008

Outside the Monroe's family mansion, Ella and Ray had just gotten to where the two Rolls Royce car was parked. The bodyguards had immediately surrounded Ella, but with a signal from her, they had all stayed back.

"What was that all about? When did I agree to be your fiancée?" Ray asked, his brows creasing with anger.

"That's rude, I helped humiliate those who called you names and the only thing I got is an interrogation?" Ella said, feeling annoyed.

"I was fine by myself. Your intervention was unnecessary." Ray argued his point.

"Says the one whose marriage isn't taking place because your wife was taken by another man." Ella said.

"That was because I was cheated by her father…"

"And yet you had that under control…?" Ella inquired.

"What about you? I thought you were supposed to marry someone, didn't that work out for you?"

"I couldn't marry him,… not after our relationship yesterday." Ella said, staring into Ray's eyes.

"Wait, you've fallen for me, haven't you?"

"No way! It's just that, Harry knew about our relationship yesterday. He even sent photos of us kissing each other."

Ella revealed the photos that were sent to her for Ray to see. It had the captions of only when they were at the bar, but none of when they had entered the room.

"Did this guy took any photos of us in bed?" He asked after viewing every pictures.

"No,… I-I don't think so." Ella was unsure.

What if he had sent only half of the photos while reserving the rest for later. Harry was a devious person just like her stepmother, she couldn't be so sure he didn't have the rest of the photos with him.

"But, there's no way that could be possible. I locked the door right after we entered last night. And also this morning, I found it locked from the inside, so no one would have been able to enter the room."

"Which means, no photos of us were taken!" Ella exclaimed, quite glad about this answer. She had been meaning to ask this question, if Ray had locked the door last night or not, and hearing his reply, it couldn't cause her to be more happier.

Seeing the expression on Ella's face, it had caused Ray to smile a bit. Her actions had reminded him of the honest and humble teenage Grace, not the deceiving serpent she had become recently.

Clearing his throat, and maintaining his strict expression, he continued to speak.

"So, is that why you announced to everyone that we're couples and are about to get married?" Ray asked. "Do you have any idea that what you did had just ruined my plan?"

"I'm sorry." In a soft tone, Ella had replied. "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to protect my reputation. I can't be seen cheating with somebody else a few days to my wedding, that's why I made such an announcement in public. I should've asked for your permission earlier, but that seems to be the perfect time and place."

Hearing all these, Ray's temper had cooled down, but he still couldn't accept the fact that he would be marrying her.

"I understand everything you've done so far, it's just so you could protect your reputation. But I can't just accept it all of a sudden, give me some time to think about it. And if I wish to continue with the relationship, I'll contact you."

"Wait, you're going to think about it? Not an outright YES?" Ella said, although this wasn't the first time her offer would be rejected by a man for this same offer, she still felt hurt by it.

"Why? Is there a problem?" Ray stated.

Ella hadn't spoken up during the time she was rejected by other guys, but this time around, she had decided to speak up.

"Yes! With such an intriguing offer, anyone would be dying to accept it. But you said you're going to be thinking about?!" Ella yelled; feeling annoyed that she would be rejected yet again by another man.

What must be heard that the famous goddess of beauty has been rejected by eleven men despite her riches and beauty. Was she cursed or what?

"The thing is, I'm not just anybody. I'll call you once I made up my mind. Right now, I have some tasks to do." Ray answered.

Just then, a car had arrived, it was the same car that had came to pick him at the hotel, but Ella was too angry to be bothered about it.

She had stormed into her Rolls Royce while signalling for her driver to take her home.

Ray's car had left, and Ella's car had went in the opposite direction.

…

In a dimly-lit large room, a man could be seen sitting down on a sofa with his legs crossed on each other. This man was none other than Harry, the man Ella was supposed to marry.

He was currently strolling through his phone and a reply from a certain person had caused him to laugh widely like a maniac.

The text was from Ella who had texted him to do his worse, whatever he planned to do.

"So, I should upload them, Ei?" Harry said with a deep disgruntled voice. "Then so be it."

Moments after he uploaded the pictures on his social media account, he was just casually scrolling through the app when he spotted the video of Ella kissing a man in a wedding party. The Monroe's party to be precise.

"What the?"

Harry had kept on watching the video till it got to the point where Ella had made her announcement, claiming to be getting married to Ray Smith.

This news had enraged Harry greatly that he smashed the glass of wine in his hand to the ground.

"That crazy bitch! She dared to do something like that?" Harry yelled.

At that moment, a call had came through his phone and seeing who it was, he had immediately picked it up.

"Hello sis." He said in a calm voice.

"Did you see the video?" The voice from the other side said.

"Yeah, Just now. But don't worry, I'll handle it just like I always do." Harry stated.

"Great." Afterwards, the call had ended.

Looking at the reels again, Harry had zoomed into the face of a certain individual.

"It's the guy from yesterday. I guess I'll be scaring yet another potential husband of hers away."

He picked up his phone and dialled a number. After a few beeps, the call had been picked from the other side.

"Yes, I have a task for you."