ROMAN
I would sell my soul to the devil before I would marry Mikhelly, the daughter of my mother's best friend.
She is the kind of snobbish and unscrupulous woman that I have been keeping away from for a long time, I wouldn't mind if she was a gold-digger, deep down everybody is, but the personality of this particular woman irritates me a lot.
She feigns a delicacy and fragility worthy of an Oscar award that makes my mother fall in love with her, she is the perfect candidate in her eyes, she visualizes a romance with this ideal partner bullshit.
Over my fucking dead body.
I cursed every day, my father's past generations, that led him to be so closed minded and small, now I have to pay the price for that.
Since my father passed away, I have taken control of 75% of his companies, which limits my business and prevents me from going further in my agreements, all because he believed that no man was a real man without a wife.
After his departure, it was my mother's mission not to transfer the rest of the shares until I was married to a girl she approved of, so needless to say how difficult she made my life in this regard.
She already had her choice, and now I had to choose a suitable candidate.
My mother wanted something fanciful, a story she would feel safe with, so needless to say Marianella came at the perfect time.
I had never thought about it from that angle, but my mother was also my father's secretary, so why not soften her heart with a cliché that she lived intensely?
I just need to create a great scenario and plan well how it will come out, a few public appearances, dinners and small programs at first, can put the game in my favor, the fact is that everything needs to look as natural as possible.
I'm willing to use tools that will make me the biggest scoundrel to ever set foot on this earth, but hard times call for desperate measures, I'm not going to put off my plans any longer for some family bullshit, my mother wants a dream engagement and I'm totally giving it to her.
There is a knock on the door and Dante walks through it without waiting for permission, he is abused and confident enough to think he has such morals.
“ It's done," he says, dropping the envelope with the contract on my desk, "Are you sure you want to do this?”
“ Not going down this road is out of the question “ I end the discussion “ Prepare the others for scandal control, especially in here, I will not be tolerant about it”.
“ Are you going to throw out everyone who comments on this subject?””
“ That's right”.
“ Again I must ask, do you really not want to put the sexual implications in the clause? I don't trust…”
“ Dante, she is not a toy, she has the right to make this kind of choice without a contract”.
“ I know, but it's always good to make everything clear in such cases, things can get confusing," he says, giving me a suggestive look.
“ Marianella is an intelligent woman and completely capable of making choices on her own, she will do well in any chance”.
It's a fact that Dante has gone against this idea as much as he can, he thinks we could get someone more prepared, and by that he means a model who would give me unnecessary headaches along the way.
I don't want it to be gaudy, Marianella is elegant, simple and beautiful, she is a very pleasing figure to the eye so creating an aesthetic image of the couple was not difficult.
Besides the fact that she will probably take less of my patience than anyone else.
I am sure and certain that this will work, it has to work, it is not only my part that is at stake but hers as well.
This fell like a grape, knowing that she was considering me to go with her and family planted ideas in my head impossible to get out.
“ What's behind all this that you're not telling me? “ he presses, as if this has any effect on me.
“ As if I'm really going to tell you”.
I don't have the right, and I wouldn't put her on that show, it's like throwing a lamb to the wolves, and if anything in a few hours she will be my fiancée, which guarantees her a one-way ticket to hell for free, there will be no more peace.
I don't need to make her life even more difficult.
“ I hope you know for a fact how you are taking this, because everyone will be coming after her ass when it explodes”.
“ Do I pay you well enough for damage control, or are you backing out Dante?”.
“ Hell no! I'm just curious as to when she became an option so quickly”.
“ That's irrelevant “ I put my hands in my pockets, quietly throwing my shoulders back.
“ You are a completely dull and soulless person”.
I want to tell him that he is a spoiled child looking for attention because he didn't get it as a child, but I keep quiet, not because of friendship, after all we don't have anything solid or anything, but because I definitely don't care what he thinks or doesn't think.
I have never been one to express my most sincere opinions in public, I find it a waste and probably an easy way to give people some kind of vulnerability, I always keep my opinions to myself and this gives me many advantages.
There is also the factor that people like Dante are faithfully on the prowl, waiting to receive something he can use as ammunition, in the years we have worked together I can tell he is dying to have something he can use against me.
I will never give it to him, especially when it comes to the risky bet I am about to make, he was also forced to sign a confidential term on this matter, I don't trust his sadistic nature at all.
As he leaves, I glance through the open door and find my secretary in full swing with her papers and cell phone hanging from her ear.
Strangely enough I don't have any bad feelings about all this, in fact if I'm being honest, I'm more sure than ever.
