Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

ON THE TOP OF THEIR OFFICE TABLE rested various papers and hard drives that Luigi and Dante brought back. Ezio skimmed all of it, plugged the drives on their devices and checked the contents of each of those things.

The more Ezio watched and read, the more his hatred towards Kazimir increased. His patience became thin as he read the papers and watched the footages of Kazimir doing unlawful things to Ezio’s father, Masimo.

From false accusing him of crimes, to executint attempted murders. Everything is in the evidences they have in their hands. It’s all thanks to those connections of Kazimir who succumbed to Ezio’s power. After all, they don’t want to face the same tragedy that Mr. Fabbri had, especially now that he is already bankrupt and spending his time in prison.

“These evidences are already enough, signor,” Chief Bruno stated while skimming and documenting everything. “I will issue a search warrant within this day. Rest assured that we will catch that criminal.”

Ezio nodded. He already trusted Chief Bruno, not just because he saved Chiara’s life before, but also because he proved himself worthy of it during their battle against Giovanni. Without his help, they wouldn’t be able to defeat their rival.

“I believe in your capabilities, chief,” Ezio answered before standing up. “Giovanni will be a witness for this. I hope he’s doing well in his cell.”

“About that,” Chied Bruno pulled some papers and photos from the other police’s bag. “Just yesterday, Mr. Giordano was almost attacked. An unknown man who posed as a police guard tried to enter his cell.”

He pointed at the photos that contained the face of the attacker. “Fortunately, our patrolling officers found him on time. He wasn’t able to hurt the inmate because of that.”

“An attack, huh?” Ezio asked while touching his chin. “I assumed you haven’t found the identity of the man yet.”

“We still haven’t, but we’re sure that he’s not from Italy,” Chief Bruno answered. “We conducted a background check but none of our database gave a positive result. We will try to widen our search.”

“Try looking at Poland,” Ezio responded before pointing at Kazimir’s picture on the table. “That bastard stayed there for a long time, after all.”

After their short meeting, Chief Bruno and his policemen left the Vitali Building. On the other hand, Ezio stared at the evidences they got which the chief left for them to have substitutes in case something will happen to other proofs.

He sat down and rested on his swivel chair, before looking at the view of the city from the floor to ceiling glass window in his office.

“What’s our next move, my friend?” Dante asked while laying on the visitor’s couch and playing Mobile Legends in his phone. The sound of the game echoed inside the room.

“Let’s wait for the police to finish their tasks,” he answered before closing his eyes, wanting to take a rest because of non-stop working for the past week. “I’m sure that our move will reach his ears. He will try to escape.”

“Should we attack him in his place, boss?” Luigi asked. “We already know his location. We can just give that to the police.”

Ezio shook his head. “Let’s take a rest for now. Besides, I’m waiting for orders.”

“Orders from whom?” Dante asked, even looking away from the game to look at his friend.

“Huh? My boss has a boss?” Luigi said with confusion, cocking his head to the side.

Ezio gave a playful smile as he remembered their exchange of messages in the email. Their conversation is all about their plan against Kazimir. Well, mostly were Chiara’s order for him which he obediently followed.

“I said what I said. We will move once I receive my order,” he spoke. “Now, let me sleep.”

BACK ON THE COLOMBO MANSION, Elisa and Kazimir were having their dinner. It’s been three days since that “intimate” night that they shared, and Elisa noticed a lot of changes.

Kazimir became more obedient to her, making it easier for her go tell him to do things that will benefit their side. Aside from that, Kazimir trusted her more. He even discussed to her the in and outs in his company as Augustine Severino while boasting about his wealth.

“I really like the taste of every drink you made for me, belleza,” Kazimir spoke softly after finishing the first glass of juice that Elisa gave to him.

“I’m glad that you love it. I will make more of it in the future you, Kaz,” she replied before urging him to drink more.

Of course, that juice will taste different from the normal ones. Elisa put something on it after all. And it’s been more than a week since she did that. The side effects will surely manifest one of these days.

They were sharing a romantic time when Jacob, who she had not seen for days, entered with a worried expression.

“Signor!” the assistant shouted. The traces of Kazimir’s violence that day is still visible in his face. “We have a problem!”

Kazimir looked annoyed just by seeing his assistant’s face. “I told you to take care of our problem, now you’re saying that we have another problem? What hell are you even doing?!”

Jacob ran towards them, his eyes landed on Elisa for a short moment before explaining to his signor. “It’s Ezio Vitali, signor! He filed a case against you! Murder, libel, and more! He’s trying to pin you down, signor!”

