Marriage. Revenge

Chapter 4 

Raya's POV

He walked out of the door, and I turned around to stare at the hospital room and intricate designs of the room while trying to make sense of this stranger's words.

My eyes barely caught the reflection of myself in the mirror when the door was softly pushed open followed by a doctor and several nurses in pale blue scrubs.

"Mrs Marcello," the doctor called, smiling softly at me.

"Y— you, I think you're mistaken, my name is Raya," I corrected, bowing slightly out of habit, lowering my head to apologize when I felt a sharp fiery stab shoot through my spine with my every breath. I winced as my fingers curled tightly around the bedsheet until I could feel my knuckles turn white.

"Mrs Marcello," The doctor called, running closer to me. I blinked my eyes rapidly, with cold sweat coating my forehead, as I tried desperately to hold back the burning tears in my eyes.

"It's fine Mrs Marcello, it's the effect of the accident, your spine was broken and you had a lot of injuries to your head as a result of the impact of the fall," he explained, sitting me in a more comfortable position.

"I'm not..."

"It'll take a while for your wounds to heal, you survived in a situation where other people would have died in an instant," the doctor said, holding his hands over my head.

"What—what are you trying to do?" I asked.

"We've to change the dressing on your head," He explained, waving to a nurse who stepped closer.

"Why?"

"You fractured your skull from the fall Mrs Marcello," the doctor added, bringing a mirror close to me.

I gasped, holding my hands over my mouth at my reflection. Gone was the vibrant Raya, in front of me was a pale hollow-eyed woman with bandages wrapped tightly around my head, faint bruises and scars filling my body.

"A—are you sure this is me? I'm...I'm better looking than this," I argued, my eyes throbbing with unshed tears.

I understand how you feel, but you look better compared to other people in the same situation as you," a nurse walked closer handing him scissors.

"Careful doctor, there better be no more injuries added to the multitude on her body," 

"Mr. Marcello," The doctor said, stepping back to bow as well as the other nurses.

"Just do your work and be careful, it's sad enough she's like this, it'll be bad to have her whine in a situation like that," Marcello said, taking a seat beside me.

Instinctively, I shifted away, trying to create distance between us. He scoffed at my feeble attempt before leaning closer, his voice low and menacing.

"Move an inch again and I'll handle that wound myself," He warned, freezing me in place.

"You should carry on with your work," He ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The doctor hesitated for a brief moment, then nodded and resumed his work. I bit my lip, bracing myself as the scissors cut through the bandages. My scalp stung as the old dressing was peeled away, and I clenched the sheets tightly, refusing to cry in front of him—Marcello.

The nurses worked efficiently, their hands steady as they cleaned the wound and replaced the dressing. The faint smell of antiseptic filled the room, but it did little to drown out the suffocating tension of the man beside me.

“You’re recovering well, Mrs. Marcello,” the doctor said as he stepped back, his voice steady but careful. “But you must avoid sudden movements or putting strain on your spine, make sure the wound isn't exposed, there's a high risk of infection which could be very threatening to your health," the doctor said, making me gulp in a trembling stance.

I opened my mouth to correct him again, to insist that my name was Raya, but the heavy gaze from the man beside me silenced me. There was something about the way he looked at me—something cold and calculating—that made my heart race.

“Are you finished?” Marcello asked his voice like ice.

“Yes, sir,” the doctor replied, bowing slightly before gathering his tools. The nurses followed suit, filing out of the room in silence.

The door clicked shut, leaving me alone with him.

I swallowed hard, the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. He leaned back in the chair, his expression unreadable as his eyes roamed over me.

“Do you understand the situation you’re in?” he asked finally, his tone low and deliberate.

"You've two options woman, just two," he said, standing up and towering about me on the bed.

"First of which is, sign a marriage certificate with me, and I'll make sure you return to the best shape you were, or decline and you die," He said, putting his hands into his pocket.

I raised my head to look at his stern expressionless face, searching for any hint of reaction in them.

"Y—you, you cannot possibly do that, you don't own my life, you can't kill me," I blurted, my eyes welling with tears.

"Yes I very well can, Raya, you've no fuckin body to help you and I remember clearly being the one who saved you, in other words, I own you," he said, taking his seat.

I stared down at him flicking his fingers with his legs crossed on the other.

"You didn't save me because you wanted to, you saved me because you..."

"I'm not a philanthropist Raya, and I never claimed to be a good man," He corrected, leaning in closer.

"Come in," He said softly and the door was pushed open by a man in suits.

"Mr Marcello, Mrs Marcello," He greeted, bowing.

"We're still deciding about her own share of the Marcello name, bring out the documents," he said, to the man who I assumed was his lawyer.

The documents were handed over to him, and he flicked through the papers before throwing them at me.

"Sign it,"

"I'm not going to sign this, you do not own me just because you saved me!" I blurted, my throat hurting at the sudden yell.

"Fine then, have the doctor calculate her bills for the hospital up till this moment, and make sure she doesn't stay a second after paying it. All treatments should be withdrawn, and see to it that no hospital owned by the Marcellos does gt take her in," He said, making my eyes well with tears.

"You—why, why are you doing this, you should have just let me..."

"Complete that word Raya and I'll make sure you regret it," He said, his voice heavy.

"Those are the options, take it or leave it Raya," he said, my body shuddering with the way he perfectly called my name.

"And what will you gain from this?"

"A wife, but again, that is none of your business," he said, leaning back on his chair.

"If I refuse to sign this, I'm going to die?" I asked, and he nodded without an ounce of regret.

"I need you to decide fast, you can't have a lawyer who takes a thousand dollars per hour waiting on you," he added, sending chills down my spine.

I could not afford to die, I didn't dare die, I had to see to it that I made sure Kelly and Mark regretted what they did to me.

The betrayal, the smile on her face as they threw me off that balcony, I needed to make sure they felt every bit of pain I felt as I fell from that floor.

The smiles on her face, I was going to take it, and every single thing they held dear.

I blinked away the tears that brimmed in my eyes as I took a pen from him.

"Don't let those tears drop Raya," He asked his voice laced with a tint of anger.

"I've just one request before I sign this paper Mr Marcello," I said and he leaned closer.

"I've access to every one of your resources," I said and he leaned back, a hearty laugh escaping his throat.

"Why?" He asked.

"It is personal," I replied, flicking the pen.

"Less you forget, were about to get married, tell me or you've no option to bargain,"

"I need it to make sure the people who put me in this state regret it," I said, my voice resolute.

"That's more like what a Marcello should be," He said, nodding in agreement.

"Done," I heaved a sigh signed the paper, and handed it back to the lawyer.

"You still haven't told me why you're marrying me, Mr Marcello," I asked.

His teeth pressed together, tight enough that I could almost hear the faint grind, the muscle in his jaw flexed, a subtle ripple under his skin and I could see his veins tick on his skin.

He shifted his gaze to the floor and I could almost swear I saw a flicker of different emotions in them compared to the way his finger curled into a fist.

His lips thinned before he smacked them together. "You'll find out when I want you to, for now, just focus on getting better," He said and left the room together with the lawyer who was holding our marriage certificate, leaving me alone to myself to ponder about the purpose I was to serve to him and how I was going to make sure I had my revenge on Mark and Kelly.