Bargain Bride: The Billionaire’s Forced Wife

DAYS HAD PASSED SINCE THAT INCIDENT, and no one found anything, not even Kazimir’s shadow. Only Ezio’s men were moving, led by Luigi, who is now in-charged of everything since Gabriel was caught in that car crash.

Ezio is still unstable, and denial. He kept on denying that Chiara is dead, and reasoned that she’s just missing or maybe Kazimif kidnapped his wife just to play with him. He cannot accept the fact that his wife is dead, thus his brain gave him reasons to doubt it.

On the other hand, Chiara’s parents were also mourning for losing their only daughter. Celine cannot hold too much emotion that she ended up fainting in the morgue. Her blood pressure rose, worsening her situation.

They tried to convince Ezio to held a funeral for the three people who died, but he disagreed. He was so adamant to prove that Chiara and other are still alive, and told them to wait for the DNA test that he requested.

No one can change his mind, no even his own mother. Elisa visited him for several days, urging him to move and revenge for Chiara, but Ezio was too caught up in his emotions that he ended up locking himself inside their bedroom.

In a cold and dark night, Ezio curled his body on the bed. His face was pale, eyes were swollen, and lips were chapped. His hands gripped tightly on the women’s clothing, sniffing the scent out of it like a mad man.

“Cara,” his weak voice whispered on her side of the bed where her clothes were laying down in an organized way.

He reached for the pillow that Chiara used, as his mind played tricks on him. Ezio started to see his wife laying down beside him, in her pajamas, looking sleepy with a warm smile.

He tried to caress her cheeks, only for his hand to end up going through her body as if he was just touching the air. Ezio tried once again, now going for her hair.

When he blinked, suddenly, Chiara’s hair is already covering her face. He wanted to look at her, to see her pretty face, the face the he fell inlove with.

His fingers reached her hair, and he slowly moved it out of his way. But he was startled when he was greetes not by his wife’s face, but by the face of the burned body that they saw earlier.

“No, no, no,” he shook his head repeatedly before pulling himself up to sit on the bed. “You’re not cara,” he muttered under his breath while looking away from the fragment of his imagination.

The burned body sat down, wearing Chiara’s favorite set of pajamas which has turtle patterns on it. “Tesoro, it’s me,” the burned body talked, its lips doesn’t even move.

“You’re not Chiara! My cara doesn’t look like that!” Ezion screamed while throwing anything he could touch to the walking body, but the things just passed through it.

“I was burned, tesoro. That’s why I look like this,” Chiara’s burned body replied to him with a pleading voice while trying to get close to him. “Avenge me, tesoro. Kill that man for me.”

Ezio closed his eyes and covered his ears, dismissing any words that the imaginative body is saying. “Shut up! You’re not cara! My wife is still alive! Shut up!”

He kept on shouting to no one. If a person can see his situation, it will think that Ezio is going insane and that he deserves to be put to mental hospital. He’s been screaming at nothing, throwing things at nothing, and speaking to nothing.

When he opened his eyes, the burned body already disappeared. He hurriedly ran to the bedside table and clutched the small version of their wedding photo. Ezio hugged the frame tightly, as if someone will snatch it away from him.

“Cara, go home, please,” he whispered on the photo. “I miss you so much. Come back to me, please.”

He curled himself to the floor, cried his heart out while calling for his wife’s name. “Cara, where are you? Don’t you miss me?” he asked the woman on the photo as if she will answer.

Ezio stared longingly at the photo for a long time, as he caressed her face. He suddenly stood up and grabbed his phone. He laid down on the bed, still clinging to the wedding photo.

Chiara’s voice that came from the phone echoed inside the bedroom. In the video, Chiara was twirling around and showing her husband the new green dress that she bought. Her laugh was contagious that Ezio couldn’t help but smile.

The next video played and this time, Chiara was cooking lunch for Ezio. It looked like a cooking show because of Chiara’s skills and humor. More videos of Chiara played, all of those were took when they got married.

Ezio didn’t notice the think, but everything from inside and outside were quiet when he finished watching all of the videos. The temporary happiness he had earlier vanished, and it was replaced by emptiness and sadness.

He wanted to sleep, but his body wouldn’t let him. No matter how long and how hard he closed his eyes, sleep wouldn’t visit him. Chiara’s voice echoed inside his head, keeping him awake.

“Ezio?” Dante’s voice echoed inside the room after the door opened. “I know you’re still awake.”

Dante walked towards the bed, as Ezio’s back is still facing him. His friend didn’t answer, instead, he moved away while hugging their wedding picture.

Dante sighed. His friend has been like that for the past days, curling up on their bed and hugging everything that reminds him of Chiara. He doesn’t even go out of their bedroom, even though Dante and Elisa tried to convince him.

“You have to make your move,” he spoke to his friend. “You can’t just lie here all day. I know that you’re mourning, but don’t let that destroy you. You have to avenge Chiara’s death.”

