Gun 03

Elaine

I woke up to the noise coming from outside. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see what was happening and noticed a woman I didn’t recognize talking to a man.

“Why do you want me to add you to my collection?” the woman asked, her voice dripping with arrogance while the woman treating her seemed furious.

“Excuse me, womanizer. Please don’t treat me like my cousin who had a thing for you. I’m still wondering what she saw in you,” the woman replied, which made me wonder who they were talking about.

I needed to leave but was too embarrassed to interrupt their conversation.

“Don’t ever talk about that woman in front of me,” Louis said, standing up and pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.

“Are you still bitter, Louis? Don’t tell me that woman was just a fling? From what I heard from your mother, she’ll be your wife for some reason. I pity her! She’ll be stuck with a man who still hasn’t moved on from his ex,” the woman said, standing up to face him. Louis fired back.

So his name was Louis—that suited him. I shook my head at my thoughts; it must be the effect of him saving me.

“Leave. I suggest you mind your own business and don’t insult my future wife again,” Louis said, pointing a gun at the woman’s head.

I couldn’t help but frown at what he did. Was he talking about me? I thought we were just getting married to settle my father’s debts?

The woman didn’t flinch; she just smirked. “Yeah. I won’t meddle with your family, but I do hope it lasts,” she said before leaving.

I quickly climbed back into bed, pretending to be asleep since I heard Louis’ footsteps entering the room.

All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. Then I felt the bed creak as he sat down next to me. I took a deep breath, the scent of his cologne filling the air.

It smelled too good.

“I know you're awake. Let’s have some dinner, wife,” Louis said. I didn’t know what to do—should I keep pretending to be asleep or should I open my eyes? The way he called me . . . it made me uneasy.

I wanted to eat first and then go home because my father was looking for me.

“Aren’t you going to open your eyes, or do you want me to force them open? How about that, Mrs. Montemayor?” he whispered, his breath sending a shiver down my neck.

What did he mean by that? Mrs. Montemayor? Don’t tell me he was a Montemayor—the family my father worked for?

I opened my eyes immediately, locking eyes with him. I was about to stand when he suddenly pulled me back onto the bed.

“Are you okay? Does anything still hurt?” he asked, making me shake my head.

“I’m fine. Let’s eat,” I muttered, and he nodded.

“Okay. I’ll change my clothes. Wait for me outside, or stay here if you want to see my body,” Louis said, taking off his shirt.

“I’ll go outside,” I quickly responded, hurrying to run out of the room, but he blocked the door.

“Is this your first time seeing a man’s body?” Louis asked, staring at me. I turned my eyes away.

Why was I feeling like this? My heart was beating so fast I could barely hear anything else.

“A . . . A what?” I stammered as he stepped closer to me. Was he testing me?

“We’ll be married before the year ends. Maybe we should have our honeymoon now? What do you think?” Louis asked, his words making me sweat even though the air conditioning was on full blast.

What was he talking about? I haven’t agreed to any wedding. The only thing I knew was my father promised this marriage to pay off his debt.

“What wedding are you talking about?” I asked, mustering all my strength to push him away.

I ended up in this situation because I wanted to know about the wedding Louis kept talking about, which my father refused to discuss.

“Why didn’t your father tell you? Ha, that old hag is really a headache. Maybe I should just kill him,” Louis said, making my eyes widen in shock. I immediately yelled at him.

“Don’t you ever say that! I swear, I’ll call the police to arrest you!”

He covered my mouth with his hand. “Shh. Don’t shout.”

I tried to pull his hand off my mouth, but he was too strong. In my frustration, I bit his palm, making him let go.

“My father is innocent. You’re the one who—” Before I could finish, his lips suddenly pressed against mine, leaving me frozen in surprise.

When I snapped back to my senses, I slapped him hard.

“Why the hell did you do that?” he growled, holding my hand, which I winced at because of the pain.

“You didn’t even ask for permission when you kissed me. What did you expect me to do?” I shot back.

