Valeria stared at her father, waiting for his answer regarding the billionaire's visit to their home. Donn, her father, smiled and opened his mouth again.
"I want you to marry him."
Valeria felt like she had been struck by lightning on a clear night when she heard her father's words. Marry? Them?!
Slowly, she turned to her father, looking at him intently.
Her forehead wrinkled in surprise, unable to believe what she had just heard. She even thought her father was drunk. Why was he suddenly talking about marriage?
"Me? Marry him?! You want me to marry him?!" Valeria asked in a slightly raised voice.
"Yes, wasn't I clear? I want you to marry him."
She scoffed when she heard the sentence for the second time. How could her father plan something like that without her consent?
"No, no, you can't be serious, can you? If this is one of your jokes, honestly, it's not funny at all!"
Donn turned to Dominic and said he wanted to talk to his daughter alone. Dominic nodded in agreement, and the middle-aged man pulled his daughter's hand to the corner of the room so they could talk alone.
"Why did you act like that in front of him? Are you crazy?!" he asked in a half whisper.
"You're the one who's crazy for wanting me to marry someone like him, Dad! I don't know him at all and I don't want to get married!"
"Why not? You enjoy dating many rich men, don't you? He is very rich, a billionaire! What's wrong with that?" Donn asked his only daughter again.
Valeria sighed heavily at her father's question. She thought her father's question was ridiculous.
"You may not know him now, but after you get married and live together, you will slowly fall in love with him."
"Love? Love, you say?" Valeria asked with a condescending smile, mocking the idea of love. "Love doesn't exist! It's all just nonsense made up to make stupid people like them believe in it!" she continued angrily whenever the subject of love came up.
"What are you talking about? Your words are the ones that sound like nonsense, Valeria!"
Instead of realizing what she had said, the red haired woman laughed. "If love really existed, my mother would still be alive today," she said, trying to calm down.
"Don't bring your mother into this!"
"See? Dad never even wanted me to say this because you never loved my mother!" The woman rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned to Dominic. "And you!"
She walked over to Dominic and stood in front of him. "I will never marry you, no matter what!"
Her eyes narrowed sharply. She stared at the billionaire who was also the number one Mafia Boss in Dormania. "Not now, NOT EVER!!!"
"Valeria! VALERIA!" Donn called out. However, the woman continued walking without looking back at him. The cruel mafia boss sighed deeply and sat back down on his sofa.
"I am so sorry, she's very stubborn. Even though when she was little, she was very sweet and obedient," said Donn.
"So, do you still want to continue with this plan?" he continued to ask.
Dominic was silent as if he was thinking about the decision he was going to make. His finger, which had a ring on it, tapped the whiskey glass he was holding. It made a ting sound! Several times until he finally made his decision.
He immediately smiled confidently and replied. "Yes, let's do it as soon as possible."
BANG!
Valeria slammed her bedroom door in annoyance and sat on the bed. She still didn't understand why her father wanted her to marry Dominic so badly. Someone she didn't even know at all.
"He must be selling me to that man," she said angrily.
The woman took off the accessories she was wearing and put them in a box, then opened the refrigerator to take out a bottle of wine. Valeria always drank wine to calm herself down, no matter what the circumstances.
She poured the wine into a glass and drank it, slowly calming her feelings. Even though she still felt angry about the meeting earlier. She changed her clothes and enjoyed the wine while leaning against the headboard of her bed.
Valeria knew that no matter how hard she resisted the marriage, her father would still go through with it with or without her consent. She would definitely be forced to change her clothes and say her vows at the altar with that man.
The more she thought about it, the more upset she became, until the wine glass in her hand shattered because she squeezed it so hard. Red liquid flowed from her palm, the color of wine mixed with her blood from the wound she had inflicted.
"FUCK!" she shouted in frustration.
"They want the wedding? Fine, we'll see if it turns out to be a sacred ceremony or a huge disaster."
******
A week had passed since that meeting when Valeria received a message from one of her friends, Cassey. The woman invited her to go to a nightclub and drink with the others. Valeria, who was feeling bored at the mansion, decided to go there and entertain herself.
Without thinking twice, she got into her car and drove to a nightclub in the city center, a large and luxurious nightclub in her city. Not just anyone could enter, so when she arrived at the door, Valeria showed her VIP card to the guard at the door.
"You should know that I often come here with girls, Thomas," she said to the guard.
"Of course, Ms. Scarlett. But I'm just following procedure because it's my job," Thomas replied.
The guard made way for Valeria, and the woman entered the nightclub. The place looked quite crowded, usually frequented by business people and celebrities. She went to the table where she and her friends usually sat, and sure enough, they were already gathered there.
"Valllyyy! Come here, come here!" one of them called.
There were four women waiting, and Valeria was the fifth.
"Look who's here~" said Valeria, opening her arms, as if she were the center of attention who had just arrived.
"Ohh Valy~ You're finally here! Come sit down," said the blonde woman. She shifted her seat to make room for her good friend. "It's been a long time since we last met."
"I think it was just two weeks ago, Jessy. But yeah... I missed you guys too." Valeria sat down next to her fellow socialites.
"Of course you missed us, we've been friends since we were 14, now we're 22. Time flies," commented the other.
They chatted over drinks. Valeria poured whiskey into her glass and enjoyed her drink while listening to her friends bragging about their expensive vacations.
This was normal because they were the children of wealthy people, their parents being very influential figures in Dormania.
"Oh yeah, Valy. I heard you're getting married," asked Cassey, putting down her sherry glass. "I'm very interested to hear the details~"
"Huh, really? Valy is getting married?" asked the others in unison because they didn't know about it.
Valeria rolled her eyes and gulped her whiskey. "Yes, a stupid marriage. How did you find out, Cassey?"
"Have you forgotten that our families have been close for a long time? Your father told my father, that's how I found out," explained the brown-haired woman.
She took something out of her bag and gave it to Valeria. "Here, I brought you something. I bought it at Zondalian when I was there on vacation last Sunday."
Taking the gift box, Valeria looked at it curiously. They said it was a gift for her wedding.
"Don't worry, when you get married, I'll give you another gift. This one is just for starters," she said.
"You didn't have to do that." Valeria opened the box and saw a beautiful bracelet inside.
A gold rosemary bracelet with a pendant adorned with three roses in the center. "You really like roses, right? So I chose this for you. Wear it!"
Jessy, Bella, and Cyntia nodded their heads in agreement, wanting to see Valeria wear the bracelet. They thought it would suit her perfectly.
"Heh... You always know what I like," said Valeria with a chuckle as she put the bracelet on her right hand. She raised her hand high while looking at the bracelet.
Her eyes were fixed on the rose pendant. "What a beautiful pendant."