POV: Victoria
“I don’t care how you feel, Victoria!
You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to be my pretend girlfriend. Now I’m going to try to please my father by proposing to you. Do me a favor and pretend to be surprised okay?” he told me through gritted teeth, holding me close and locking his lips with mine before I could say anything to annoy him further.
“Fine, you win!” I told him after the kiss, smiling brightly. He chuckled at my excitement and for a brief moment I saw his eyes brighten up and his smile almost looked genuine…almost.
He looked into my eyes and kissed me In a romantic gesture, his eyes fixed online. He took a step back and went on one knee, presenting me with a small velvet box. He opened the box and Inside was a stunning diamond ring, a huge diamond I must confess. I known was expecting this, I mean, he just told me to fake it.
But this is actually a nice surprise because I didn’t know he had it in him to be this romantic. Hell, I didn’t even know that he would go down on his knees for a fake proposal. My eyes widened in surprise and joy as I gladly accepted the gift, feeling a rush of emotion at the unexpected gesture.
The party buzzed with whispers and murmurs as the guests watched us dance and then witnessed Raphael’s proposal. I know it’s just pretense, but our chemistry was palpable and undeniable to onlookers. In their hearts, this is a perfect proposal and a perfect relationship. I wish…
Charlotte and the other girls could only look on with envy and resentment, their hopes of winning seemed dashed by my unexpected triumph. If only they knew that it’s all fake, but their envious hearts won’t let them see past the exterior. As they roll their eyes and whisper amongst themselves, I have the urge to scream in their faces and say,
“Get over yourself, It’s all fake!”
But I just ignore them because I am having the best time of my life. It may be fake, But in that moment, as Raphael and I hugged each other and danced in each other’s arms, nothing else mattered except the love and happiness I felt in his arms. I felt so excited when the music stopped and I wanted to go back to my seat, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back forcing me to look up at him with curiosity all over my face.
“Not so fast, my love. I want my own dance now, or don’t you think I deserve a gift?” he asked me, his eyes dangling with mischief.
“What the hell are you talking about, what do you want?” I asked in confusion, looking at him with raised eyebrows. He smiled brightly and leaned in to kiss my lips. I had to smile to hide my curiosity, and then he leaned and whispered in my ear,
“You got two gifts tonight, my darling Victoria. What do I get?
Don’t you think I deserve a special dance too?” he asked me, smiling mischievously. Before I could respond, I saw his guard bringing back the seat I’d used to entertain Grandpa and it was placed In the middle of the room and he sat on it and crossed his legs, his eyes still fixed on me.
“Show me what you got, baby girl,” he remarked, causing the guests to applaud him. They are so happy watching our public display of affection. He’s dishing out some tough relationship goals to the guests and they are so buying it.
It felt so nice to put up a show for him. I danced to the beats while he sat and watched me swaying my hips seductively. I danced to him and put my hand around his neck, caressing him and grinding my hips to his waist. For a brief moment, we forgot our surroundings and he pulled me closer and kissed me passionately, grinding his hips to move, forgetting his pretense of being sick.
“Oh, Shit!” he exclaimed when he noticed that the crowd went completely silent while watching us. The spotlight on us was turned off and the entire building became bright when the lights were turned back on. The guests had mixed feelings about what just happened and Gramps would have said something about it.
But at that moment the building’s alarm system went off and there was chaos everywhere as the guards tried to locate the source of the disruption. Grampa stood up and Raphael did the same. They stood at alert and instructed the guards on what to do,
“Pull up the security cameras for the Treasury and the underground garage!” Raphael instructed the security guard to watch the cameras. They have been viewing the security camera of the house and the entrance to the building. But when Raphael asked them to switch to the underground layer, they switched immediately and they cast the footage of the basement from different angles.
The moment he mentioned the basement and treasury, I immediately knew what was going on. He’s out to embarrass his brothers and teach them a lesson. He is going to put them in their place and I would love to watch it happen. He had this proud and victorious look on his face, I always see this look on his face when he’s dealing with his brothers brutally.
“What the hell is going on here?” Gramps asks in shock when the camera shifts from the garage to the treasury.
“Is that senior Nathan and Ethan?
Are they alright, they look breathless!” someone commented from the crowd, pointing out that the Hawkins brothers are in the midst of the intruders interrupting our party.
“What’s going on, Raphael, why are your brothers stuck in the elevator!” Gramps asks angrily, his voice stern and fierce.
“Opa, I have no idea what they are doing there, I noticed my key was missing so I changed the security system to be safe. I thought someone was trying to break into our treasury, but I had no idea it was my brothers.” He lied, sounding as shocked as everyone else. I scoffed and shook my head, he’s such a good liar.
No one would ever believe that he did this on purpose. I turned my eyes to the screen and I smiled in my mind as I saw Nathan gasping for breath along with his brothers and the guys they took with them. Nathan had hurt my family and caused me so much pain, so for once I was happy to see the table had turned. I’m happy to see him in pain, does that make me a bad person?
“I’m getting the elevator up, get them out of there now!” Ralph barked at his guards as he ran to the company to control the security system by himself. Turns out that the security system for the treasury has been changed and Nathan and his brothers had no idea. It took the intervention of Raphael and some guards to get them out of there alive.
“You saboteurs!
You dare to steal from your own family?
Traitors! Traitors!
How are you even my grandsons!” Grandpa scolded them angrily after they were saved from the elevator. The moment he turned his back and walked away furiously, Nathan swung at Raphael and punched him in the face, hitting him so hard.
“Bastard!
You did this, didn’t you?!” he yelled furious, swinging at Raphael again. But this time he couldn’t catch him off-guard. Raphael evaded his attacks smoothly as if he had been trained for this before.
“You should be grateful that you are still alive!” He told him angrily, pushing him off roughly. Nathan refused to back down, he still tried to make an issue out of it, trying to attack Nathan and accusing him of setting him up. Nathan ordered the guards to take him away, and he was dragged off immediately to face the press and the guests who had seen him in a vulnerable state.
“What would have happened if the alarm system wasn’t triggered?” I thought aloud as I watched him reset the security system after the guards cleared everyone out.
“They would have been stuck in that elevator all night, and they’ll be dead by morning.” Nathan responded sadly. I looked at him and I saw genuine concern in his eyes. My eyes reverted to his hands and I saw him holding his phone and there was a huge red button on his screen that said,
“Treasury Alarm System,”
He noticed I’d seen it and he turned away from there and walked away, letting the guards take care of the rest of the building security. It was he who triggered the treasury security system to save their lives. They were already stuck in the elevator and he would have let them die if he wanted to.
But he saved them because he is not the villain they think he is. In my heart, I know that If this was the other way around if Nathan and the others had been in his position, they would have killed him. And this is why his grandfather is worried about him. He is the only sensible one amongst them, he is the only one with a pure heart.