billionaire needs a temporary wife to take over the family business?

She was in deep, careful thought when her phone began to ring.

Absentmindedly, she pulled it out of her bag, staring at the screen as she saw Timothy's name pop up. That was the deal sealer. The thought of going back to the life she had before became scary; she was going to leave it all behind, and Adonis was her ticket. Looking up at him, she nodded.

"I'll do it."

.

.

.

Cara smiled as her small bungalow came to view. Adonis had given her his spare sweatpant and shirt to wear instead, before promising to send his driver over in the evening. He had offered to drop her off, but Cara needed time to take it in; she wanted to be sure about her decision, and till now, she hadn't wavered so that was a good thing.

They had agreed to finalise and sign the contract over dinner; they also needed to get their stories straight. He mentioned how clever his grandfather was and that it was going to take a lot of acting to convince him.

Cara had thought about how to deliver the news to her father. Tonight, she was just going to tell him that one of her old friends had offered to pay off the debts. She'd think of a way to break the news of her marriage and him going to rehab later. Cara didn't want him to feel guilty that she was getting married to provide them a good life.

Cara arrived at her home porch,

"Dad! I'm home!" Her words were laced with so much enthusiasm until she saw the door was slightly ajar.

Cautiously going in, she wondered if he got home drunk last night as she stepped into the living room to the greatest shock of her life.

The coffee and walnut pie fell to the ground, the hot liquid spilling around with a splash.

Casually sitting on the sofa were two men she was sure she'd never seen before, one with a bloodied knife in hand. Just behind them were two other men, one she didn't recognise, but the other was her bastard of an ex-fiancè.

But that wasn't the main cause of her shock.

At the centre of the room, lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood was her father.

Cara lost all sense of reasoning.

****

Italian Vocabulary

Bellissima means gorgeous