Damon's POV
“You wanted to see me?”, I walked into my grandfather's study and closed the door behind me. He was sitting behind his desk, waiting patiently for me even though I was an hour late. I knew he was probably going to let it slide for now but if the meeting doesn't go as he planned, he'll bring it up.
“Yes. Sit down”, he ordered while coughing badly. He was really sick recently, and I had to come check up on him once in a while because he was the only person I was really close to in our family. I was even closer to him than I was to my own father.
“Are you okay? Have you taken your meds today?”, I asked walking towards the cabinet where his medication was kept.
“Just sit down Damon”, he deadpanned. “Kim had already given me my medication for today”
“Talking about Kim, is she around?”, a smirk played on my lips as I thought of seeing her. She was his personal nurse. And damn, that girl was the full package. Beautiful and smart, curves in all the right places. I could tell she was good in bed too. I even had my fantasies about her, beneath me, screaming my name.
“I told her to take the rest of the day off”, he said in a warning tone that I should focus
“Why?”, I asked almost pouting my lip. I was disappointed at this, really disappointed.
“Because I knew she would have been a distraction. You even stutter when she's around you. You'll be acting like a stupid teenage boy”, he spat with his voice raising a little.
As much as I hate to admit it, he was right. I had a tiny crush on her, but I couldn't help it, she was just so freaking hot.
“I have something to tell you”, he said sipping from the glass of water
“Okay?”, I said as I leaned back on the chair and swirled a little with it
“You're getting married”, he stated, his voice monotone
“I'm sorry?”, I laughed. “What?”. I paused for a second, giving him an opportunity to change what he just said to me. He just sat there, no sign of a smile or a laugh, clearly unimpressed with the almost tantrum I was throwing. He took another sip of his water. My jaw dropped to the floor. He was serious.
“That's not going to happen. Over my dead body”, I stated firmly after my realization that he wasn't joking.
“I don't remember asking you”, he continued sipping his water
“You can't force me into a loveless marriage. I'll get married when I want, to whomever I want to. You are in no position to make such decisions for me”, I barked, and he remained quiet for a minute, studying me.
“You know Damon, you are living well of my riches, my hard-earned money. The least you could do is follow my wishes. Besides, the girl is hardly a stranger”, he said monotonously
“You can't tell me anything about respecting your wishes when you were merely just a mentor. I worked hard to get where I am now, I earned this position, so you can't threaten to take all that away from me if I refuse marrying someone I don't know”, I stated firmly, and he chuckled.
“You know, this marriage is a great investment between two powerful companies, we need this merger. So it's either you tag along or you take your own path, just know the family won't be on your side when that happens. You'll be all alone, broke, and you won't be worthy of the Kingsley name anymore. Don't make me turn my back on you Damon, because you know I'm more than capable of doing so and we wouldn't want that now, would we?”
That's Dylan Kingsley for you. Despite being deadly sick, he was still a cold, and blackmailing as he was as I was as a kid. He was controlling and manipulative. I'm tired of this bullshit.
“No, we wouldn't”
“Glad we understand each other”
“Who's this girl?”, I sighed as I took out my phone to G****e her name, I swear if there are No results in the search of her name. I'm seriously not going to marry her. I can't marry a nobody, a complete stranger. I have a reputation to uphold.
“Layla Jones”, he grinned, and I typed in her name on the search bar. Her name sounded oddly familiar though....
No results, please let No results pop up my screen. A tab opened up.
Layla Jones, 22 years old
Daughter of Cedric Jones and Granddaughter of the iconic, HendricJonesShit...
There was even a profile about her and a few pictures. She was kind of pretty though definitely not my type, but she'll do.
“You like what you see on Toogle?”, he asked amused, and I threw him a glare
“Its G****e”, I corrected. “And no, she's not the kind I pictured I would marry when I would plan to marry”
“I've known the Jones from way back and believe me when I tell you that Layla is just what this family needs. She's a lovely young lady, family-orientated, beautiful, and she just graduated from collage; successfully obtaining has her degree in english literature top of her class, meaning she's smart”.
“She's too ordinary, nothing intriguing about her”, I protested, and he laughed dryly. This was his mock laugh, nothing I said or did would change his mind because he always had the last word.
“You wouldn't know intriguing even if it hit you on the face, judging from the all the women you've dated in the past”, he pointed out confidently I glared at him
“Now that we're done with that, the wedding shall be in 3 weeks”, he announced, looking directly at me
“What?”, I choked on my saliva. “Three weeks?”
He gave a short nod. “Is that going to be a problem, Damon?”
“The least you could do is give me some more time. A year maybe?”, I bargained with him, and he laughed sarcastically.
“No. Three weeks it is”, he let out one final cough, telling me in a way that this conversation was over while standing to his feet with a crutch supporting his weight. “You'll see yourself out”.
He walked out and left me alone to battle with my thoughts.
