Chapter 2 Alliance II

I roughly shoved him away, glaring hatefully as I retorted. "You're not my fiance" ... "i don't know what your family might have done to force my father into accepting the alliance but I can assure you that a wedding won't be taking place any time soon , especially not mine"

He chuckled lightly as he pulled out a white silk handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth. "Judging by the blood on your lips and the finger markings on your cheek, I don't think your father has any plans of entertaining your resistance" With that he turned and left without looking back but just as he walked away, I spotted a strange man secretly watching us from the background, feeling annoyed I decided to pay it no mind.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cooped up in my room, seething in anger when my father finally came knocking.

"Elisa darling, won't you open up and let daddy in" he coaxed but I turned a deaf ear to his words, burying my head even deeper into my pillows.

He eventually got tired of knocking and decided to let himself in with a spare key.

He barged into my room with an apologetic smile as he ushered in several maids bearing lavished gifts.

"Elisa, look what daddy got you" ... "I remember you desperately wanted to get your hands and a pair of those new Cameron cane shoes, right?"

"Umm, sir I think you mean Calvin Klein" the head maid interjected.

"Oh... yes, thank you" he voiced before forcefully prying me from my bed. "Princess, are you still mad at me?" His obnoxious question answered itself when he saw my swollen cheek and puffy eyes. "Oh my" he gasped, his eyes darting around my face. "Hurry, get me an ice pack" the head maid immediately handed him an ice pack wrapped in a soft cotton towel. He dabbed gently on my swollen cheek, ensuring not to hold it on for too long whilst apologizing profusely. I completely ignored his apologies and pathetic attempt at coaxing, refusing to even look in his direction.

The head maid (Nanny Rebecca) chimed in, pleading on my father's behalf. "Elisa, you shouldn't hold a grudge against your father. Give him a chance to explain the situation and why he acted the way he did, I'm sure he had his reasons, right sir Eliot?"

"Of course" father beamed, nodding in desperation but I cut him off. "Nanny, you weren't there to see how hard he hit me, he completely humiliated me and chose to side with mom's killers. And now he's only apologizing with all these gifts to convince me to marry into the family of those murderers"

Dad let out a long sigh as he dismissed the rest of the staff, only leaving Nanny Rebecca behind. "Look, Elisa. No father would wholeheartedly want to give his daughter's hand in marriage to a spawn of his enemy, but it's just... it's just that things are a lot more complicated than they seem. The Greyhounds obviously aren't here with good intentions but this marriage alliance might be our only chance to avenge your mother's death. It'll be easier to take down their entire operation and crumble their empire once we have one of our own within their walls. It wasn't my intention from the beginning to get you involved in something this dangerous but when they came proposing a marriage alliance I saw it as what could be our only opportunity." ... "I already tried sending in spies months ago but none of them have been able to get close enough to the information we need but if you accept the alliance and marry Damian you'll be able to secretly assist my men within their walls. It shouldn't prove too difficult to win Damian over with your looks and use him as a pawn to bring justice to his father's evil deeds"

"No one wants revenge more than I do but this seems a little far fetched, even for me." I voiced, feeling uncertain.

"Far fetched was when they decided to murder my wife." He retorted, his voice rising in fury as he revisited the memory of my mother's demise. "But it's okay if you don't want to go through with any of this, I won't force you to do anything you're not comfortable with. I'm sure I'll be able to find another way to get revenge"

I could help feeling guilty upon hearing his words. After a bit of deliberation, I finally agreed to follow his lead and avenge my mother.

He was overjoyed when I finally agreed and promised he'd bring me back himself once the operation was successful.

After settling the misunderstanding between us I didn't hesitate to accept the numerous gifts he brought along.

I scanned through the items with excitement until I saw something that triggered my dissatisfaction. "Seriously Dad, only 12 gold bars? Are we going bankrupt?"

Nanny tried to urge me to ignore it but I wasn't budging. After listening to my whining for so long dad finally agreed to get me whatever I wanted as compensation. "I'd like my monthly allowance to be increased to $150 million, Deal?" My father's eyes almost bulged out of his head upon hearing the amount I was requesting. "$150 million? That's an outrageous amount besides I already increased your allowance last month"

"But you only increased it to $70 million and it's barely enough for my expenses..."

"What expenses?" He interrupted. " You always use my card to pay for everything, refusing to spend your own money. So what exactly do you need $150 million for?"

I dramatically fell into Nanny Rebecca's arms as I began sobbing historically. "Nanny, I'm already doing some much for him and all I request is a mere $150 million in return and he's refusing"

Under the immense pressure from me and nanny Rebecca's persuasion, father eventually agreed.

(A WEEK LATER)...

In the blink of an eye, the memories of my father's generous bribes were far behind me as I stood frozen at the entrance of the Greyhounds family estate.