Daniel squinted his gaze on her, "Do not faint on me"
She forced a smile but it looks more like a grimace than an actual smile "I do not plan on doing that" she
"Good, now we can discuss about our situation. What do you say your name was again?"
"Isabella"
Daniel nodded his head, "Isabella" he repeated the name to taste how it sounds on his lips, "I was supposed to get married to your cousin but I ended up with you, I do not know why the both of you decided to switch side but it does not matter to me as long as I ended up with a wife".
Bella sighed with relief at his words but her relief was short lived when she heard him say, "But"
"I am quite curious. Why did you marry me? What's in it for you?"
"I...I...the thing is, Joana was having cold feet, she didn't want to get married, well, because of the rumors about you. She was scared"
Daniel raised a brow at her words, "and you are not scared?"
"Of course I was"
"So?" He pressed when she didn't say more, Bella wished that he could drop the topic already
"I... it's because of the money. Look it has nothing to with you okay, it happens that I'm in terrible need of money and Joana offered that to me if I can take her place and marry you"
"I see...and why are you in such great need of money?"
"Doesn't everyone need money?"
Daniel sighed and placed his hands in his pocket as he stared at her dead pan, "if you say so but I wish to make a few rules to you"
" Rule number one is to make it clear to you that our marriage is simply a marriage of convenience. Do not expect anything like love from me but in the eyes of the public, we must act like we are a match made in heaven and crazily in love couple"
"Fine" she replied stiffly, not that she is looking for love anyways
"Rule number two" he continued like she never spoke "as far as we are married, you are not allowed to go out with another man or flirt with any man, you will be fully committed to this marriage until otherwise"
"Anything else?"
"Yes, you are not allowed to wear my clothes again, those are mine"
Her cheeks colored as she stared down at his t-shirt, "oh, I... I'm sorry"
"Humph" he replied and his gaze landed to the food she had prepared that is sitting cold on the table, "one more thing, do not go about preparing meal and waiting up for me before you eat"
Now, that hurts, she had spent her time trying to come up with something that they will eat even when she was feeling exhausted, she had prepared the only meal she found in the house and did not want to eat everything, so, she had opted to wait for him even when she was starving, she wanted them to eat the only meal in the house, at least for today and he just scorned her efforts
"That won't happen again " she responded; the hurt evident in her voice as she moved past him to go sit on the table, she opened the plate and started gulping down the cold meal.
Daniel stood there for a moment, he had seen the hurt look on her face and is feeling a little guilt
"Do you have more rules for me?" She suddenly asked and he shook his head and went inside to shower.
*
*
"What a jerk" Bella thought as she watched him leave, he is indeed a jerk, what kind of wedding night is this? Wedding night that is filled with rules and regulations.
Her mind went to his rules about her not to expect love from him and she scoffed, falling in love will never be part of her calendars again, not even in her next life, not after Jeremy's betrayal.
Her life was completely destroyed in a twinkle of an eye, her career and dreams got crushed, she was rendered homeless and penniless in just a minute and her only crime was falling in love. That word no longer exists for her.
*
*
Bella opened her eyes at dawn and was at first disoriented at where she was and slowly, it registered in her head that she got married the previous day and this is the house of her husband.
She was shocked to see herself on the bed and she sat up and looked at her side of the bed and noticed that she was alone. She had slept on the sofa the night before, how did she end up in the bed? She slowly walked to the living room and his soft snore from the sofa alerted her that he had spent the night on the sofa.
He must have carried her to the bed, she needs to get on with her house chores so that she can go to Joana's house to return the wedding dress, hopefully, she would be paid the money that was promised to her so that she can at least get a few dresses for herself.
She finished cleaning up very fast because the house was not that dirty anyways, she quickly stitched her torn cloth that she had worn the first time she had showed up at Joana's house and then, she set off to Joana's house to return her wedding gown and shoe.
The maid did not let Bella see Joana as she was still sleeping, so she had to wait until Joana woke up and she sure did take her time.
The sun was already up and Bella has already started feeling anxious before Joana showed up she paused when she saw Bella
"Ma'am, this lady has been here since morning, she said she has to see you" a maid informed her before working off.
The maid was the only maid that was still working for them, Mr Wonders had to lay off other maids and servants as he was going bankrupt. Thank goodness for the marriage proposal, at least they will have a million dollars in their account.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to return the wedding gown and shoes.....well, to also ask about the money that we agreed on, I really need that money"
Joana scoffed as she opened the wedding gown and shoes to inspect it for any damage and she threw it on the sofa after a few moments
"The shoe has a scratch and there is a tear at the hem of the wedding gown, so, there will be no payment"
Bella's eyes widened at Joana's words and she quickly grabbed the wedding gown to look for the tear. She was so careful when she had worn it and is certain that there is no such tear "what? But I can't see any tear"
"Really? If I say there is a tear then there is" Joana replied furiously as she grabbed the shoe and showed her a tiny and almost unnoticeable scratch on it, "is this not a scratch on the shoe or are you blind? Forget about the promised money because it will be used to replace these items that is destroyed by you"
"B...b...the scratch is not even noticeable" Bella argued
"Well, too bad I noticed it. You know your way out" Joana replied and started to make her way back to her room
"You cannot do this to me" Bella desperately grabbed her hand, "I need that money, you promised me"
"What is going on here?" Mrs Wonders' voice sounded amidst the commotion, "what are you doing here?" She redirected her question when she saw Bella. The girl irritates her and she hated even the sight of Bella
"She came here for the money that was promised to her before she got married but I just told her that she cannot be paid because she placed a dent on the shoe and tear in the wedding dress" Joana explained with a roll of her eyes
"What? Do you know how much those things cost? Even if you are sold, your worth will not be close to how much even a pair of shoes cost"
"But ma'am..."
"Shut up, you don't interrupt me when I am talking"
Tears filled Bella's eyes, how can her aunt's friend be this vile? It is clear to her that they are just acting up so as not to pay her the promised money.
"My aunt is very kind hearted and soft spoken, I wonder how she ended up with a cold hearted vile friend as you"
"What insolent" Mrs Wonders screeched and her palms connected with Bella's cheeks
"Go get some manners and know your place. You have no right to speak to my mother that way because you are nothing more than the wife of a dickhead" Joana said and walked back to her room. Swaying her hips
"Get out or I will drag you by your hair and throw you out" Mrs Wonders threatened
"Here, I don't want you to think we are mean, you can have this and this is all you will get" Joana said as she came back in and threw a few coins at her and walked right back to her room
Bella sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, she had no choice, she needed the money desperately so she bent down and picked them all up. She could hear Mrs wonder snickered and tears ran freely from her eyes and slowly, she walked out from the Wonders house.
"Now what?" She asked herself in frustration and counted the money she picked, it was just twenty dollars.
She had so much hope in the money that was promised to her. It was the major reason she had gotten married to a total stranger, her life is in such a mess that she doesn't even know how to fix it. Sadness overwhelmed her once more and she sat down on the floor to cry out her frustration and misery that she is feeling for the moment.