“I’ll say this once. You’re my fiancée now, so behave yourself. This marriage is the payment for your father’s debt to us, and listen closely—he’s the one who proposed it,” Louis said, making my body feel weak.

His mood had completely shifted from before. He was a completely different person now.

He left the room, leaving me stunned. Even now, I still didn’t know the whole story, but one thing was clear to me: I was being used as payment for my father’s debt.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when someone knocked on the door. I opened it to find a maid standing there.

“Ma’am, Sir Louis is calling you. Dinner’s ready in the dining room. Also, he said don't wait for him to carry you,” she announced.

I didn’t answer, so she left.

I needed to go home. It would be better to get my father to speak about this matter.

Just as I was about to leave, Louis opened the door, a frown on his face.

“Let’s go. You need to eat to regain your energy,” he said, picking me up and slinging me over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

My father would be mad if I didn’t come home tonight. He’d probably ask Kaizer to help find me.

As we descended the stairs, I shouted, “Put me down! I need to go home!”

I stopped when I heard a familiar voice.

“Elaine . . . ,” Kaizer said, and when I looked up, I saw him standing there with his hands in his pockets.

What was he doing here?

I tried to squirm from Louis’ grasp, but he was too strong, and I couldn’t break free. “How did you know I was here?” I asked Kaizer, unsure of why he suddenly appeared at Louis’ mansion. I hadn’t even been able to call my father because I was afraid he’d panic.

“Wife, how do you know him?” Louis interrupted, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

I didn’t like our position—Louis had me over his shoulder, holding me at the waist to keep me from falling. I was facing Kaizer, which felt uncomfortable.

“What wife? And can you put me down? I’m really uncomfortable like this,” I complained, trying to move, but I was stunned when Louis suddenly shifted me to bridal style, just like when he saved me.

What was he doing? What would Kaizer think of this?

I couldn’t help but cover my face out of embarrassment, but I was surprised when Kaizer grabbed my hand.

“Elaine, come on, let’s go home. Don’t you want to see your dad?” Kaizer asked, his voice sounding sad. Honestly, I didn’t know how to explain why I ended up here.

I was about to speak when Louis responded, “What do you think you’re doing, jackass?”

I looked at his face, and his brow was furrowed. It was clear he didn’t agree with Kaizer’s words.

“It’s obvious Elaine wants to go home. Let her go, and find someone else who suits your crap,” Kaizer snapped, tightening his grip on my hand. The tension between them grew, and I took a deep breath before speaking up.

“Stop, both of you. I want to go home, but leaving without thanking Louis would not be polite to him for saving me. Also, Kaizer, care to explain how you knew I was here?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. It seemed like he was hiding something from me.

Could this marriage Louis was talking about be related to what my father mentioned earlier? If so, I really needed to know how he was involved.

“I just followed you. That’s it,” Kaizer answered directly, but I didn’t believe him.

It was too obvious he wasn’t being truthful. Besides, if he followed me, why didn’t he help me?

“Tell me the truth. Do you know what’s going on? Like, this deal?” I asked. He avoided my gaze, clearly uncomfortable.

“Wife, Kaizer is one of my colleagues. Can we continue this in the dining room? He’s just wasting our time,” Louis muttered, and I was stunned. What? Kaizer worked with him? If that was the case, he knew what was happening.

I knew Montemayor Group had some dark secrets, especially the old building. I doubted it was for legal business—maybe they were part of an illegal organization.

I pulled my hand away from Kaizer’s, feeling disappointed. He knew something, but why did he keep it from me? If he had told me, I wouldn’t have put myself in danger to find out the truth, or worse, maybe he was involved.

“Elaine, wait. Let me explain; don’t be mad,” Kaizer called out, quickly walking to catch up with us.

I sighed. Today, I learned things that only disappointed me. It would be better if Kaizer didn’t get involved in my family’s personal matters since we were the ones who owed the Montemayor family.

