Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

“YOU HAVE A board meeting, so I’ll check the case alone,” Chiara spoke to her husband while changing to formal clothes.

She helped him tie his necktie before putting on a pale green blouse partnered with a black skinny jeans. Ezio wanted to argue, because he wanted to go with her to the chief’s office for the progress of their case.

Just yesterday, Attorney Falco sent them a text message saying that the new chief and lead investigator of Ezio’s shooting case has an update. He asked them to visit to his office. However, Ezio had a scheduled board meeting today, thus, Chiara will attend alone.

“Can’t we just go after the meeting?” Ezio asked, subtly telling his wife that he really wanted to accompany her.

Chiara shook her head. “We have to be there early since the chief has another case to handle by afternoon,” she responded. “Besides, it won’t take long. I’ll go back to your office once we’re done.”

He didn’t force her anymore. He knew that his wife has point, and he can’t be with her everytime. There will be times where they are separated from each other, in different places at the same time.

“I heard Alessandra went back to their city,” Chiara shifted the topic. The conversation they had is still in her mind. She noted to herself to visit Sigmund one of these days to gather evidences.

Although the slandering case wasn’t really heavy, it will be enough for them to find more loopholes on Giovanni’s side. She just hoped that the evidence Sigmund has will be strong enough to pin their rival.

“I don’t want to talk about them,” Ezio replied with an annoyed face. “Especially that Simone. I don’t get why he keeps on following you. If my patience was cut, I would really beat him up.”

Chiara chuckled. She remembered how Ezio reacted when Simone approached them the other day. “Your punch and kick were enough to send him off,” she spoke before touching her husband’s chest. “You look so strong, like an Alpha Male, tesoro,” she teaded as she bit his ear lobe, earning a growl from him.

“I also think that Simone is trying to get close to me because of Giovanni,” she added. “Remember Alessandra said that they were talking privately. Who knows how deep their connection is?”

Ezio agreed inwardly on what his wife said. If they really have a connection, it will be normal to think that Giovanni wanted to use Chiara and Simone’s old relationship to get back to Ezio and destroy him at once.

“I promised Alessandra that I will help her get back to Simone,” Chiara grinned as a plan was currently building in her mind. “He almost hit her, after all. If we weren’t there, who knows what he could have do to Alessandra?”

Ezio scratched his chin, thinking deeply. “I’m just wondering how Simone found out that you were there. The conversation was within you and that woman. So, how did it reach him?” he asked.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“I know how,” she answered. “I know that you’re doubting Alessandra, but don’t worry about her.”

“Care to tell me what your hunch is?” Ezio asked while moving his eyebrows up and down.

“I told him,” she answered, earning a glare from Ezio. She laughed at his reaction; she already knew that he will look like that after what she said.

“Before we went to the restaurant, I sent an anonymous message to Simone about the meet up,” she explained. “I want to know how he will react. And just as I expected, he threw allegations to Alessandra, just like what he did when he told her that I was seducing him.”

She used that opportunity to know how Simone will stand. At first, she still left some room for doubts, thinking that Simone will man up and protect Alessandra.

But the opposite happened. Instead, he tried to get Chiara’s favor and made it look like Alessandra was tainting his image to her. He even threw insults and tried to hit her, not even considering that she was pregnant with his child.

“He is an awful guy, ” Ezio commented. “Good thing I forced you to marry me.”

Chiara laughed at his statement. It was funny, but it was true. If Ezio didn’t interfere, she would have married Simone. Who knows what kind of hell she would experience with him?

After an hour, Chiara arrived at the police station where the office of the new lead investigator of their case was located. When she walked towards the entrance, Dante and Attorney Falco was waiting.

Dante waved at her like a close friend while the attorney bowed his head as a sign of respect. She greeted them both before heading inside.

Prior to the visit, Ezio has Dante investigate about the new chief who is also the lead investigator. The results he got was positive. He doesn’t seem to have any connection to Giovanni, or Isadora, or any other people they considered as their rival.

“You didn’t bring a lot of guards?” Dante asked when she’s alreadt just beside her.

