Blackmailing His Runaway Bride by Dance-is-me (carter reed .txt) 📗

Twelve

As soon as Isabella parked Charles's car in the scanty car park of her sorry excuse of a company, she suddenly figured that he was probably still waiting upstairs for her to arrive with his car.

And... he was probably waiting for her response to his shocking proposition.

But, she had no idea what response she could give even at that very moment.

Now that she had freed herself from Gabriel's suffocating hold, she had a chance to start things all over again. But the question was how?

Isabella sat back in the driver's seat and pondered.

She could let the bank take possession of her almost ruined company and she could start a life somewhere far from her hell.

Or... the other option that kept dangling in her face, she could agree to become Charles's wife, save her company and stay around in a place Gabriel could easily reach.

Isabella shuddered for some reason.

The second option sounded scary. Not only because she would be closer to a threatening Gabriel, but because she would be entering another married life because of debts.

This time, her own debt.

Her decision became clearer after that thought.

Hoping that the bank officials were still around, Isabella got down from the car, made sure to grab the keys, and made for the administrative arm of her company whose ruins became more and more pitiful with elongated scrutinizing.

As she walked, Isabella took a minute to wonder what went wrong. When she used to visit as a little kid, Shades and Cloaks was always a sight to behold. With eye-catching painted walls and rooms that always told a historical tale, Isabella had, at the early age of twelve vowed within her childish heart that she would one day head the company and make it way better than the sight she always visited.

Fifteen years or so passed and the hotel did more diminishing than getting better. Perhaps it was her dad's debts that brought the majority of the imbalance, but the way things went made it obvious that it just wasn't the debts.

It was as though the company was doomed to fall from the start.

Isabella sighed as she entered the building that reeked of solitude. Maybe it was true that trying to save a doomed soul was a useless thing to try.

Her steps came to a halt as she came to a window-side that showed her a glimpse of the whole hotel whose layout didn't seem so impressive anymore. The lawn was looking so unkempt, the bright colours of the scattered buildings screamed for help from the patches of black here and there that were finding a way to overshadow them.

Isabella shook her head sadly and moved away from the window. She had seen enough. All that was left for her to do was pack her things and leave.

Soon, she was in front of her office and she could hear voices. Pushing the door open revealed no one had left. The bank officials were all seated and appeared to be in a conversation with Charles who was smiling.

"Hey," she said, her voice sounding nonchalant.

"Oh, you are back," Caleb said as he rushed from his seat to her side. "I have the most amazing news for you."

Isabella managed a small smile as she let him walk her gently to her seat. As soon as she sat down, everyone had their eyes on her and apart from Charles who was looking at her with all seriousness, they were all smiling. "What is this news about?"

Caleb grabbed a document from the end of her table and lay it in front of her. "There."

"What is this?"

"Read it."

She looked up at Caleb who was almost dancing in excitement and said, "I am too tired to read anything right now. And why should I even read anything about this-"

"Okay, okay." He swiped the clipped paper from her front and set it aside. "Mr. Oxford has taken care of everything."

Isabella's eyes daggered right into Charles's seated figure. "What?"

"He took care of the debts. You don't have to stress yourself over-" Isabella got up abruptly. "Isa, what's going on?"

"Mr. Oxford, may I have a word with you outside?" Without a word, he got up and followed her outside. "What on earth is your problem?"

" I should be asking you that question," Charles spoke as she turned to face him.

"Uh?"

"I know what you want to cry about." The way he was acting so calmly infuriated her a bit. "You are going to say that you cannot marry me, bla, bla, bla."

Isabella crossed her arms and faced him squarely. "I won't marry you."

"That's bad," he inspected his palms. "Our deal, I am very sure doesn't work that way."

"Deal? I never agreed to your deal. I never begged you to pay my debts."

"But, I already did." His arms fell to his side and he took a step closer. A hovering step closer. "And a deal is a deal."

Isabella did not back out, her eyes pierced his serious ones even more. "I never made a deal with you Charles, I am not going to marry you."

Charles gave a light chuckle as his eyes darted to the side for a second. His hands went behind him and his eyes went back to perch on her fiery ones. "I heard about your little show with your husband."

She frowned. "What?"

"The rebellious Isabella broke free from her husband's hold." His tongue ticked. "Isn't that delightful?"

"H- how did you hear about that?"

"That is none of your business. What concerns you is the fact that Manifold won't stop making threats. He will surely come for you, especially when I send him the divorce papers."

"What divorce papers?"

"Why?" He searched her eyes. "Do you intend to get married to me while you are still with him?" Isabella's eyes narrowed. She had not thought about that at all. "Bella, Manifold would tear you to pieces if you approach him with a divorce letter."

"I will send a lawyer."

"A lawyer." His head flew back in laughter. "You don't have a lawyer, Bella. But..." Isabella's fists clenched, she really did not have a lawyer or a means to secure one. "You have me. I will protect you from Manifold."

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