Chapter 3 Strong-willed

Ella picked up her phone to call Diane back.

The phone didn't ring twice before Diane picked it up. She had been waiting for her call back.

"Elle." Diane called out when Ella didn't say anything.

She didn't respond, and Diane became more worried.

"Elle." She called out again, please say something."

Diane was answered by Ella's sniffing. She was crying.

"Don't do that, Elle. Don't cry. They don't deserve your tears." Diane said. A wave of guilt washed over her because she actually talked Ella into accepting the contract from Will. "I didn't know it would lead to this, Elle. I know how much you like to be low key, I didn't think your marriage to him would put you directly under the spotlight."

Ella couldn't respond, she sobbed freely now, and Diane could hear her wailing. It broke her heart.

"I feel bad because I talked you into this, Elle. I'm so sorry." Diane apologized. She really felt bad for her best friend, and she could only imagine how she felt about everything. They say experience was the best teacher, and Diane had never experienced such to put herself in Ella's shoes.

Ella managed to speak through her tears. Her voice was shaky, and not entirely clear.

"It's not your fault , Diane. I don't blame you at all. You were just looking out for me." Ella replied.

Diane still didn't feel convinced, and Ella's words certainly didn't take the guilt away.

Initially when Will brought the proposal to get into a contracted marriage with him, Ella had bluntly refused. He kept on coming, and Diane had been the one to convince her to take it. She felt that it was a huge upgrade for her friend, and even herself. What would Ella lose from pretending to be married to a billionaire who offered to pay for her services? None of them had thought about the negative effects the marriage would cause. They had both not seen it coming.

"I'm fine, Diane. Really. I was just overwhelmed, and it kind of sparked some old memories from my childhood." Ella explained better to Diane when she realized that Diane wasn't convinced.

"I know what to do. I'll handle it like I did in high school. I would ignore, and remove myself from anything that has to do with the public."

That was a good idea, and it would definitely work. Letting things on social media die down was better than reacting or responding.

Diane supported her friend's decision, and she would always support her in anything that she wanted to do.

She made sure to console Ella until she was fully convinced that she was okay. She cut the call, and promised to call her often to check up on her.

Ella wiped her eyes, and sniffed in. The tears in her eyes were threatening to break free again, but she wouldn't let it.

She got up from her bed, and moved to unzip her dress. However, she was cut short in the motion by a deep masculine voice that scared her.

"Shoot! You scared me! What are you even doing there?" Ella yelled. It was Will, and the pain she was feeling turned into anger that she didn't know when she lashed out at Will like that.

Will didn't respond. However, his expression changed when she spoke to him in that manner. It was rude, and disrespectful. He wasn't having her speak to him that way.

He shut the door that she left wide open while she sobbed and spoke to Diane.

"Firstly," he spoke up, moving towards the bed where she stood, "you don't ever raise your voice at me. Ever." His voice was low, but it commanded respect and submission. She found herself feeling jittery, just like how the housekeeper had felt earlier. It was rubbing off on her, and she disliked it.

"Why were you talking to your so called best friend with the door wide opened? Are you trying to rat us out?" He asked, his voice becoming louder as he continued.

"I-I-I didn't know the door was wide open. I forgot to shut it." She replied, her head slightly bowed as she spoke. She tried to act natural, and speak to him like she would on a normal day, but she found herself unable to do so. She hated how is presence made her knees wobble, and she hated how she couldn't meet his gaze.

She realized that he was enjoying how his presence made her act, and she hated him for putting her in such condescending position.

"Hmm..." he replied, still looking down at her as she tried to fix her gaze on him, but failed severally. "I see you've been crying. What's that about?" He asked in a way that triggered Ella.

Her head shot up, and she looked directly at him while she spoke up, pointing at him; "Why are you acting like you don't know what's going on in your app? Why do you pretend to not know how I am being dragged online for not being up to your standards, and for being a gold digger?"

Will's brows furrowed, although he didn't move from where he stood. She was doing it again. Talking to him like he was one of her clique of friends, and bloody colleagues. He was her boss for crying out loud, and she had to be taught to respect that fact. He knew the right response to give her that would hurt her to her bones.

"They aren't wrong anyway. We're definitely not on the same class, and you are here because of how handsomely you will be paid. Why does the truth hurt you so much?"

His words stung her more than all the mean comments she had read. She thought she was helping him? She thought they were helping each other?

"I'm only trying to help your life by being with you, because you don't want to get married to Tracy. You can't make me feel bad for helping you." She replied defensively.

Will chuckled. She was going to be a tough one for sure, but he would definitely cut the wings that she thought she had grown.

"Help indeed. If you were just helping like you said, why don't you do this for free? And if we were just helping each other like you also said, why aren't you paying me as well? Be realistic, I don't think you're so dumb to realize that I am doing you a huge favor, and not the other way around. This is the only business deal I've ever done in my entire life that puts me on a loss."

His response kept getting worse as he spoke. She had to deal with trolls online, and one offline? She began to rethink her decision of marrying him. He definitely didn't give her any respect at all, even when she was in her most vulnerable state. He was mean.

"You signed up for it," he continued, "you should've known that you'd face such and even more. Besides I'm paying you so much for it."

More? Did she just here him say more? More what exactly? Insults? Drags?

When Will proposed a 600 million contract to her she thought that he was being too generous because he had more than enough, but now that she was in the marriage, she realized that she was going to go through more than what she'd expected, and that was just the first day!

She couldn't bring herself to hide her tears anymore. They burst out freely, and Will held a disgusted look.

"Make sure you keep our secret safe. Handle all your problems as you see fit, but make sure you don't let our secret out. You will regret it." He threatened, and made to leave.

"I'm going to see Diane. Don't expect me back tonight." She replied, ignoring everything that he had said. Being with Diane would definitely help her go through what she was going through.

Will chuckled lightly. She really didn't understand what being married to him entailed.

"Being married to me now means that you are answerable to me, considering the fact that I am the head of this household. You have to come to me, and ask for permission to go out. You have to make me see reasons with you. I have to understand why you need to leave the house, and if I do understand, and grant you permission, I'll give you a timeframe for you to be back. You cannot sleep outside when you're married."

She gave him a deathly stare. Was he really going to impose all of that on her? What did he want from her? How could she be locked in until he granted her permission? She was an adult for crying out loud, and they weren't truly married. Or did she exchange her freedom for the money as well? She just stared at him as her mind went blank for a moment.

"Stop staring at me, and ask me nicely." Will continued when she wouldn't stop staring at him.

She really needed to go see Diane, and if nicely asking for his permission would fulfill that, she definitely would do it.

She wiped her tears, cleared her throat, and began, "Can I please go see Diane?"

"For what reason?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. He saw her do that, and asked her to start again.

"Can I please go see Diane?" She asked again.

"For what reason?" He also asked again.

"I need to talk to her."

"About what?"

"This whole issue."

"What issue? You have to convince me unless you choose to stay back." Will threatened.

"Whatever." She said finally, and turned away from him.

Will felt insulted, but he would show her who was really in charge.

He left the room, and gave strict instructions to the security guard to not let her go out without his permission.

Ella undressed, and went into the shower to freshen up.

Will may be the owner and head of his gigantic mansion, but she would definitely find her way out of there to see Diane.

She got out in no time. Dressed up, and was all ready to leave the mansion.