Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

CHIARA IS RESTLESS for several days since Ezio was admitted to his private hospital. She never left his side, and will just not be with him whenever she’s taking a bath. It was Fara and Luigi who are in-charge in bringing her food and clothes.

“Signora,” Fara greeted her when she entered Ezio’s room. “Here are the clothes you requested. I also brought a pair of your pajamas and vegetable soup.”

Chiara just nodded at her maid before putting down the soup on the bedside table. “Is there any update?” she asked Luigi who is standing behind Fara.

Luigi shook his head slowly. “As of now, we are reviewing the cameras on the airport. We are currently looking on the identities of the guards on the departure area.”

“Don’t the airport has a record for that?” she asked, twitching her right eye. “As far as I know, the airport higher staffs much have a list of their workers, including guards.”

Luigi put his head down, uncomfortable with his signora’s gaze. “We asked for their records, signora, but the photos of the guards on their list don’t match the ones we saw on the airport.”

“So the airport was infiltrated,” Chiara spoke as she gritted her teeth.

The assistant was hesitant because he can’t give a definite answer. “I’m not sure but there’s a possi-”

“No,” Chiara cut his words off while slicing an apple. “That wasn’t a question.”

The room fell silent. Fara and Luigi felt tensed just by the way their signora acted. She looks like she can stab anyone using the knife she’s holding.

No one dares to make her mood sour. Not now that their signora still can’t cope with what happened to her husband.

For the past days, Chiara ordered Ezio’s men to investigate about what happened. She can’t wait for the updates from the authorities. She wants to do this using her hands.

Fara stared at her signora who is staring at her husband’s sleeping face. It’s almost 48 hours, and there’s no improvement in his condition.

“I’m sure someone knew that my husband is going home that day, so they used that chance to ambush him,” Chiara spoke, still staring at her unconscious husband.

She sighed before standing. She walked towards the only window in Ezio’s room and stared at the view outside.

“We already hired a police sketch artist to draw how those guards looked like,” Luigi spoke when he composed himself. “I only saw two of them, while others see three. I can’t say how many of them are there, but we are looking into it.”

There was silence in the room again. Fara nudged Luigi using her elbow before giving him a wide eye, a sign that he must have said something wrong for their signora to be quiet.

“Call me if you already have the sketches,” Chiara responded before looking at them. “You may leave now.”

The two bowed their heads a little before leaving the married couple in the room. Silence covered the room, until Chiara walked beside her husband.

She caressed his grazed cheek. “I’ll find whoever did this. I will make them pay, tesoro,” she whispered under her breath.

She was waiting for her husband to respond, but nothing happened. Just a few hours left and the doctor might pronounce Ezio under comatose state.

As much as possible, Chiara doesn’t want that to happen. She knew what can happen if someone was comatose: either they will be asleep for life or they won’t be able to move anymore.

She was hoping that Ezio would wake up, but her wish didn’t came true.

“I’M SORRY,” the doctor spoke. “It’s been over 48 hours but his brain is not responding. Not even a small movement of his body happened. I’m afraid to say that Mr. Vitali is now under comatose.”

Chiara did her best not to crumble. She can’t be too weak. Her husband needs her. She needs to be strong. For him.

She took a deep breath before turning to the doctor. “Is there anything I can do to wake him up?”

“The only thing I can suggest is talk to him while he’s unconscious. We can hope for him to hear your voice,” then doctor responded.

Chiara did that for the past days. She would talk to her husband from time to time about random things, even if she looked like an idiot waiting for an unconscious person to talk.

“I’ll keep that in mind, doc,” Chiara said before the doctor left.

After Chiara locked the door, the tears she has been hiding for minutes finally escaped like a dam that has been opened.

She used her hand to cover her mouth from creating any noise. She doesn’t want her unconscious husband to hear her cries.

She sniffed for a couple of times, dried her tears using the back of her hand, before making herself look presentable again. Luigi messaged her that he will be visiting again to relay a message. He can’t see him in such vulnerable state.

“Tesoro,” she called Ezio while hugging his body. “You’ll be awake after a few days, right? You’ll come back to me, right?”