“Kaizer, it’s fine. You don’t need to explain. Can you tell my dad I’m safe so he doesn’t worry? I’m in good hands with my fiancé,” I said, forcing a smile. I couldn’t lie to Kaizer, but I didn’t want to drag him into my family’s mess, especially if he was part of Louis’ team.

“But, Elaine, it’s not—” Kaizer was cut off by Louis.

“You heard my wife, Kaizer. Leave, and don’t interrupt us again. We’re going to have dinner,” Louis taunted, which made Kaizer clench his jaw in frustration.

“Fuck you. If you lay your hands on Elaine, I will kill you, Louis,” Kaizer growled, glaring at Louis who didn’t seem fazed by his words.

“I will lay a hand on her later in our bed,” Louis replied playfully, which only fueled Kaizer’s anger. Kaizer pulled out a gun, which shocked me.

“Shoot,” Louis said, grinning.

I immediately spoke up to stop them both.

“Can you please stop? I’m hungry. Also, Kaizer, are you okay with shouting at your boss? Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” I said, crossing my arms.

Kaizer turned away. “Be thankful Elaine’s here. You better treat her right,” he muttered before walking away.

I looked up at Louis. “I will agree to this marriage you’re talking about, but I have a condition,” I said, our eyes meeting. I looked away quickly.

“What is it?” Louis asked.

“Let me get down first,” I replied. When he set me down, I couldn’t help but marvel at the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. My eyes widened even more when I saw the mansion’s design.

“Wow,” I said, looking around. I could tell just how wealthy the Montemayors were.

I quickly ran to the large bookshelf full of books.

I’ve always loved books, especially the Sherlock Holmes novels by Arthur Conan Doyle, but since I couldn’t afford them, I’d just search for them online when I had data.

I tried to reach for the Sherlock Holmes book on the higher shelf. I pouted when I couldn’t reach it, but I gathered all my strength and jumped. My eyes widened when the shelf almost toppled over, but Louis quickly caught me, his hand on the top shelf while the books fell.

We were so close to each other that I couldn’t help but look at his face. There was no sign of irritation, just concern.

“Are you okay?” Louis asked, and I nodded.

My heart felt like it was racing.

“Sir, I’ll take care of it. The table is ready for the two of you,” a man said, quickly approaching us to fix the shelf.

“I’ll help you,” I offered, gently pushing Louis aside and heading to the fallen books.

“No, ma’am, I’ll call the maids to clean it up,” the man said. I tried to insist, but he refused. So in the end, I followed Louis to the dining room.

“Wife, do you want anything?” Louis asked as we walked side by side. All I really wanted was to hold that Sherlock Holmes book, but I couldn’t reach it because of my height.

“None,” I replied briefly.

After walking for a while, we stopped in front of a large door with “Salle à Manger” written on it.

“It means dining room. Translated in French,” Louis said, almost as if he could read my mind.

When the maid opened the door, we were greeted by a massive marble dining table in the center, with a vase full of roses.

“Here, let me help you,” Louis said, pulling out a chair for me. I didn’t know why he seemed so polite now. Just earlier, he felt like a completely different person.

“Thank you,” I replied before sitting down.

The men in chef outfits began preparing the dishes. It felt like I was in a fancy restaurant, just like in the books I read.

One of the women was about to serve me when I quickly took the plate from her hands.

“It’s fine. I’ll serve myself,” I said with a smile.

“Oh, by the way, Mr. Montemayor, about the condition I mentioned earlier,” I reminded him while taking a bite of rice. He stared at me, waiting for me to continue.

I was about to finish what I was saying when a man in a tuxedo suddenly entered the door. He stopped in front of the table.

“Oh, I see you're having dinner with one of your flings,” he said, eyeing me critically.

“Well, sorry to interrupt. But I found information about Mariella. She’s in the hospital right now,” he added, acting like I wasn’t even there.

Louis stood up. “Excuse me, wife,” he said, kissing me on the forehead, which caught me off guard. Before I could react, he left with the man who had just entered.

Who was this woman they were talking about? Was she so important that they had to discuss her outside, like Louis had to keep an eye on her?