Chapter 62 Setting The Trap
VINCE’S POV
Three years ago, I was staring from afar at the depressed woman who had stopped eating, talking for a month. She had become completely hollow.
“You need me for what?” Ken blinked in confusion, glancing at Alyssa and back to me with pure discontent.
Sighing, I exhaled the smoke from my cigarette, “I said I want you to get in a relationship with her. Marry her when I order you to. And cheat on her in the end.”
“All this drama so you can enter her life as a hero?”
He frowned, folding his arms at his chest, completely against this idea.
“Why can’t you do it now? She is obviously depressed. She will consider whoever will save her from this mess her hero.”
“That’s the problem.”
A hollow, empty smile adorned my lips. I took a step forward, placing my finger on the glass window, right at her with a clench.
“She won’t truly love whoever will save her from this depression. This won’t… make me her savior. She will go back,”
The prickling sensation in my throat tightened, curling my hand in a powerless first, I ended up growling, “Back to him.”
“If I want her to be completely mindless. I must break her to become the ‘only’ one. Or else all of it will be for… naught.”
Ken glanced at Alyssa and back to me, my words were obviously going over his head but all he saw was that fifty million check.
The greed got the best for him. He was receiving high money for just an act, his life will be settled as he smirked.
"Fine. But remember, the act ends the moment the divorce papers are signed."
"Done."
PRESENT.
Coming back from the memory, a hard, mocking, genuine laughter escaped my lips. Gripping my whiskey glass, I patted Ken’s back who was rubbing his cheek with a growl.
"Satisfied?" Ken spat, his voice trembling with genuine rage. "Or do you need more 'drama' to test her devotion, you sick fuck?"
"I’m more than satisfied," I chuckled, the image of Alyssa’s fierce, blind loyalty playing on a loop in my mind. It was intoxicating. It was perfect.
"I would pay the million all over again just to see that look in her eyes. The way she protected me... it was poetic."
I took a sip between the laughter, it was getting hard to breathe, the moment I patiently waited for had arrived.
"I've done enough for you, Vince," Ken snapped, stepping into my space.
"You said the deal was done once the divorce went through. Now give me the rest of my payment."
"Don't be so dramatic, Ken. You're being paid handsomely for every 'attempt' on my reputation."
"The game is over, Vince!" Ken growled, shoving my hand away.
"She’s blind. She’s obsessed. There’s nothing left to prove. Give me my money and let me disappear."
"Not yet," I murmured, my smile fading into something sharper, something more dangerous.
"Are you out of your mind? What else could you possibly want?"
I looked out at the horizon, where the sun was beginning to dip below the waves. The final piece of the puzzle was moving into place.
"Arden," I whispered.
Ken froze. "Who?"
"He’s coming back in a month," I took a deep breath, my features hardening into something sharp and cold.
"And by the time he arrives, I want him to see that the woman he left behind doesn't exist anymore. I want him to look into her eyes and find nothing but my name written there."
I finished my drink and set the glass on the railing with a definitive clack. My determination was solid with a distressed mind. Not a single flaw was acceptable.
"One more month, Ken. Then you can have your life back. But until then... the show must go on."
After being done with Ken who was infuriated for being tied to this deal. But, as long as my purpose was in progress, no one is allowed to leave.
When I walked into the bedroom, she was sitting by the window sill, staring out at the dark ocean.
The sight of her like that, vulnerable, yet fiercely mine- it was a savory taste of victory that pumped my blood. I didn't see a woman I had deceived, I saw a masterpiece I had finally finished.
"Alyssa," I murmured.
She jumped slightly, then relaxed the moment she saw it was me. "Vince. I didn't hear you come in."
I didn't say anything. I walked over, pulling her back against my chest. I felt her sigh, her entire body relaxing into me as if I were the only thing keeping her upright.
"You were incredible today," I whispered into her ear, my hands sliding over her arms, tracing a line that earned me a satisfactory shiver.
"The way you stood up for us... I've never seen anything more beautiful."
"He was saying such horrible things, Vince," She frowned, turning to me, her hands wrapped around me, "How could he lie like that? After everything we've been through?"
"People become monsters when they lose something they can't have," I lied, my tone dripping with false sympathy.
I turned her in my arms so she was facing me, cupping her face with both hands.
"He wanted to break you so he could feel powerful again. But you were stronger. You chose me."
I kissed her forehead, her eyelids, the corners of her mouth. I wanted to drown her in affection until the memory of Ken’s words was buried under a mile of sweetness.
"Come. I had the staff prepare something for you."
In the center of the room stood a massive, claw-foot tub, steaming and filled with milk and rose petals. It was an indulgence fit for my queen.
"Vince, you don't have to do all this," she said, a faint, shy smile finally touching her lips.
"I do," I insisted, stepping behind her to slowly unzip her dress. I felt the shiver run down her spine as the cool air hit her skin, followed immediately by the heat of my breath.
"I want to wash away the memory of today. I want you to remember only this. Only us."
I helped her into the water, moving with meticulous, gentle care that made her eyes well up with fresh tears of delight.
I took a sponge and began to drag it over her shoulders, the scent of expensive oils filling the room.
"I don't deserve you," she whispered, leaning her head back against the rim of the tub, looking up at me with those wide, devoted eyes.
"No, Alyssa," I replied, "It's the other way around. I'll spend the rest of my life proving that."
As I watched her relax into the floral water, I felt a surge of pure, cold adrenaline. The trap was locked. The bait had been swallowed.
In a month, Arden would return to find a woman who didn't just love me- she worshipped the man she married.
And she would thank me for it.