Chapter 0007

Ryker arrived at the address Fiona had given to him late at night.

When he stepped into the house, Fiona had her legs stretched on the coffee table with her head thrown back on the living room couch.

She wore a skimpy nightgown that barely covered her smooth and milky thighs but it was the red marks on her neck that caught his attention.

Fiona noticed his gaze and quickly grabbed a scarf to cover her neck, earlier in the day, she had covered it with makeup.

“How did you get those?” Ryker asked in a cold tone, looking at her calculatingly.

“It’s not really your business,” Fiona replied, her voice coming out with a slur and she grabbed the half drunk bottle of alcohol, chugging a lot of it.

Ryker noticed the pain in her eyes. The woman in front of him was a huge difference from the brazen confident woman he met earlier in the day.

Something was definitely going on with her and it was not good.

“If we’re going to do this marriage thing successfully, you have to tell me what is going on with you,” Ryker yanked the bottle of alcohol from her hands as she was about to chug it again.

Fiona scoffed at him. “Just play your part very well tomorrow, okay? I am going to call off my engagement to that monster!”

As drunken and slurred as Fiona’s voice sounded, it carried determination and anger.

Ryker squinted his brows at her. “I’m guessing this monster is the one who left you with these scars?”

Fiona looked into his eyes and saw that his concern was genuine. Her eyes suddenly coated with tears, remembering the horror she suffered in the hands of Nico Reyes.

“He’s a violent dog, a woman beater and an abuser. My family arranged our betrothal and I initially agreed, it was good for business but when I saw his true colours, I couldn’t do it anymore……”

She tried to sniff back her tears but they found a way out of her eyes anyway.

She wiped them off with the back of her hands and sniffed before she continued.

“I went to meet him and told him I was no longer interested but he didn’t take me seriously. A few days later, he invited my family to have lunch with his family and friends and he officially proposed to me in front of them but when I turned him down, he got angry, said I disgraced him and he beat me to a pulp.”

“In front of your family? And they let him?” Ryker frowned, his tone full of disgust.

Fiona smiled bitterly. “That’s the worst part, they chastised me for embarrassing the family and my mother even threatened to kill herself if I didn’t comply. That’s why I married you so I can call off the engagement and I don’t care if he hears me to death tomorrow, I will not marry him.”

Ryker felt bile rise to his throat, hearing Fiona’s ordeal and he clenched his fist.

“You are my wife now, I promise, no harm will come to you,” he said reassuringly.

The next morning, the two found their way to the venue of the engagement ceremony.

“Head inside the hall and wait. When you see me come on stage, move to the front and follow our plan,” Fiona said to Ryker when they got to the venue of the engagement ceremony.

She stepped out of the car first, instructing Ryker to wait for a couple of minutes before he came down.

“Isn’t that your poor ex husband, what is he doing here?” Sebastian said to Sara.

He was the first to spot Ryker when he stepped into the hall.

“That loser,” Sarah frowned deeply. “Who invited him to this sort of gathering?”

“Wait a minute. The banner says Nico Reyes is getting engaged to Fiona Bassett. Isn’t she the same woman who promised to marry him after he divorced you?” Sebastian asked in amusement.

“Oh my God! She was only toying with him,” Sarah couldn’t hold back her laughter. “I knew there was no way a woman like her would settle for a tramp like him.”

Sebastian scoffed. “Maybe he found out her true intentions and is here to create a scene.”

“He wouldn’t dare, but then, he’s a shameless cow, I wouldn’t put it beyond him.”

A sly smile curved up Sebastian’s lips. If he dealt with Ryker before he caused a scene, he would personally earn the favour of the Reyes family.

The only reason he got lucky to attend was because his grandfather was ill and his father was out of the country.

Ryker frowned when he saw Sebastian and Sara walk towards him. He dipped his hands into his pocket and kept a pointed look, walking away when Sara blocked his path.

“Do you think you are such a big shot now? You even had the guts to threaten my family! We all know Miss Bassett was only toying with you yesterday, so how dare you show your face here?” Sarah fired at him.