Kazimir and Elisa rose up from their seats upon hearing that. Elisa hurriedly touched Kazimir’s arm for support and waited for Jacob to tell them more.

“They have evidences of your illegal doing, signor. Most of those came from your connections. They were bribed by him!” he added while showing some photos of Ezio and some business personalities having a meeting.

“They will release a warrant by this day, signor. What should we do?”

With that, Elisa stepped up and acted the way Chiara wanted her to. She looked at Kazimir and put her hand in front of him, as if she was protecting the man from any danger.

“Let me handle this, Kaz,” she spoke with a gentle tone. “Ezio is my son. I will try to convince him to pull back the case against you.”

Kazimir felt touched by Elisa’s action. Seeing her determined to protect him from her own son is enough to move his dark heart. “Belleza, what if he will try to get you away from me? I can’t bear to be away from you.”

“Don’t worry,” Elisa assured him. “My son cannot hurt me. I’m his mother and he will listen to me.”

She touched Kazimir’s face and made his look at her straight in the eye. “I will make sure he can’t hurt you. I’ll talk to him tonight, and I will bring you a good news. Believe in me, okay?”

Kazimir nodded. “Jacob, make sure that my wife will arrive and come home safe,” he ordered him.

Although a bit hesitant, Jacob agreed and the two left Kazimir alone in the mansion. They used one of Kazimir’s cars to visit Ezio in his own mansion.

“Turn right to the intersection,” Elisa said while they were on the way, teaching Jacob the way to Ezio’s place.

“Are you sure you can convince your son?” Jacob asked while driving. He is still hesitant of her plan.

Elisa nodded with confidence. “Of course. I know my son very well. He will listen to me.”

Their travel was quiet, but Jacob couldn’t erase the uncomfortable feeling he currently has. He felt like at any moment, something bad will happen.

Suddenly, a black van swerved towards them, running directly towards their car. Jacob didn’t have enough time to react.

A strong force hit the front of their car. It was enough to hit Jacob who is in the driver’s seat, but not enough to reach Elisa on the back seat.

“Fuck!” Jacob screamed as his leg became stuck between his seat and the front of the van. He tried to get away from his seat but his leg wouldn’t even move.

“Help me! Madame, help me!” he shouted to Elisa who is still shocked.

She moved towards Jacob to help him get away from the seat, but before she could get near, someone opened the door beside Jacob.

“This is for killing Signora Isadora. Go to hell,” the man with a deep voice spoke before pulling the trigger of the gun that’s pointed to Jacob’s head.

In just a few moments, Jacob’s head bursted and blood splattered inside the car. The door beside Elisa opened too without her noticing, and a familiar man greeted her.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Lucio spoke while extending his hand towards Elisa. “Your son sent me to fetch you, signora.”

She was hesitant because all that she knew is that Lucio is the grandfather of Giovanni’s lover. She doesn’t have any interaction with him before.

Then, she received a text message from Chiara.

From: Chiara

Message: Go with him. He’s an ally.

That’s the only signal for her to follow the old man. She felt uncomfortable, but it didn’t take long because they arrived at Ezio’s mansion, where her son is waiting for her in the entrance.

“Mamma, how are you?” Ezio asked before hugging her. “I hope that bastard is not hurting you.”

“Bastard?” she asked with confusion.

“That Kazimir,” he answered before pulling her inside. “I know that you’re staying with him, Mamma. My wife told me,” he added while smiling like he won the lottery.

At the same time, her phone buzzed and another message from Chiara popped up.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

From: Chiara

Message: He knows. Surprise!

Elisa wanted to pinch Chiara’s cheeks if she’s just in front of her. The only thing Elisa knew is that Ezio was looking for evidences, but she doesn’t know that Chiara has a contact with him. She just thought that Chiara has an eye on Ezio that’s why she knows what’s happening around him. She didn’t expect that they’re communicating.

And that explains why Ezio suddenly recovered from Chiara’s fake death.

“Let’s go inside, Mamma! Spend a few hours here before going back to that old man,” Ezio invited as they walked inside the mansion.

ON ELISA’S CONDO, Chiara was busy eating grapes, which became her favorite, while texting a certain number.

She smiled while typing Kazimir’s location on her phone, before scheduling it to be sent after two hours. Afterwards, she sent another message to Elisa.

To: Mamma Elisa

Message: Will you drop your act now?

It didn’t take long before she received a reply from her mother-in-law.

From: Mamma Elisa

Message: No. I’ll fool him until the end. That will be better, right?