She stared at his handsome face. Usually, she will stare at his mismatched eyes and drown in its beauty. But now, she can’t see them. And she won’t be able to see those shining blue and green eyes for long.

Hours passed and Luigi arrived. He was carrying a two folders in his right hand.

“Good evening, Signora,” he greeted. “I have the sketches of the guards we saw that day.”

He extended his arms to give the first folder to Chiara. She opened it and was greeted by a face of man on his 30s with a thick mustache.

She flipped through the pages, memorizing how each man looked like. After that, she took two photos of each pages before giving the folder back to Luigi.

“Use every connection we have to find those guys, but move silently,” Chiara spoke. “I’m sure that if they heard about us looking for them, they will hide. It will be harder for us.”

Luigi nodded. “I’ll update you immediately, signora,” he replied before giving the other folder.

“What’s with this?” Chiara asked.

“When you and Boss Ezio got married, he signed a document stating that if ever something happened to him, you will be the one in-charge of all of his wealth. That includes his investments, stocks, and companies, signora,” Luigi explained briefly, but Chiara can understand the whole context.

She read the document, and indeed, Ezio gave her the right to take full control of his wealth when he’s not around. It includes representing him as the owner of his companies. All of his companies.

Her heart felt the warmth of Ezio’s love. She didn’t know he can do something like this for her. It’s too much, but Chiara know that Ezio trusts her so much to do this.

“Does it mean I have to go to his company by tomorrow?” Chiara clarified.

Luigi nodded slowly. “Your presence is not really needed if it was a regular day. However, the board members are demanding for a meeting. The condition of Luminosa is not stable after what happened to boss Ezio. They want to put someone new as in-charge.”

“They can’t do that,” Chiara said calmly, looking down at the piece of paper in her hand.

She kept the document in place before looking at Luigi. “Tell the board that we’ll have a meeting tomorrow by 10 AM. Sharp. I don’t want any late attendees.”

Luigi didn’t need to be told twice and left to do what his signora asked him to accomplish. At the back of his mind, the meeting tomorrow might be in chaos. He knew how greedy some of the board members are. They wouldn’t accept Signora Chiara to boss them around.

But they can’t do anything about it.

Back in the hospital, Chiara left the room. She asked Fara and the guards outside it to make sure that no one will enter.

Chiara walked to the nearby restroom. Her mind is too busy thinking on what might happen in the meeting. She might have knowledge on business, but it can’t be compared to Ezio’s.

But now, it’s her responsibility to make the companies stable again. Ezio just fixed the problem in his company in Dubai. It’s now her job to do the same in Luminosa.

She’s still clouded with ideas for the meeting when she saw a familiar woman hiding behind a thick pillar of the hospital. The woman was not covering her face, but the pillar is big enough to cover her body from the people outside the room she was spying on.

Chiara’s eyes can’t be wrong. It was Elisa, and she’s looking at the room where Ezio is currently located.

She doesn’t know what Elisa has on her mind, so she walked behind her. The woman must have not sense her, for she keeps on staring at Ezio’s room.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Why are you here?” Chiara asked, making Elisa startled.

“You seem to show up everywhere,” Elisa replied while giving a plastic smile.

Chiara raised her right eyebrow. “Wrong. It’s you who kept showing up everywhere. Why are you here?” she repeated her question.

Instead of answering, Elisa turned her head on Ezio’s room and answered her with a question. “How is she?”

After seeing worry in Elisa’s eyes days before, Chiara knew that this woman still cared for his son. “He’s comatose. Still no improvement in his brain activity.”

She heard Elisa sniffed and saw her gulp a lump in her throat. They kept quiet for a moment before Elisa broke the silence.

“His enemies are always nearby. Always,” she spoke firmly. “Be mindful of your surroundings. Eradicate anyone who tried to harm you and him.”

Elisa looked at her. “Now that my son is in coma, there are only two things that they can do before bringing his companies down. Either they will target you, or they will kill my son in his helpless state. Guard him, always.”

After saying those words, Elisa left and Chiara followed her using her eyes. As those words sank in to her mind, she sent a message to her detective friend, Nick.

Chiara: Call me once you see this. I have something you have to investigate. This is urgent.