ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED

"Fire! A fire broke out in his office that burned him to death. Everything burned to ashes! Nothing was recovered!" Greg explains.


What a hell of a tragedy! Fire?

"Have they discovered the cause of the fire?" Damian asks, and I snap my face at Greg because I was about to ask the same.

I mean, fire? In a lawyer's office and on an early morning? A fire that consumed everything? What is this? Just what the hell is happening?


"No. Nothing suspicious has been traced."

Nothing? A fire can't break out of nowhere! And how coincidental is this? Just when I wanted him to read my father's last will, a tragedy happens, and he dies. Everything burned to ashes?


"I see you are all hiding here! Plotting something?!"

Gracia?!

We all snap at her.

I would like to say that I am not scared of her, but the look in her eyes can make even the devil himself tremble. It's a devilish look that I have only seen in the cold eyes of assassins. I may be wrong, though, and I hope I am. I hope it is just me and my suspicions about these women. But if it is what I am thinking, then these women are more than I thought, and this is so deep that I could have surmised.

"What, Ellie? You seem like you are looking at a ghost!" She mocks, her eyes not leaving mine.

No, not a ghost! It is something worse because a ghost can only haunt you but can never kill you, and she seems like some devil who can haunt you and slit your throat while laughing at your face until you breathe your last.

"Why are you here, Gracia?" I ask, trying to hide my fears of her.

Hell! She wasn't even supposed to know that I was here. I wanted to surprise her, but I guess she is just the queen of surprises.

"Isn't it obvious? You guys are wasting my time, which I don't have! The board is waiting. I don't care what you are discussing right now, but I want you in the conference hall in five minutes. You challenged me, remember?" She smiles victoriously, clicks her heels on the floor, and leaves.

We stare at each other in bewilderment, and I bet Greg and Damian are having the same thoughts as mine. That fire wasn't an accident! It was intentional. Collateral damage is most likely. And this witch might know something about it. I am not labeling her a murderer just yet, but this confidence that she is exuding, this sinister look in her eyes? They speak volume!

If all the files from the attorney's office have burned to ashes, that means that Damian and I have no backup at all, and Gracia has a chance to do whatever she has planned. This does not look good at all. This is bad.

I look at Damian! "We have no proof at all." I mumble.

"I was right not to underestimate her!" Damian roars in a low key, catching my attention.

"What do you mean?" I ask in shock.

He fishes an envelope from his bag and hands it to me; however, he seems nervous about something. And when he gets this nervous, he ends up doing something drastic. What is this this time around Damian Almeda?

"I hope you can forgive me for this, Ellie! This was the only effective way I could think of!"

Why does that scare me to the core?

With trembling arms, I grab the envelope.

"What's this?"

‘CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE BETWEEN DAMIAN ALMEDA RICCAFORTE AND ELLIE MARIE RICCAFORD, HERBY SIGNED ON 24...'

Wait, hang on right there! Am I even reading correctly? I widen my eyes, glueing them on the document as I re-read the lines word by word, my heart pounding in my chest.

It indeed is a marriage certificate from the office of marital affairs, dated February 24, 2022, a month ago. And even my signature?

I flickered my eyes on him, searching for answers about the title of this play. But his eyes give no hint of this being a ploy. And I will remind myself this one thing this last time: this guy is core in everything he does. He never jokes.

I know we did a lot of crazy stuff but not to this extent. I knew he was crazy, but not to this extent. What sort of joke is this? "What the heck is this, Damian ?" I snap at Damian.

He takes a couple of breaths before speaking. "A marriage certificate. It is the only way out of this." He states.

Maybe? Yeah, maybe! If we are married, then it certifies why my father left his shares to Damian, my husband. But how on earth did this happen for God's sake? That is what I am asking here. How did he plan all this a month ago? Is there something I don't know?

"I meant, How did this happen, Damian? How and when did you come up with this plan of yours?" I ask.

"After your father's funeral,. I figured that this would not be easy, so I had that made up just in case of anything. I have had it for four days now."

Wow! The king of savage thinking! The king of solving problems!

So, he said, make up! So it's fake? It is not real. "So this isn't authentic?" I asked just to be sure.

"Yes, but this shouldn't get out of this room," he says.

Well, that is good. But why do I feel hurt? Come on, my heart! We have no time for this drama you want to pull right now. "Okay." I mumble lazily.

"There is also something else in the envelope," he adds, and I spoon my hand inside to find what other fake thing there is.

Two golden rings! Marriage rings? I scan them carefully, wondering what kind of thinker this guy is. They even have our initials on them. Are these fake too?