MARIANELLAI did not get a good night's sleep, if at any time that night I could actually sleep at all.I tossed and turned, waiting for sleep to come, but it did not come, and when I got up it was still dark, a little after five in the morning.I wish I were in the habit of doing some morning exercise to discharge energy, but my sedentary spirit wouldn't allow it, so I brewed coffee and drank it.I am on my third cup.No one should drink this much coffee, but I didn't truly feel like a human being without a dose of caffeine that is considered a food crime, it's a mania I pulled from my father.I thought about my childhood and how different things were here from there, when I moved I had to abandon some old habits, besides the accent that only appeared in a few moments, I adapted as I needed to and this meant leaving a big part of myself behind.I grew up in a small house, but very comfortable and cozy, so we chose to have an apartment here, it reminds us a lot of our home in Spain, w
MARIANELLAWe came in his car, he usually uses his drivers and security guards, but today he didn't, I sat in the passenger seat and kept quiet.Not that I could speak, the sight of Roman driving seemed so eye-catching, it's no big deal, but on him it looks so masculine, I just discovered a new hobby by accident.He was so focused that maybe my presence went unnoticed, this innate confidence that my boss uses to handle everything is almost suffocating considering that I literally feel like a prey heading towards its predator.We stop in front of a restaurant, which I wouldn't normally go to alone, my salary doesn't support this kind of fun, not even if Esmeralda and I were to get together to pay for it.He unbuckles his seat belt and gets out of the car, just like that, without saying anything or waiting for me, I quickly unbuckle myself and force my legs to stick out, I won't give him the luxury of witnessing more nervousness than is stamped on my face.I watch as he throws the key t
MARIANELLAOn Saturday, the day after dinner, I woke up in a strangely good mood, with enough energy to tidy up the house, prepare the food, and have some time to sit on the veranda to study about business plans.I close my eyes as the refreshing breeze hits my face, the day was in very pleasant weather, I took the opportunity to prepare a cup of passion fruit tea, my favorite.The more I read about how to run my own business, the more enthusiasm builds up in my veins, I have waited so long for this moment.When I left my parents' home, I went to Seattle University to study fashion design, while Esmeralda went to study literature, only unlike her the doors didn't open so easily for me, my first job didn't work out and my life turned upside down.I still have traumas related to my boss from that time, I had weeks of hard work on the designs I prepared for that season, she took them and put them as if they were hers, my name was not included in anything, I never felt I had so little val
MARIANELLAMy sister is finding this whole idea wonderful, she said that I won the lottery, that I went for copper and found a diamond instead.I knew she wouldn't be against the idea, when I asked her if it would put me in the role of a profiteer she freaked out and said."Who cares? He's a millionaire it won't be missed by him, don't be an idiot to lose it."I try not to put my morals on the field because if I do, I'll end up coming home and marathoning some depressing romance series while feeling like a terrible person.Instead, I'm positioned right in the lobby of my building, endlessly researching inspirations for high society clothing, most of which I don't really like, I'm also not much for prints, I rarely wear them, which limits my path a lot.I have always been a woman of neutral tones, those that go with everything or that are basic enough to be worn alone, like black, beige and red.My current wardrobe is even a bit dull, but before all this I didn't see a need to invest i
MARIANELLAI am in a five hundred dollar cobalt blue velvet dress as Esmeralda makes a point of reminding me from minute to minute, sitting in some strange place that appears to be a nightclub, staring at the glowing ring on my finger as I swing my drink.I was convinced that I deserved to go out for a while and unload, yesterday I had a full day loaded with emotions that I wouldn't know how to put out, not that today was any different.Roman's advisor was determined to teach me a few things and explain what I should expect from now on, since the first news of our relationship had come out in a gossip magazine, it became as real as ever.I was also working on making my file with important information that my fiancé should know about me, besides trying to control my own family going crazy with the news, I received calls and messages all afternoon and from every type you can imagine."GIRL, YOU DEFINITELY IMPRESSED ME.”"For someone who had no plans to get married, you have caught the b
ROMANDuring the next week everything seems chaotic, I have been worrying about keeping everything under control since Marianella seems on the verge of a rage, even if she doesn't show it, I can feel her stress coming out in the form of smoke from her ears.If anything, she has been putting up with the heavy lifting, she no longer goes out unaccompanied because she now has reporters on her tail, it's sudden and shocking news, so until the rumors cool down, all I can do is keep her under supervision.We are a few days away from traveling to spend the weekend with her family, and literally racing against time, she has been working triple time, I never see her standing still, no matter how much she tries to hide it, she is trying to lighten it for my side.Now I also have another tightness in my ass, the kind that I can't get rid of easily. My mother.She naturally heard about it from the news that has been spreading like an epidemic, and now I get at least twenty calls a day from her, w
MARIANELLAWe were packed and ready to fly, it is a Friday morning, as the flight from Seattle to Valencia - Spain is 14 hours long, and we need to be there for the first family dinner.Needless to say I am a nervous wreck about it, I could hardly put anything in my stomach over coffee, unlike my sister who almost swallowed everything she saw in front of her.She is eager, smiling like never before, I don't know if she is already playing the happy girlfriend since now, or if the idea of facing our family puts her in such a good mood like that.For me, I would have put on the first outfit I saw in front of me, we are going to be stuck for hours on the private jet, I wish I could be comfortable, but this is apparently the biggest blasphemy in the world for my sister.She promptly rejects the idea and looks for something fancier among our clothes, which really should be mine, but my sister is getting her hands on half of everything.Now I am in a beige dress that is tight, but not tight
MARIANELLAThe huge jet was scary to look at, it could easily fit my whole family in it, the door was open and the ladder laid out for us to climb up.A man that I recognize as Roman's security guard walks up to us and helps us with our bags, he told me that I could go first, because Roman was waiting for me.I walk up each step with wobbly legs, this is going to be my life for a while and I am definitely going to get used to it, this is the worst part, the fact that this in my stomach is excitement with these new experiences I am having.Roman is sitting in one of the armchairs, he is again in a casual style that still looks formal and elegant, his social shirt is rolled up to his elbows, he doesn't look tense or worried, while enjoying a cup of coffee.“ Come, sit here," he says casually, his vibrant and strong voice causing me to move my legs to sit in the armchair next to him.“ How was the meeting? “ I ask to distract myself from the fact that he is looking at me like that again.