(that bitch by bea miller)
ARIA
It didn't take a genius to know that I landed myself in an oddly fortunate situation. If I roused in a hospital, the problem would be a hassle to counter.
Instead, I had found myself on a billionaire's bed. If I played it right, everything would be alright. I could work and pay off the debt I owe to Vincenzo. Perhaps, I could sell my story to the public for money to help me in my fresh start. It's not every day someone woke up in a mansion after collapsing.
I still couldn't believe it.
However, as much as this could be a miracle, it might also be my downfall. Wealthy people were often unpredictable, with an ego too large for their own good.
Vincenzo De Luca did not have any humble beginnings. He was born into a position of power, which made it all the worse. He could force me to do unspeakable things, and I'd have to oblige. Thus, I had to show him that I couldn't be controlled so he wouldn't have other ideas. I would stay for a while, and we could go our separate ways.
People would kill to be in my position, which is exactly why I should leave. It would have the media asking 'why?' and I could be sought out. They would pay a hefty sum for my story, and I needed whatever money I could get.
Vincenzo might be rich, but he was not a permanent solution. Owing anything to rich men was equivalent to selling your soul.
I could depend on the media's curiosity and wield it as a weapon for my well-being. My father would not come close to me if I were under constant supervision by the public; he wouldn't dare.
Additionally, I've seen what the internet was saying about me. Pictures of my bloody form were everywhere, on every site I followed. Vincenzo had lifted me in his arms and brought me into his home, and I hadn't yet left. People were dying to know about me, this mysterious woman who woke up in a mansion.
The attention was exciting.
It wasn't good attention, exactly, but I could benefit from it. I could make the best out of it and maybe erase all traces of my old life.
After reading blogs and finding amusement in their rumours, I decided to explore the space. I was unsure if I could or should, but surely the billionaire wouldn't expect me to sit in a room the entire day.
It was how I lived with my father, but I was no longer with him. I wasn't free yet, but I was freer than before.
I opened the door and explored.
Shockingly enough, there was nobody in the mansion. I had expected servants and chefs around the house, but there wasn't a single person in sight.
Until the front door opened.
A figure stepped into the mansion's foyer, glancing at the double stairs expectantly. It seemed like someone was supposed to approach and kiss her feet.
She had an arrogant aura flanking her, and she knew it. The power that radiated from her outfit, the lines of her face, the glint in her poisonous green eyes and graceful steps made her presence fill the space. It was instant, and I admired it.
She turned as if aware that I was there, and the moment our eyes met—
Chaos.
The defiant air that surrounded her followed me around like a dog. And that eye contact was enough to confirm everything I saw in her character. Untamable.
I paused for her to stride towards me, and the side of my lips quirked. This woman reminded me too much of myself.
"Emma," she said as an introduction. She studied the bandages and the injuries that peppered my skin apathetically.
"Aria. I'm a patient, not your brother's latest lover." I nodded at my arm, where the damage was the most evident. "If you can't already tell."
Her smile was slight, casting a blinking light in her eyes. They were the same shade as Vincenzo's. "I wouldn't have known. My brother's taste in women is questionable." She reached out to raise the hem of the sweater I wore. "This is a dead giveaway, though. This is mine."
I glanced down at myself. Shrugged. "It's pretty. Do you have any more?"
This time, she cracked into a smile. It was a full, authentic stretch that made her appear breathtaking. She lifted her head towards the stairs, and I followed right as she turned to leave.
In an hour's time, we were on the third floor, in her spare room, flipping through her abundance of clothes from brands I could never afford.
"Oh my God. This looks like real diamonds," I commented, then laughed at her failed attempt to chuck it at my face. I caught the flimsy material and couldn't help but gawk at its dazzling beauty.
"That's because it is," she said, waving another dress in front of me. "This one is hideous." It really was. It was a fishnet dress that didn't cover a thing, and worse, it was in a myriad of colours.
"Please," I snorted. "It's definitely something you'll wear."
"Bitch!" She cackled, hurling it at me. This time, I wasn't quick enough to catch it, and the dress managed to hook around my neck. She laughed harder, and a glimpse at the mirror in the corner of the room triggered me to join.
I removed the thin layer of fabric around me and tossed it at the pile of clothes on the bed. It was entirely covered, and it was incredibly sparkly.
"You have no normal clothes," I told her, then gestured down at myself. "Except for this. I think your brother went through hell and back to search for it."
She rolled her eyes. "The lazy bastard probably had his second-hand to do it for him."
I thought about it, then made a wild guess. "Oh. So it was his second-hand who pointed a gun at my head."
Emma stopped rummaging at the clothes on the bed. "Athletic, blonde, some stubble? That's Damon."
She confirmed it. I nodded. "To be fair, I had a knife to your brother's neck."
Emma didn't ask any questions about the situation. She tilted her head skyward, and a bubble of laughter escaped her lips. "I fucking love you."
I raised my shoulders seductively, bit my lips in a smile. "How could you not?"
She shoved at me playfully in response.
"Do you have any idea where Vincenzo is?" I asked. "I've been missing for quite a while."
"I don't know, and I don't care." She freefall backwards onto her bed, further cushioned by the huge mass of outfits. "I'm not even supposed to be here right now. I'm expected to be in another state, following my mother's footsteps in becoming a doctor. But I decided to come unannounced for the fun of it."
"I didn't hear the door, so your brother and Damon must still be in this place."
"Yeah, but you wouldn't be able to hear the door from the third level. They probably left."
"I stay at the second level."
She turned to me, dramatic and gradual. "You what?"
"I said, I stay—"
"In the large ass room with the table and sofa?"
"Yes. Is that strange?"
She sat up, narrowing her eyes at me. "He's never allowed anyone into his bedroom."
"I am a patient," I said, pointing at my head, arms and legs. "I am a walking exception."
"Yes, but he doesn't even allow me in there, that selfish asshole," she grumbled. "Throughout the last three years, no soul has ever stepped into that damned place for more than three minutes."
"He's in love with me," I said, flipping my hair. Emma snickered at the joke.
"It's a possibility."