Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

THE MOMENT MONIKA WAS feeling fine, Chiara hurriedly bid her goodbye to leave and go to Sophia. Her heart was thumping so loud that she cannot hear anything clearly.

The news she saw was still circulating inside her mind. She still doesn’t know if it is true, or just a fake news going around on social media, but she cannit get it off her mind.

When she reached the parking lot, Luigi and Gabriel noticed how restless Chiara is. They immediately walked towards her and guide her to the car.

“Signora, w-” Luigi’s words were cut short when Chiara spoke.

“Drive me to Sophia’s house, ” she said before opening the car door and stepping inside.

Hearing that, Luigi immediately complied and Gabriel went to the other guarding cars to follow them. They don’t know what’s happening, but they know that something is urgent.

As they drived towards Sophia’s house, Chiara tried calling her several times. However, the woman wouldn’t answer. Her phone is off and cannot be reached.

“Did she already received the news?” Chiara thought to herself while looking at the screen of her phone. “Then is it true then? Is she already at the crime scene?”

She tried calling Sophia once again, but she got the same result. She was about to text her when her phone rang and Dante’s name popped on the screen.

“Signora, we have found some of Marco’s belongings in an abandoned factory,” he spoke with a huffing voice when Chiara answered the line.

“Have you watched the news, Dante?” Chiara asked, her voice cracking while she spoke.

Dante was confused on her question, but it made him feel uneasy. “What news, signora?”

She threw a shaky deep breath before answering. “I don’t have the strength to say it, ” she replied. “But please check the news and check if it’s true.”

Dante, on the other line, asked one of his men to check the news from his phone. They scrolled down, looking for the news that might have a connection to Chiara, Ezio, or Marco.

His finger stopped moving when he saw Marco’s name on the screen. They were late, and he knew that. He just realized it by now.

“Signora,” Dante swallowed a breath. “I think it’s already confirmed. Marco’s dead. ”

Hearing that, Chiara’s right hand flew to her mouth to stop herself from making noise. She turned her head up to stop her tears from falling.

She failed to do her promise to Sophia. She wasn’t able to find her husband. She failed.

Luigi can see Chiara’s reaction from the rearview mirror. He wanted to ask what happened and comfort her, but he knew something serious was up. Something happened to make her react like that.

“Find the address where they found it and send it to me,” Chiara spoke when she composed herself. She cannot be weak, not now when her friend just lost her husband. She has to be strong to work properly, to find the culprit, and avenge Marco.

ON THE OTHER HAND, Sophia was inside a vehicle driven by her sister-in-law. Her senses are not working properly. She cannot even hear what the other people are saying to her, especially her mother-in-law who was just sitting beside her.

“Sophia, let’s not lose hope. He might be still alive,” her husband’s mother spoke to her in a gentle voice. She tried to comforr Sophia even though she’s also panicking and breaking inside.

All of them received the news that Marco was found inside a drum. It was Marco’s sister who informed Sophia of the news, and they are all on the way to the scene.

Sophia was asking hersel. How did this all happened? At one moment, she and her husband were having the best time of their lives, drinking wine as they stare at the stars. They even talked and kissed before Marco went to work.

And then in just one flick of a hand, he’s gone missing. His traces cannot be found. Not even his shadow or a single strand of her hair can be seen anywhere. He bursted like a bubble, disappearing from sight.

Then suddenly, someone said that he was finally found, but inside a drum. Sophia is not a genius, but she knows what that statement implied.

She felt like she was going to lose her breath, that the oxygen is slowly leaving her lungs. Sophia’s chest felt a stabbing sensation and she doesn’t know where it came from.

“Marco… my husband, ” she uttered under her breath while looking at nowhere.

She doesn’t even know how long have they driving, but Sophia just went back to her senses when her mother-in-law tapped her and guided her out of the car.

As soon as she stepped outside, she started hearing the siren of the police cars and ambulance. Police tapes also covered the area, keeping the press and the onlookers from entering.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

When the media saw Sophia and her family, they hurriedly put their attention to them. They began bombarding her with questions.

“Mrs. Leon, do you have any idea who did this to Mr. Leon?”

“Ma’am Sophia, the authorities stated that Mr. Leon was hiding from them for attempted murder. Is it true?”

“Signora Leon, please give us a statement!”

Camera clicks and flashes almost blinded Sophia’s eyes. Several voices are going in and out of her head that she doesn’t know where to focus. Aisde from that, the heat from the very closed spaces because of the media crowding them became unbearable.

“Go away!” the sister-in-law shouted at the press who is still trying to interview them, especially Sophia. “Have some respect!”

However, the media didn’t back down. They continue to squeeze their way towards Sophia, even pushing the other people infront of them. When the mother-in-law cannot hold it anymore, she started hitting the media with her bag.

“I said leave us alone!” she screamed as she threw her bag to a male reporter who almost hit them with the microphone. “Can’t you understand that?!”

The media only backed down a little when some of them was hit and when the authorities interfered.

When they entered the scene, the first thing Sophia saw was a body covered with white sheets, being wheeled by the medics towards the ambulance.

“Marco,” she called. “Is that my husband?”

With small but quick steps, Sophia lunged herself towards the body. The medic gently backed her down but she didn’t listen to them. She continued to call for her husband, hoping that he will respond.

“Marco?” she called again, her hands shaking as she reached for the white cloth covering the body.

The personnel tried to stop her, but even the Leon family tried to uncover the body, for confirm whether it is really Marco or not.

Several hands pulled the white cloth, and the scene that greeted them shook their body to the core. The media immediately clicked their cameras to gather photos of the person.

“No, no, no,” Sophia spoke when she saw her husband’s face under the sheets.

His face was black and blue, but it is still recognizable. It looked like he was beaten to death. His arms were twisted and the bone can be seen outside his elbow. Dried blood were also seen in his clothes and body. It was a horrific sight for anyone.

“No!” Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs. She grabbed her husband’s body, not minding the smell of it. She pulled it closer to her side while checking for his pulse.

But she found nothing.

“Amore,” she hysterically spoke while looking for any pulse and checking his breathing. “Amore mio, per favore svegliati. ” (My love, please wake up.)

No matter how much Sophia called for her husband, no response came from him. He was immobile, eyes closed, and no breathing.

“Ma’am, we need to bring the body to the hospital for autopsy,” one of the medical personnel spoke to her, nudging her gently to back away.

“No!” Sophia shouted. “He’s not dead! My husband is not dead! There’s no need for autopsy! He’s alive!”

She looked back at her mother-in-law with pleading eyes. “Mamma,” she called for her. “My husband’s not dead right? He’s alive. Right?”

She waited for her answer, but her mother-in-law kept silent, her hands on her mouth making a muffled voice as she cried at the sight of her own son.

Sophia, who didn’t received a reply from her mother-in-law, looked to the other members of the Leon family. “Right? Marco’s just resting. He’s gonna wake up after this.”

The members of the Leon family shook their head, even looking away from the horrendous and pitiful scene. Sophia cannot accept their response. Her brain kept on denying the truth about her husband’s death.

In her mind, Marco is just resting temporarily. That he will wake up and will come back to her.

She hugged her husband’s body, with tears falling from her eyes. She needs to feel his warmth, a thing she is always looking for everyday.

But Marco’s body is cold. Sophia has never felt her husband’s body like this. Her mind might deny the truth, but her body can feel that her husband is not with her anymore.

Marco might be resting, but he’s resting forever.