Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Aside from Bella and Max, no one questioned her involvement with Devlin. Thank god only her closest friends figured out who the girl in the photo was. As soon as Max saw the news, she came by the apartment and bombarded Violet with questions. She seemed upset for her cousin. Violet assured her it was just a misunderstanding, nothing more.

A day later, Violet was watering Bella’s plants when a knock sounded. She placed the watering can by the table and proceeded to open the door. She expected it to be the delivery guy, not the devil, standing outside.

A sudden audible intake of breath escaped her. “Mr. Devlin? What are you doing here?” She looked left and right, looking for paparazzi lurking around the place.

“Hi, Violet. Sorry for the intrusion. Can we talk?” He asked seriously.

“Um, sure. Come on in.” She gestured for him to go inside. Their two-bedroom apartment was small but it was her and Bella’s pride. Devlin must not be used to seeing a house that’s smaller than his bedroom. He looked around uncomfortably and decided to stand beside the door.

She cleared her throat. “Please, sit.” Devlin walked tentatively towards the sofa and sat down, facing her. “What is this about?”

“I’m sorry for dropping by unexpectedly. I just need to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“Will you marry me?”

She would have burst out laughing if his face wasn’t so serious. “What?! Are you drunk?”

“Believe me, I’m perfectly sober.”

“Then why are you asking me this?” Violet uttered in surprise.

“My grandmother is forcing me to marry. There’s something she has that I want. Something she’ll give me only when I marry, he said matter-of-factly.

“Why ask me? You have Summer. Ask her.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Because it’s you she wants me to marry.” The veins on his neck throbbed, the only clue to his true feelings.

“But why? She doesn’t know me. And we don’t know each other.” This must be a joke.

“She saw the photo of us together. Once she makes up her mind, there’s no stopping her.”

“And you’re just gonna go ahead and marry me so you can have this property you want from her?” Violet crinkled her nose in disbelief.

“Yes.” His face wore a determined look. “And if you agree to marry me and live with me for the next six months, I can give you whatever you want.”

Violet frowned at him. “Are you really serious?”

“Marriage is not something I joke about.” After a few seconds, he added, “There must be something you want? How about a house? I can give you mansions. Or you can build your dream house. Cash? I have that too. Whatever it is, just name your price.”

Violet lowered her lids to hide the look of growing anger in her eyes. Once she’s confident she’s kept her composure, she lifted her eyes at him. “I am not a piece of meat to be bought, Mr. Devlin. I understand you have your own reasons, but I cannot marry you in exchange for material things. I would love to one day not have to worry about money, but not through this way. So please, just go.”

“But…”

“I said go!”

Devlin stood up and lingered for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something more. But once he saw the look of finality on her face, he nodded and walked away.

Violet planned to tell Bella what just happened. But with the look on Bella’s face when she arrived, Violet forgot all about Devlin. “Bella, what happened? Have you been crying?”

Bella’s face is streaked with tears. Violent shudders wracked her body. She covered her face and sobbed. “Violet, what am I going to do?!”

“Bella, what happened?” Panic gripped her heart.

“Mom, she…” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “She’s sick, Violet. She has cancer. She needs treatment. Immediately. But I… I don’t have any money. I can barely save enough from my monthly salary. How am I going to send her to the hospital?”

Images of her dying mother invaded her mind. She fought to keep the horrible memories at bay. Violet took Bella in her arms and made some soothing sounds. Violet bit the inside of her mouth to stop herself from crying. Amara is like a mother to her too. She took Violet in when she lost her mother at fifteen years old. Amara fed her, clothed her, hugged her when she missed her mother, scolded her when she did something bad. Violet can’t bear to see her sick.

She remembered Devlin’s words. I can give you whatever you want. She bowed her head in shame. She snapped at Devlin for treating her like an object, but here she was, contemplating marrying him for money. A hypocrite. That’s what she is. But she’d take that any day than standing by and not doing anything for Amara.

Violet turned to Bella. “There’s something we can do.” She hiccupped and lifted her eyes at Violet. “Devlin came by earlier today.” Violet told her what he offered.

She froze, her eyes growing bigger, “Are you insane? You’re not doing that. I love Mom, but I will not let you ruin your life just to get money for her. Mom will be brokenhearted.”

“We won’t tell her. We can say Devlin and I fell in love so quickly and wanted to marry immediately,” Violet pleaded.

“No, Violet.” She slammed her fists down.

Violet furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. “If I don’t, do you see what will happen? Amara can’t get treated. She’ll go weak. In just a few months or even weeks, the fatigue, the pain, it will consume her. It will slowly eat her alive. Then we might lose her. Forever. Is that what you want? Because I sure as hell would do everything in my power for her to live a long life.”

Bella shook her head in denial. “No, she won’t die. She won’t!”

“She will if we don’t send her to the hospital! If I marry Devlin, we can get her the best doctors. She doesn’t have to work for a living anymore. We can get her private nurses, buy her her own house. Anything she wants, we can finally give her. I only have to be with

Devlin for six months. That’s it. It’s not that long.”

Bella swallowed, her lips trembling. She looked at Violet and mouthed the words, “I’m sorry.” Violet understood. Bella felt terrible about what Violet plans to do but she finally relented. They hugged each other and Violet let the tears fall.

That night, she called Devlin. Luckily, he left her a calling card in case she changed her mind. She only said three words to him. “I’ll do it.”

“Great. Let’s meet tomorrow. I’ll come pick you up.” Then he dropped the call.