Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen Melody Three days later Melody was trying her wedding dress on in Timothy’s apartment. He had urged her to live under his roof; that way, he said, he would make sure she wouldn’t run away, escaping to avoid paying for her debt.

Telling him she had no money of her own proved to be impossible. Melody cried herself to sleep that night. She couldn’t believe that something like this was happening to her.

Not because in a way it didn’t suit her, she was deluding herself if she thought her son wouldn’t be better cared for under the Giannatto’s mantle and protection, just the family name alone was enough.

But at what price.

It pained her because she thought that Timothy, deep in his heart, knew that she was not guilty. At times, in the last few days, he would stare at her as if he regretted it, but nothing came from his lips and she grew tired of waiting.

She didn’t call Equilay or her sister, there was no point. Surely, she was aware of what her bastard husband had done, and she wasn’t going to help her.

“Wow!” Melody turned to the door. There stood a rather beautiful woman she never saw before. “That dress looks beautiful on you,” she smiled openly at him.

“Who are you?” she asked her, picking up all the fabric of the dress, the tulle ran all the way to the floor.

“Hello to you too,” the redhead approached, her legs looked exceptionally long, her hair glistened shiny and silky. Her green eyes were quite a sight.

“If you’re looking for Timothy, he must be in his office. I haven’t seen him in hours,” she sat up in bed to keep from fainting. She felt pressured.

She didn’t know how she was going to be able to handle it all.

Timothy wanted to have the wedding in a chapel, all his family would attend, his parents as well as his uncles and cousins, she didn’t know any of them, and the experience she had with Giannato was not good at all. Likewise, he had told her that the press would not be left out, he was sufficiently well known that all information would slip through and they would want to attend.

“God rest my soul if I come to that!” she exclaimed, pretending to be horrified.

“So?” she asked him about to get up.

“Don’t get up for my dear. You can lie down if you want to. Even I need to sleep for a couple of hours. It can’t be easy getting married to someone you don’t love.”

Melody sat up with a jolt and looked at her in shock.

“How... what...”

“Relax. Your secret’s safe,” the redhead winked mischievously and flirtatiously at her.

She was a beautiful woman, wearing no makeup. She was attired in a short silver dress and sandals that tied around her ankles.

She looked like a model.

“How do you know that...”

“That you don’t love him?” the woman interrupted. “A little birdie told me.”

“No one knows. It’s part of the agreement. I... Oh no! If he finds out he’ll say it was me. He’ll think I lied to him.” If at the first, unjustifiably, he had practically forced her to marry him, what would he do if he thought she’d lied to him again?

“My lips are sealed. I came because I think you need help. I hate it when men do what they want, girls should stick together, right? Besides, my sister is pregnant too. So, I know from her that it can’t be easy for you plan a wedding.”

“I didn’t plan it,” she said confused. “We’re just getting married in a chapel.”

“Oh no honey!” she put her hands on her shoulders, delicate, manicured hands, the woman was a diva.

“You can’t let that arrogant, lonely man take over.”

“You describe him as if you know him,” Melody smiled. That woman was encouraging, and she didn’t even notice. “I’m Melody, by the way.”

“Devina D’angelo...” she paused for a moment and bit her lips, “...well, Devina Giannato.”

“Giannato? You’re a Giannatto?”

“Recently. But yes,” the woman smiled at her again, it was beautiful the calming effect she had on her.

“Wow. I had no idea Timothy had siblings,” of course she didn’t have long to know him either.

“Oh no, he doesn’t. He’s an only child. According to my husband, a prodigy son. To me, he’s a haughty, bored-out-of-his-life, race-car maniac,” she sighed and released her. “But he’s good-looking. You have to accept that. These Italians are fucking great. Tell me about it, I fell for one, and I didn’t even notice when it happened!”

Melody excused herself for a moment and went to take off her dress. She was a little nervous about the mystery invasion but was glad to see a different face. For the past three days, it was all Timothy, the wedding dress designer and housekeeper at the penthouse.

“Need help honey?” yelled Devina at her from the other side of the door.

The bedrooms and bathrooms were gigantic. She had never been to a house like this before. All so different from her parents’ house, not to think of Lucy’s cramped, tiny apartment.

Oh, Lucy! She didn’t even tell her why the hell she was leaving.

As they left the restaurant, Timothy took her to the apartment and went inside with her, which Melody couldn’t see the point of.

At that moment everything was spinning and the pasta that had gone down so well ended up shooting out in the toilet.

“Get out of here,” she told him when she saw him approaching.

“I’m not leaving without you,” he said with an unchanging expression. “Go pack, or I’ll do it for you.

Either way we’ll both leave and go to my penthouse.”

Melody picked herself up off the floor and folded her arms.

“You don’t tell me what the fuck to do. If you think you say jumped and I’ll ask you how high, you’re dead wrong.”

‘You don’t tell me what to do? Was she a child?’

‘I won’t do whatever he damn well pleases.’

Timothy held her gaze, in no way daunted, which made her heartbeat faster and she felt butterflies fluttering.

Or would it be the same nausea?

She wasn’t going to let him fuck her over.

She was determined to prove to him, to show him that he wasn’t in charge of her life, that she wasn’t a puppet that he decided when and how to move. But a wave of nausea rose in her throat and, she propelled herself back to the toilet’s bowl.

It was embarrassing that he had to see her in that position.

She listened as Timothy moved, she didn’t care if he went away and left her alone. She was better off alone, at least for the moment, enjoying what little freedom she had left. She was a mess, her hair had come undone, and she was sure some bangs had been smeared with vomit. What difference did it make to go on TV looking like this?

She didn’t care if some stupid Italian in a tailored suit saw her or left in disgust.

