Alvira
"Two hundred million dollars. That's how much I'm willing to pay you if you agree to marry Kaldric Verlith in my daughter's place."
I spat out the coffee in my mouth and looked at Gianna in disbelief. Did I hear correctly? Did she just say two hundred million dollars?
Ginna passed me a napkin with a frown. "I don't know how she did it, but my daughter, Alvira, ran away and..."
"Hold on. Her name is also Alvira?" I asked, and she nodded. Wow. This was beginning to get scary. Not only does her daughter look exactly like me, but we also share the same name.
"The wedding is tonight, and it is...."
"Wait." I interrupted her again, and with the way her jaw clenched, I was certain she didn't like it.
"Sorry." I said, "But who gets married at night? Is it a werewolf thing?" I then smile proudly at her. "I have a werewolf boyfriend, so I know a thing or two about your strange traditions."
Gianna sighed and muttered under her breath with her eyes closed. "Give me patience."
She then snapped her eyes to me and said, "The time of marriage does not concern you. All you have to do is get married to him and remain his wife until the real Alvira is found. After that, you can go back to your life. So do you accept the offer or not?"
Two hundred million dollars was a lot. I could pay off my debt, buy back my freedom from the club, and start a fresh life without worrying about anything but...
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept your offer."
Gianna looked confused at my reply, and of course she should because no sane person would reject two hundred million dollars. I mean, even if I worked every day for the rest of my life, I still wouldn't have been able to earn such an amount; however, I couldn't betray him, not even for money.
"You know, I have done my findings on you, and from what I know, you have no reason to reject my offer. You lived with your grandma till you were fifteen, when she died, forcing your mother to take you with her. At sixteen, you reported your stepfather for domestic abuse, but he was able to turn the table around and then sold you to a brothel to pay up his ten million dollar debt."
I chuckled nervously. "You sure have done your research about me."
"And that's not all. The owner of the brothel, however, felt pity for you and instead transferred you to one of his clubs, where you worked as a bartender, but then at nineteen, you were diagnosed with heart failure and needed a new heart as soon as possible. For a year, you kept your heart beating with drugs, which stopped working, causing you to go back to the owner of the club, but he refused to help you for free."
"I didn't sleep with him if that's what you are thinking." I said quickly, causing her to smile.
"You became a stripper. But you were dying, and dancing on a pole wasn't helping much, so the owner loaned you the money needed for the surgery, and you got a heart transplant but also got into more debt. Did I miss anything?"
"Nope. You got it all right."
"Then why are you refusing my offer? I am offering you two hundred million dollars, an amount of money I am sure you would have never been able to set your eyes on if you didn't look like my daughter."
"You are right, but I have a boyfriend, and he loves me a lot."
"Alvira, I am not asking you to break up with your boyfriend. Your marriage with Kaldric is only temporary until I find my daughter, and I will find her."
"But I..."
"You have two hours to decide. Unfortunately, I don't have all day to think of a way for this wedding to happen, so I need to know your answer in two hours. And remember, no one must know of this, not even your boyfriend." Gianna stood up, her frown deepened as she said, "I really didn't know fools like you still existed. The thought that you will give up millions of dollars just to be with a man is truly pitiful."
I force a smile. "Well, money isn't everything." That's a lie; money was everything. My whole life had revolved around not having enough money, and the honest truth was that if I wasn't so in love with Derek, I would have accepted Gianna's offer the moment it came out of her mouth.
Gianna scoffed and dropped a card on the table. "Call me when you are back to your senses."
Her sharp heels clicked on the marble floor as she left the restaurant, and I picked up the card.
"You are doing the right thing, Alvira." I whispered to myself. Last week, I had seen an engagement ring in Derek's drawer, so I know he is going to propose soon, and I can't marry the love of my life if I'm already married to another man.
I squeezed the card into my purse and brought out my phone to check if I had any missed calls from him.
It was my birthday, and normally, he would be the first to call me, but today he hasn't even sent a text.
Could it be he wasn't feeling well again?
I quickly left the restaurant and took a cab to his apartment.
I opened the door with my key and froze when I saw a pair of black heels at the doormat.
I pushed down the negative thought that wanted to come to my head and thought that maybe his cousin had come to pay him a visit.
Taking off my own shoes, I quickly climbed upstairs, but my step slowly came to a halt when I heard a moaning sound coming from the bedroom.
My hands reached for the doorknob, and when I opened it, it felt like my world turned upside down.
Derek's so-called cousin was basically riding him in pure bliss, and when our eyes locked, he quickly pushed her away and rushed to fetch his trousers.
"What are you doing here? Why didn't you call?"
"I...I don't understand. I just found you in bed with your cousin, and all you have to say is, "Why didn't I call you?"
Sofia, his cousin, rolled her eyes at me, while Derek took a step towards me. "It's not what you think. Sofia...Alvira, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but Sofia is my mate."
Mate? "You told me she was your cousin. You introduced her to me as your cousin."
"That was because I wasn't sure I wanted to have anything to do with her, and I knew if you found out who she really was, then you would make a scene, like you are doing now."
"So I'm making a scene?"
"I know you don't understand, and I don't blame you for it, but the mate bond is a hard pull to resist, and I fought it, I swear I did, but I just couldn't. A mate is a one-time thing, a person made just for you, and I couldn't reject Sofia for you, not when I don't even know the expiration date of your heart."
"So my heart is the issue? When I paid for this apartment with the money meant for my medication, you didn't for once think my heart was the issue? I gave you everything because I believed you loved me. I really believed that for once in my life, I had found someone who actually gave a damn about me, but it was all a lie." I could feel a familiar pain from my heart rising, but I ignored it as my tears kept flowing.
"I'm sorry, Alvira, but this is it. And to be honest, I can't marry a stripper or, worse, a woman who can't afford to give me a child without dying in the process. You just aren't worth it."
Without realizing it, my palm landed on his cheek, and when his eyes changed, I thought he was going to hit me back, but he looked at me angrily and warned, "Never do that again."
"By the time I come back, I want you out of my house before I call the police." I said and glanced at Sofia; my eyes caught the ring on her finger, making me realize what a fool I have been.
I rushed out of the house and wiped away my eyes.
I didn't need anybody to love me anyway. Who needs love when you can peacefully enjoy two hundred million dollars?
Without thinking twice about it, I collected the squeeze card from my purse and dialed the number on it.
"Well, that didn't take long." Gianna said, and I could hear a slight mocking in her tone.
"I'm in. I'm ready to take your daughter's place and marry Kaldric Verlith."