Layla's POVThere I was, just standing in front of a mirror, looking at myself. Today my life was changing for the worst. I was going to be someone's wife.What was I thinking honestly? Who in their right mind just agrees to be married off to a complete stranger because of money? Does that make me an awful person?“Are you ready?”, my best friend, Lelo asked as she walked through the door. I sighed heavily.“In a minute”, I took one last look at myself again. What are you getting yourself into Layla?Stacy, my other best friend pushed passed Lelo to stand in front of me and looked at me. They both looked beautiful in their navy blue strapless dresses.“You're actually doing this, baby?”, Stacy asked in awe and I sighed heavily again“I have no any other choice Stacy. I have to. To save my families empire”, I shrugged lightly, and she shook her head.“Isn't there another way to go around this, pay them off or something?”, she asked as she sat down opposite me as Lelo helped me put my v
Layla's POV“Welcome to the family”, Rose Kingsley, Damon's mother engulfed me in breath-taking, bone crushing hug“C…can't breathe”, I struggled to talk because she was holding me so tight. She released me and gave a nervous laugh.“I'm so sorry dear, it's just that I'm so happy. I didn't imagine my Damon getting married, especially to such a beautiful, well-mannered girl like you”, she cupped my face in her hands before wiping tears that were already streaming down her face. “I'm so happy”, she sobbed, and I wrapped my arms around her, running my hand up and down her back.“It's okay”, I said and we broke from the hug as we heard someone clear their throat behind us“Mom, we need to go”, Damon spat in cold tone before Mrs Kingsley frowned in disappointment“Oh, okay”, she turned to look at me, caressing my cheek and pulled me for a warm hug again. “Don't be a stranger, okay?”“I promise I won’t”, I smiled at her, she was being so sweet to me. A mothers love was the one thing I haven
Damon's POVI stood over Layla as she slept soundly on the couch. She was sleeping in an unusual position that surely put a lot of pressure on her neck and spine. This was definitely going to hurt when she wakes up but yet again, this has nothing to do with me.I actually got a chance to look at her, she actually looked beautiful than she looked in the pictures. They must be an old images of her. The more I looked at her, the more I felt sorry for her. Why did she allow herself to be dragged into all of this? It was a point of no return.Tsk, tsk, tskI shook her gently and her eyes peeled open as she groaned in pain as she sat up straight"Aw", she groaned in agony as she massaged her neck"Here, I got you some clothes", I placed a small bag in front of her, and she gave me the deadly eye before standing slowly to her feet, took the bag and walked in the direction of the bathroom, slamming the door hard behind herWell, she's grumpy this morningI walked in on her in the kitchen, mak
Layla's POVIts been a couple of weeks after the wedding and I had to do nothing most of the time. Except helping around in the house. Besides from that, my life was complete torture as it seems I had married the devil himself."Mary. I'm home", I called out, and she hurried towards me to help with the bags. I had gone to the shops for a few groceries to her disapproval of course, but I insisted."You could have just let me go to the shops Ma'am", she said as we carried the bags to the kitchen"No Mary. I told you that I want to help around the house and that's exactly what I'm going to do and for the nth time, please call me Layla", I said as we packed the groceries, and she smiled."So, where's the Demon?", I asked, and she furrowed her eyebrows, clearly confused at what I was talking about and I quickly realized."Oh", I laughed at her facial expression, she looked so puzzled, it was hilarious."I mean where's Damon. I kind played around with the vowels and took out the a and repla
Layla's POVI had been spending a lot of time with Mary recently, because she's the only person who seems to get me around here. Unlike some people I know.Mary and I spent time talking, about everything really, even about the Demon. I don't know why I'm even intrigued to know about him, but I was. If only I could just know something I could use against him.“He eats anything really, except food that contains spices”, Mary said as I took a spoonful of the delicious apple pie she prepared, each bite felt like I died and went to haven“Why?”, for some reason, I was actually curious“He doesn't eat spicy food”, she said casually while she continued dishing up for Damon“Hmm”, I hummed in response. “Interesting”Wait…He doesn't eat, Spicy food!That's It!...... Light bulb moment.My plot for my next revenge, coming right up. “Mary, I'll go give him his food, you carry on here”, I volunteered“Are you sure?”, she rose her eyebrow at me“Yeah of course, it's the least I could do for him. H
Layla's POVYou're probably wondering whether the Demon is still alive or not and unfortunately, he still is, sighI really don't care much about him. I'm just concerned that Mary nearly lost her job because of me because the Demon was convinced that she was trying to punish him because of the way he treats me. I told him so many times that I was the one who sprinkled the spice over his food, but Noooo,Mr Know-it-all《Flashback 》"She tried to kill me, she has to go", he roared at the top of his voice, banging his fists on the table"How many times do I have to tell you that I was the one who did it for Goodness' sake?. What do you want me to do for you to believe me? Turn myself in?", I rose an eyebrow at him and he scoffed mockingly"No, just because you two are friends there is no need for you to take the fall for her"Was he trying to get rid of her because she and I are friends?"Then if she tried to kill you, why had she rushed to get you to the hospital then?", I asked and he
Layla's POVQuinton and I spent a lot of time together, and I enjoyed his company. He was so easy to talk to, funny, sweet and caring, did I mention he was cute? When we talked, it was mostly about him because well, there wasn't much to say about me.He had so many dreams and ambitious that I couldn't imagine someone his age would have. Hell I didn't even have those kinds of dreams when I was his age. It was all about finishing high school, then college and getting my degree. But I had to get married a few weeks after my graduation ....talk about a burst!He wasn't interested in joining the family business he wanted to do his own thing, which fascinated me. He was really into music and was very techno savvy.The first week of his stay we went almost everywhere, from historical sights to malls, eating out and taking long drivesHe was such a great guy, and he also had a bubbly personality. He often told me about this girl he liked from school but how he can't man up and tell her how he
Damon's POVI walked into my building and today I felt like greeting no one, even if I greeted it would be a cold morning or just wave a little. Usually my employees would be the one's that forced to somehow greet me and today I wasn't interested. I wasn't in the mood to talk or see people.“Cancel all my meetings for today”, I ordered as I walked to my receptionists desk and her eyes widened at my demand before she took out her diary and started paging through it“But sir, that's what you said yesterday and all the meetings were postponed to today. I can't keep cancelling them”, she put her diary down and placed her hands on her hips.“Carla please for once, just do as you're told”, I deadpanned as I slowly past her desk and walked towards my office, and she let out a long exaggerated heavy sighAs I continued walking, a pair of high heel sounds started following me and whoever it was, she definitely couldn't walk in heels. The clicking of the heels didn't make that rhythm Layla usua