Chapter 3

Isla's POV

Waking up had always been harsh, especially when your dreams were a lot better than the reality you were living. Sadly, even the memories of the blissful dreams faded away slowly.

Five months had already passed, and just as he promised, he had made my life a living hell. Nothing had changed within that time. Although he didn't abuse me physically, somehow he found a way to do a wonderful job at mentally and emotionally abusing me. I had no friend or relative with whom I could share my problems. Dad's health had really deteriorated. The last time I checked on him, he was in bad shape in the hospital. I couldn't share anything with him.

It had also been five months since I signed the contract. The contract of being his mistress. I was never going to be treated like a wife by him, and I had to accept it in silence. I couldn't tell my dad now; he wouldn't be able to handle it due to his ill health. I was to be submissive while Hailey got all the attention and love that a wife was supposed to get.

The rules I had to follow were:

I must have sex with Landon whenever he wanted.

I would be punished whenever I didn't follow the first rule.

I should not ask him irrelevant questions like his whereabouts.

I should never touch his things without his permission.

I must act like a perfect wife in front of family and guests.

Both the contract and marriage would end when Landon assumed his position as the CEO of his father's company.

I got up and was about to head to the bathroom to shower when Landon suddenly burst into the room. I let out a loud shriek and scrambled to cover my naked body with the bed sheet.

"You're acting like I haven't seen you naked before," he said with mock amusement.

He really took immense pleasure in taunting and torturing me. "Stop being so dramatic and get ready. My parents are already waiting downstairs for breakfast, and for God's sake, put on some makeup. You look awful," he uttered with disgust.

He noticed that I looked awful but didn't even bother to know why. He was no doubt the awful one.

I simply nodded.

After taking my bath, I put on some makeup. I had to do heavy makeup, which I really hated, in order to look a bit presentable. I had always embraced my natural face over a heavily made-up one; it just made me look different and unrecognizable, even to myself.

A few minutes later, after I was done getting ready, I went downstairs to join Alex and Olivia for breakfast. Olivia welcomed me with a warm hug while Alex smiled at me as he sipped his tea. As expected, Landon was not there. In the five months that we had been married, we never had lunch or dinner together. He was either busy with his work or his Hailey, and even though he hated it, I always made dinner and left it for him.

"You look so beautiful, my dear," Olivia complimented me. She was wonderful to me. I wondered how she could have spawned such an evil child from her loins. She took great care of me, just like my mom used to.

"She's right, you look beautiful, Isla," Alex confirmed his wife's compliment, and it warmed my heart.

"Well, obviously. She is my daughter-in-law after all," she teased.

"Anyway, I hope you're ready and have something beautiful to wear for the party."

"Party?" I was confused; I hadn't heard anything about any party.

"Didn't Landon inform you?" her lips were pressed together in obvious disappointment at her son. Alex, on the other hand, stared at me suspiciously through his rimmed glasses.

"No-no. He told me. He told me yesterday, pardon me, it escaped my memory," I quickly lied. I could not afford to give them a bad impression about their golden son.

"Isla, is everything okay? Is there something you'd like to tell us?" Alex's voice was really concerned, and it almost broke me.

"No, there's nothing wrong. Landon is taking very good care of me and loves me a lot. It's just that he's always busy, you know how much of a workaholic he is, that's why he hardly spends any time at home," I tried to convince them, but I didn't know if I was a terrible liar or if they just weren't convinced because they still stared at me suspiciously. We continued breakfast in silence. Neither Alex nor Olivia uttered a word.

The only thing that was stuck in my mind was the party. Landon hadn't mentioned any party to me. Who would wish to be seen with their unwanted wife at such a function?

Sitting on the balcony of Landon and my room, I pondered on what marriage meant to me. It wasn't just a ring band or signed paper. I had always dreamed of having the kind of marriage my parents had—one where they absolutely adored each other and did silly things like finishing each other's sentences, leaving cute notes for each other, waiting for the other person to come home before they could go to bed. Marriage should be savored and enjoyed, but in my case, it was the complete opposite. I had only been enduring because his soul was already connected to someone else, and I hated myself because I knew I brought this upon myself. If I wasn't so naïve and stupid, I wouldn't be going through this mess right now.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door close with a loud bang, and I saw Landon charging toward me like a raging bull. His glare was dangerous, and his fists clenched beside him.

"How can you be such an attention seeker? How dare you tell my dad that I didn't tell you about the party? And why do you think I owe it to you to tell you in the first place?" This was the angriest I had ever seen him. The vein at the side of his neck was pulsing as he grabbed my wrist.

"Please let go of my arm, you're hurting me!" I cried as I tried to pry my arm out of his grip, but he held on tight.

"And what about the pain that you're constantly putting me through? Because of you, I cannot be with the person I love. Hailey and I are having problems in our relationship because of you, and today when I got the opportunity to be able to make it up to her, you just had to ruin my plan." His grip on my arm became even tighter, and I winced in pain.

"I did not say anything, in fact, I..."

"Just shut up. First of all, you ruin everything, and then you go ahead and give excuses," with that, he shoved me onto the bed. "Dammit! How can you pretend to be so innocent when you have such an evil mind?" He ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Be ready by six o'clock. I'll have to take you to the freaking party now. I don't know why my parents can't see through your manipulative attitude. I can't believe they rejected Hailey for someone like you." His words, as always, didn't fail to express the level of disdain he had for me. Was I that bad?

"Stop shedding those fake tears and go get ready for fuck's sake. You can't fool me with that; I'm not my parents." He spat at me before leaving the room.

Landon's POV

"Baby, please try and understand. I must go through with this otherwise my father will see right through our acts and find out that I don't really love her, and the CEO position will ultimately go to Theo. That bitch already has him wrapped around her fingers and he's suspicious of us already, so I have to take her to the party," I tried to explain to Hailey, who was very upset.

"That's all there is to it. I'll just show up with her and leave her there while I mingle with others. I don't have to coddle up to her; she's not a kid, so she can take care of herself when we get there. Nothing will be cancelled, everything will go as planned," I continued, trying to ease her breaking heart.

I heard her footsteps in heels and turned around to shout at her for disturbing my call, and I saw her. In an elegant red dress.

Her petite figure was perfect in the dress; she looked like a little goddess of beauty. She looked perfect.

I was completely lost in her beauty. A pair of big brown eyes that shone so bright and her button nose. Her hair was midnight black, and it flowed over her shoulders. She did a light makeup which made her look even more elegant—not that she needed it. Her honey-sweet lips glistened as she licked them absentmindedly, almost driving me out of my mind.

I totally forgot that I was on a call with Hailey. She looked so gorgeous that I wanted to tell her to stay back and not attend the party. I didn't want other men lusting after her. I found myself walking up to her.

"I want you in my bed after the party," I whispered into her ear and walked out of the room.