CHAPTER THREE
ANASTASIA
Maybe it was my imagination, but as I stepped out of the suite, I couldn't shake the feeling that Dominic's eyes were still on me.
No matter how many times I flipped my hair to mask my sweaty palms, my hand kept drifting to the back of my neck like it had a mind of its own.
What was wrong with me?
I had walked in earlier without giving a single damn about him, and now… now I could feel the weight of his stare with my back turned.
A soft, helpless whine escaped my throat as the image of being married to Dominic caught me off guard.
Married.
To him.
It meant seeing him every day. Hearing his voice. His presence. His rules. His expectations.
I can't do this.
Marriage is… too much.
When I stepped out of the hotel, a warm wind kissed my face, cooling my nerves a bit. I climbed into my car, closed the door, and the emotions hit me in pieces—small, sharp shards—until suddenly I was full, overflowing, drowning. A scream tore out of me before I could stop it, loud and shattering, like glass breaking against concrete.
Hot tears blurred my vision.
I needed a break. God, I needed a break.
My eyes burned until I couldn't even blink, my face wet with tears and snot. I grabbed a wipe from my purse, but it did nothing. So, I let the pain spill freely down my cheeks.
Here, in my car was the only time I could purge out emotions.
I tried distracting myself from that memory… the one that gives me sleepless nights. The memory of the day I…
Five months ago, our company had taken a mighty fall that took us down from the top three in Los Angeles. It was the beginning. Something bigger than an attempted coup or a 30-day ultimatum.
The car key on my hand fell down. My hands were shaking.
Memory seized me from the present as I got submerged in my reverie.
I was in the office with my dad when the head of finance walked in and announced.
"Sir, the company's finance has been swiped by an intruder. Whoever did this had insider information for them to be able to hack into our company's account." My father, hearing this, stood up from his chair.
"That is not all sir, a sensitive information was stolen from the vault and..." he took a deep breath. He kept avoiding eye contact.
"Speak!" my dad commanded.
"He... he left a message, on... the screens"
I kept muttering to myself.
"He wouldn't do this to me. he wouldn't" as I quickly took a remote from the table and switched the television on.
The first thing that popped on the screen was 'THE ANTIDOTE' boldly written, 'a cure to a rotting world.'
"How did this happen? Who could have done this?" my dad whispered. His eyes dead at me like he knew.
Light drained from my vision. My pulse thundered in my ears.
I clung to the table and lowered myself into a chair before my knees buckled
Cold sweats broke out from me.
Only one person would hack into the vault... Jack, my ex-boyfriend.
Before I could process my situation, I heard a loud thump… my dad had collapsed. My world as well.
The honking of a car brought me back to reality.
I think it's time my mom spoke to me, I can't do this alone, not with this marriage proposal hanging over my head.
I need to be strong, pretend to be at least.
By the time I pulled into the garage at the villa, silence greeted me—so different from the noisy chaos I left behind in Sylvania. I saw Mom's Rolls Royce and Lauren's Benz. Relief washed over me. At least they were home.
"Mom!"
"Lauren!"
I called out as I stepped into the large living room. I went straight to the bar, grabbed a bottle of wine and three glasses, and took the nearest couch.
"Whatever you have to say better be important," Lauren said, entering from the stairs, her voice sharp as ever.
"It is," I whispered.
She sat, already scrolling through her phone. Footsteps followed—soft, elegant, deliberate. A sweet Victoria's Secret scent filled the air before my mother appeared.
And suddenly the room felt warm and suffocating.
She sat beside Lauren. Not a word. Not a glance. Nothing.
A stabbing pain shot through my chest. I tried to ignore the feeling. I've cried enough. I wouldn't ridicule myself before my sister.
"I'm sorry," I said sincerely.
"This is why you called us?" Lauren asked coldly.
Mom said nothing.
"Not really." I replied to her.
"Then get on with it." She rolled her eyes.
"I met with Dominic Bernardino, and he asked me to marry him." I blurted out.
For the first time in months, Mom finally lifted her head and looked at me.
It brought back the memory of the last day she ever looked at me… at the clinic. When dad… died. She never spoke to me since then.
"What was your reply?" I couldn't believe my mom just spoke to me.
"I… I haven't given him one yet," I stuttered. "But I was planning to say no."
"You will do no such thing," Mom cut in sharply.
"But mom, I don't love him," I tried to reason with her.
"Better then. Last I checked love is the reason you are in this position. Now, you'll be sure to focus on the goal and take our lives out of this misery."
"You know I have a crush on Dominic and you went to get him to marry you." Lauren blurted out and gave a sharp, bitter, laugh.
"I didn't think he'd propose, I wanted his help. You don't need to worry; I'm not accepting his proposal."
"Then see it as a penance for the damage you caused," mom replied without a drop of emotion. "An ally with BGC will sweep us out of misery".
"Mom, I can do it. Please let me." I was too struck to react to Lauren's childishness.
"No, darling. While your sister is being a wife, you will represent her at the company." Mom said with a tone of finality as she stood up to leave.
She stood to leave, then paused before me.
"You will marry him," she said, voice low and final, "or cease to be my daughter."
The atmosphere suddenly felt cold. Shivering cold.
So that was it.
Marriage to Dominic wasn't a choice.
It was my punishment.
My repayment.
My sentence.
If this was the only way to fix my family… to repair the company…
"I'll do it," I whispered later, over the phone to Dominic.
In that moment, I felt something inside me close—quietly, decisively.
I sold my happiness the day I destroyed theirs.