Chapter 3 Bella's Pov

CHAPTER THREE

Bella's POV

The moment his words hit my ears, the world didn't just spin for me, it fractured into tiny dizzying pieces.

I do.

I do.

I do.

His words echoed again and again in my ears and as it did, I froze mid-step, the cold wind biting through the thin fabric of my coat, the wet slush clinging to my heels. I wanted to scream, to retract the words I'd just said on an angry, humiliated impulse and make him do the same but the city had other plans.

Somewhere, a car honked, sirens blared in the distance, and a cellphone camera clicked

I glanced around to see that a stranger had been filming us already.

Someone at the corner of the street, smirking behind a lens, was filming us.

My face, streaked with tears, the ruined blush of my cheeks, the shaking velvet box open in the palm of a stranger I didn't even know... it was all being captured.

And then before I could think about how to react about it, I heard the ragged, panicked footsteps pounding toward us.

"Bella!"

I looked around to see that it was Ethan. He had run out of his office looking for me. His face was pale, his eyes wide, his chest heaving and his coat flapping against his back like wings desperate to catch me.

Immediately, I took a step back. I didn't want him anywhere around me. After what he just did to my heart, I wished for only one thing: that we were miles apart.

But then something strange happened.

Ethan looked at who was with me and his eyes widened in panic.

"Boss?" he blurted when he finally stopped just a few feet away from the stranger who had my hand in his and had found his voice.

Boss? I thought as I blinked rapidly in shock.

The stranger tilted his head slowly, his storm-gray eyes locking onto Ethan with that same unreadable calm.

"Ethan. What a coincidence," he said, his voice lazy but edged with a subtle menace, the kind that made your stomach churn and your instincts scream danger.

I stumbled back, clutching the ring box to my chest. "Wait... you know each other?" My voice cracked as I spoke.

The stranger's lips curved faintly. "Yes. He's... an employee."

My brain hit pause. My hands felt suddenly too heavy as the realization sank like ice water through my veins.

What the hell?I had just proposed to my ex-boyfriend's boss.

The man standing in front of me, impeccably dressed in a black coat tailored to his impossibly broad shoulders, with hair slicked back like he was carved from shadows, was none other than Luciano Moretti.

The Devil himself!

Oh my God! I thought in horror.

OH MY GOD! I thought again, my head spinning.

I wanted to run. And so I grabbed the ring from Luciano's hand, turned around and did just that.

"I... I'm so sorry," I stammered, my words stumbling over themselves like frightened animals even as I began to run. "I... I didn't... I didn't mean..."

Luciano didn't move, didn't even blink. His eyes tracked me as I pivoted, heels clicking rapidly against the wet concrete as I fled.

Behind me, Ethan shouted, calling my name, but I didn't look back. Not once. The bastard was the last person that could stop me right now.

By the time I made it back to my apartment, my lungs were burning, tears streaked down my face and my cheeks were numb from the cold.

Ava was waiting, arms crossed, pacing like a storm contained within the small living room. I had called her on my way home, telling her that I needed her to be at my place. And like the best friend that she was, she had said yes to my request without asking questions.

"Bella, talk to me!" she demanded immediately she saw me, her voice a mixture of concern and exasperation. "What the hell happened out there?"

I sank onto the couch, dropping the ring box onto the coffee table with a hollow clink. "It... it's a disaster," I whispered, burying my face in my hands.

Ava crouched in front of me, gripping my shoulders. "Start from the beginning. What happened?"

"Ethan...Ethan cheated on me with Camilla."

Anger exploded on the features of Ava's face. "That bastard! Why am I not even surprised?"

I continued to shake even as I said, "Yeah, you warned me. I should have listened."

Ava wrapped her hands around me. "Look, it's not your fault. You just happened to fall in love with someone who does not deserve you at all. It's really not your fault."

I wiped tears from my eyes with the back of my hand even as I murmured almost inaudibly, "That is not all."

Ava furrowed her eyebrows in concern as she said, "What else?"

"I stumbled into a stranger."

"A stranger?"

I nodded.

"Well, what then happened?"

I lifted my head. "He... he's... I don't even know how to explain it." My voice trembled, and I hated how small I sounded. "I... I proposed to him and he said yes."

Ava's eyebrows shot up. "You... proposed to the stranger?"

"Yes. And he... he said yes!" I buried my face again. "And the worst part... the absolute worst part... he's Ethan's boss. Ethan was there. He had ran out and he called the stranger, 'boss'."

Ava froze for a moment, processing. Then she exhaled sharply. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a minute. You... you proposed to your ex's boss while your ex was... what? Watching?"

I groaned, pressing my palms against my temples. "He... he saw me after I had proposed. Someone filmed it. The entire city probably knows by now. Oh, my God, Ava. I checked my phone while coming back home. They're calling me the... the Valentine's Bride online. Can you believe that? I... I can't... I can't even..."

Ava flopped beside me, hugging me tight. "Okay. Okay. Breathe, Bella. First, calm down. Second, I swear, we will survive this insane... very insane mess. But you need to tell me...how do you even know this man? You just saw him and propose to him?"

"I don't know him at all," I said through gritted teeth. "I... I literally just... proposed on impulse because I... because I... felt like... felt like everything else in my life just exploded and..." My voice cracked, and I buried my face in Ava's shoulder.

She rubbed my back soothingly. "Bella... hey. Look at me. You are not a disaster. You are... you're chaotic, sure, but... also brilliant in a way that makes men like him say yes. You didn't plan this, and that's okay. Sometimes, crazy, unplanned stuff... it changes everything."

I shivered, thinking about his gray eyes, the calm, unflinching way he'd said yes. A shiver of something... unnameable ran down my spine.

Ava pushed her body back while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright. But this isn't just... cute drama. He's... clearly powerful. That's... that's dangerous, Bella. Danger comes with this kind of man."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I know. I know. And... I don't even know what to feel anymore. Humiliated, angry, scared...everything."

Ava sighed and gave me a pitying look. "We will figure things out. Don't fret."