“My wife is not dead!” Ezio screamed suddenly while glaring at him, his teeth making gritting sounds that is uncomfortable for someone’s ears. “Hiw many times do I have to tell you that my wife is still alive?! Chiara’s not dead!”

Dante massaged the area between his eyebrows. These are their arguments for thr past days. He will come, encourage him to move against Kazimir, but Ezio will dismiss him before pushing him out of the bedroom.

“You have to accept the truth, Ezio. You can’t just stay here and be stuck in your fantasy that Chiara is still alive. She’s dead, Ezio. She’s dead,” Dante replied, hoping that it will wake his friend up from his nightmare.

Ezio suddenly launched an attack to his friend. He didn’t hesitate to land a punch on his face. “Take that back! My wife’s not dead! She’s still alive! She’s not dead!” he screamed at his face while shaking his body heavily while grabbing his collar.

“I won’t take it back!” Dante pushed his friend away, making Ezio stumble to the ground. “She’s dead! Can’t you understand that?!”

Dante ran his fingers through his hair because of frustration. “Do you think your wife will be happy, seeing you like that?” he asked his friend who is weeping on the floor. “Chiara will be devastated seeing you slowly killing yourself. You have to stand up. The person who killed you wife is still on the run, creating plans to finish you while you’re stuck here! Doing nothing!”

Ezio shook his head. “She’s not dead. My cara will come back to me,” he muttered as he stared at their wedding photo that’s now broken.

Dante sighed heavily before grabbing pieces of paper for his small bag. He put it on the bed before pointing it to Ezio. “Read that. I hope you’ll wake up after this,” he spoke and slowly walked out of the room. He stopped on the door and spoke again, “I’ll be in the guest room if you need me. You have to strong for those who believe in you, my friend.”

When Dante left the room, Ezio grabbed the paper that his friend left. The first thing that he notice on the paper were the words “DNA Test Result”.

His heart thumped quickly, almost bursting from his ribcage. He can’t look down to the other parts of the paper. Maybe because he still doesn’t want to remove the reason why he’s believing that his wife is still alive, or maybe he is too scared to know the truth.

Slowly, he read through the contents. His hand trembled as his aching eyes started to water once again. His mouth opened, trying to make himself scream, but he was too weak to do anything.

It was confirmed. The three burned bodies they recovered were indeed Chiara, Victor, and Gabriel.

Suddenly, all of the sanity that Ezio has left his brain. He crumpled the papers, stood up, and walked outside the house with huge steps. Dante saw him walking out, and he followed his friend, worried that he might do something that can hurt him.

Ezio rode one of his cars before stepping on the accelerator and flew out of the mansion. He was looking blankly ahead, his mind cannot function properly. All that he is thinking of is to be with his wife. He didn’t even notice that Dante was behind him, riding a motorcycle.

The car stopped inside the hospital. It was open, and the staff didn’t stop him knowing his identity. He walked with huge steps down to the basement, straight to the morgue.

No one was around at the time, so he did what he wanted. He opened every door in the morgue, looking for the body of his wife. When he finally found it, he carried it out of its storage and hugged the body while kneeling on the floor.

“Cara,” he caressed the burned body’s face while whispering to it. “We’ll go home, cara. I’ll take you home, okay?”

He carried the body in bridal style, even though it us already stiff. Ezio walked out of the morgue, looking like a crazy man.

Dante saw what he’s doing and asked him with surprise. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked while looking back and forth between Ezio and the body. “Put that back!”

Ezio continued on walking and answered. “It’s cold inside. My cara is uncomfortable. I’ll take her home.”

He’s going insane, Dante knew that. So before his friend could do anything, he called for the staffs to get the body while he escort Ezio out.

Seeing a lot of hospital staffs going for him, Ezio didn’t hesitate to go for a run and escape with his wife’s body. However, he was weaker than Dante at his state, so he was easily overpowered. The staffs worked together to get the body from him while Dante pulled him back.

“Cara! My wife! Give me back my wife!”

Ezio screamed at the people around him who couldn’t help but to pity his situation. He looked so done with the world while trying to reach his wife.

“Let go, Ezio! Chiara’s dead!” Dante shouted at him; he’s now also crying because of how difficult his friend’s state is.

He witnessed how Ezio’s love for Chiara started and bloomed. He witnessed how much he loves her, to the extent that he will do anything to have her and to make her happy.

Dante knew that living with Chiara happily is the only wish that Ezio has in his life, and now that it was stolen from him, he is surely destroyed and devastated, as if he went back to square one.

They couldn’t control Ezio anymore. He hurt the staffs who were trying to put the body back to the morgue, stating that they’re hurting his wife because it’s cold inside.

Suddenly, a nurse shot Ezio with a tranquilizer. It was the only thing that can calm him down, for the time being. As the drug started to take effect, Ezio continued to reach for his wife, trying to hold her burned body.