Her humiliation was no greater than what she felt when she read Equilay’s words. Humiliated and tied to a person who wanted nothing to do with her. So why was he marrying her? Why did he want to punish her with something that she would benefit at least minimally? That didn’t make any sense to her.

“Here,” Timothy told her as she was about to flush the toilet.

He was passing her a blouse of her own.

She was aware of his presence in the tiny bathroom but held the blouse up to her face after washing it off and removing any residual vomit from her hair.

“Come on, so you can sit down,” he said grabbing her by the waist and leading her into the living room.

No way! She couldn’t be thinking about sex when she had just thrown up in front of him.

He’d just seen her puking her life out!

Something must have been very wrong with her head. It wasn’t just the throwing up, it was the smallest detail. How could she still be attracted to someone who loathed her? Hadn’t he believed in her? Money has no friends, she understood that. But to be so ridiculously radical? To hurt someone who had no part in that macabre action?

“Melody?” she heard Devina’s voice, bringing her back to reality.

She lived there now.

There was no going back.

She was on her own, even when she was about to get married.

Who could she count on? There was no one to trust. No one believed in her, in her word. Starting with her parents. Support her? If they hadn’t done so with her own pregnancy, what would they do when they found out what their son-in-law had done.

They weren’t going to believe her one bit.

She was screwed.

She put on her gray playboy bunny-faced blouse and a frayed denim skirt with loose fringe around the edges.

“I’ll be right out. All good,” she looked at herself in front of the mirror and glanced at the dress hanging on the rack. There were two others.

They were all beautiful. But she just felt like crying when she saw them. It was a symbol of damnation and perjury.

“Here I am,” she said opening the door.

“Good, because I’m hungry as hell. What are you craving? What do you like to eat? I know pregnant, a lot of things fall out of disgust. So, tell me.”

“Are you inviting me to lunch?” she was confused.

“It’s the middle of the day, isn’t it?” the woman tucked her hair behind her ear, which seemed like a reflex action.

“Yes. Don’t you have anything better to do? Someone else to see or invite to lunch?”

“Don’t take your bad mood out on me,” she laughed, and Melody almost thought she must be suffering from bipolar disorder.

“I’m sorry,” she had been foul-mouthed, but all of it seemed too strange to her.

“Tell me the truth, why are you here?” she approached her and folded her arms. She didn’t care that Devina was taller.

She glanced at the door she walked in through and refocused her gaze on it a second later.

“Your fiancé was at my house last night.”

It was strange, he’d told her he had an errand to run.

Unless he was seeing his cousin’s wife?

“Look, I don’t care if you’re sleeping with Timothy “she said quickly putting up a hand when she saw the woman’s eyes widen in shock “I don’t intend to consummate the damn sham marriage. Because that’s what it is a fake marriage, a mistake!

“Take it easy, honey. Relax. God forbid I ever...!” she made a disgusted face and pretended to retch.

“He was having a conversation with Hamlet, my husband, his cousin.”

Melody’s mouth didn’t make a sound, but her lips made a perfect o.

“Exactly. The point is, he ended up confessing to Hamlet what he was about to do. Which I think is bad enough as it is. Just letting you know.”

“Thank you.”

“You did it?” she asked staring unblinkingly at her. “Whatever you tell me will not leave us, this room.

My lips are sealed. Did you plan the robbery?”

Melody burst into tears and felt Devina hug her. She wasn’t used to someone hugging her without her knowing her, but this redhead was strange in every sense of the word. She’d been racking up the pain for too many days. She didn’t understand how something like this could be happening in her life. As if being pregnant and alone, away from her own, wasn’t torture enough.

“Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t know me at all,” she told her hugging her and crying again.

“Because I lost someone once. A few months ago. I didn’t give her a chance to get close because I was focused on trusting no one. She died for me. Now I’m trying to mend my life,” she heard the confession and felt empathy take place in her sadness. “Besides, I don’t like Timothy. I don’t care that he’s my brother-in-law. He never agreed to my union with his cousin. He accused me of being after Hamlet’s money and all I was interested in was eating him every day.”

“I’m sorry,” Melody wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She didn’t even want to imagine how awful she must look, all teary and haggard. Though she blushed at the nonchalant way Devina spoke.

Did she realize they didn’t know each other?

“Did you? I always go by my instincts and ever since I walked through that door,” she told him pointing to the door of the room, “I realized you weren’t a machiavellian mind. You’re not what Timothy Giannato thinks, so how did it come to this?”

“I didn’t. I didn’t even know it was happening until I met him five days ago. This all happened so fast...I, honestly, I swear,” she felt the tears fall again, but she didn’t want to stop looking into Devina’s eyes.

She wanted to feel that someone, in that crazy situation believed her. “I really didn’t. I would never hurt Timothy. He helped me without knowing me, I had no idea he was my brother-in-law’s boss.”

“Perfect! I believe you,” the redhead smiled mischievously, and Melody feared for her safety. Her eyes showed she was planning something.

“Why are you making that face? You believe me just like that?”

“Because you’ll get rid of him. Because you’ll put him to work and make him regret it. Until he cries to get you back.”

“I’ve never been his,” she interrupted her in confusion.

“Oh, my dear! I can tell. You’re attracted to him; the heart is strange. You never know when you want someone until they’re all over you. And I assure you, if he went looking for Hamlet and confessed something like that to him, a guy as secretive as he is; it’s because he has feelings for you and wanted to take a little guilt off his actions,” her smile grew bigger. “Here you go,” from her bra she pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to Melody.

She didn’t know if she should put her hand on it.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring a purse, and I didn’t want anyone to notice what I was carrying,” she told Melody when she saw her reluctance to touch the paper.

“What’s this?” she asked taking it after a moment.

“It’s your ticket out,” Melody opened the rectangular piece of paper full of curiosity and fear. “It’s a check for three million dollars.”