Chiara shook her head. “I only bought five with me. The others were with my husband while the rest were patrolling.”

Dante shrugged his shoulder and didn’t speak until they reach the window that shows the inside of the interrogation room. Outside, a uniformed personnel with a tag “Chief Bruno” on his left chest.

“Good morning,” he greeted the three people who just arrived. He introduced himself briefly before motioning them to look at the interrogation room’s window.

He pointed the three men in orange clothing sitting inside together with five other uniformed personnels. There is a laptop with a few machineries inside. Wires were attached on one of the prisoners, that is connected to the laptop of one of the policemen. A woman in white lab coat is standing on the other end, carrying a clipboard and a pen. She was watching the monitor of the laptop and the prisoner.

“We were interrogating the shooters before you came. That man is the last one,” Chief Bruno explained. “We asked them questions about the case, and put them under a polygraph, to check the accuracy of their statements.”

He gave papers to Chiara and to the other two men with her. “As of now, all of them were found lying on almost all of the questions, especially when we asked them about Mr. Marco Leon as the mastermind.”

“Did they mention any names?” Dante asked.

Chief Bruno shook his head. “They didn’t. When we asked them who the mastermind is, they kept on answering Marco Leon. We want to mention another names such as the person you suspected, ” he spoke, referring to Giovanni. “But we can’t do that. That will be unethical on our part. I hope you understand.”

Chiara nodded before turning her eyes back to the shooters. The interrogator asked questions related to the case, and Chiara noticed their electro-dermal activity increased, as well as their blood pressure. It could be signs that they are uncomfortable with the question, and that they are lying.

When the interrogation was done, Chief Bruno reported another thing. “One of them revealed that they received the payment in cash. We will issue a search warrant so that we can check their houses and assumed bases to look to those money. We might find any fingerprints, ” he spoke.

“Thank you so much, Chief,” Chiara responded. “Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to assist you.”

“I appreciate the help. You have been cooperative. We will update you as soon as possible,” he answered respectfully. “By the way, if possible, we would like to have the bullet the shooters used to Signor Vitali. We weren’t able to retrieve the firearms since it was submitted to the previous investigator, but I was hoping you could provide even a bullet.”

“If the firearms used were rare, it could make the scope smaller and helped in making the investigation quicker,” he added.

Chiara nodded and looked at Dante meaningfully. “Attorney Ferrera-” she spoke, referring to Dante. “- can provide you that thing. He still has the bullet that shot my husband and his assistant.”

After a few words, they parted ways. Dante was the first to went home upon checking that Chiara’s ride and guards were already nearby. Attorney Falco rode a bus to go back to the De Santis Law Firm and update the case.

Chief Bruno guided Chiara towards her car. However, just as when they were about to part ways, Chief Bruno found a van driving near them. Suddenly, the door opened and he saw a pistol sneaking through it.

“Watch out!” he screamed before pulling Chiara towards his back, using his body as shield. The bullet hit the chief’s stomach, but he didn’t mind the pain and reached for his own gun.

The body guards also attacked the van, shooting the tires and the small space between the open door. One bullet pierced through the backseat of the van. At the same time, a bullet flew in the air, hitting Chiara’s leg.

The other door of the van opened as it swerved to go back to where Chiara currently is. Seeing hands reaching for her, Chief Bruno pulled Chiara towards the guards, ignoring his bleeding stomach.

Chiara was hissing as the pain that bullet brought emerged. Three of the guards put her inside the bulletproof car, before driving it off and fleeing from the scene. One guard used a clothing to stop her leg from bleeding, as the other one called their boss.

Back in the police station, the two remaining guards lunged themselves to the moving van. One of them shoot through the broken window, knocking the shooter unconscious.

The driver tried to shoot the guard, but the van suddenly hit a wall, causing thr front part to be destroyed and his head to hit the steering wheel.

Police officers from the station ran outside upon hearing the sound of bullets. Two of them hurriedly carried the chief towards the nearest hospital. On the other hand, Ezio’s remaining men in the scene cuffed the driver and the shooters, preparing to punish and squeeze them for information.