Scandalous Games (Arranged Games Book 1)

(Present)

Silence darkens the whole room.

Every detail about that awful night as I relive it through the eyes of the truth kills me bit by bit. A page of my life that got stuck but was unfurled today. Lives were set to be ruined seven years ago. All because of rivalry.

Hatred and envy.

Damaged souls.

Because of me.

Dash had betrayed me. Not once but twice. And I fell for his devious charm, his twisted manipulation each time. Suddenly, my mom’s warning replays in my mind, taunting me. Despite it all, my heart still aches for him.

Just how sad is it?

“Niall is really dead?” I stammer over the beating of my heart. “So his mom wasn’t lying?”

His eyebrows furrow in cold fear. “When did you meet her?”

“What does it matter?” I shout. “How could you hid this from me?”

“Because Niall isn’t dead. He’s in a coma,” he says, and for the first time, I hear the pain in his voice. The guilt. The agony. The shocking revelation hits me like a ton of bricks. “The accident caused irreversible damage to his spinal cord. He hasn’t woken up ever since.”

“Oh god!” I cry, walking backward.

He comes closer, but one look from me and he stills. Tears glisten in his eyes as he watches me pull away from him. The sight of him twists and crushes my insides harder. “I’m so sorry, kitten. I didn’t want you to find out like this. I swear I was going to tell you after tonight. You have to believe me.”

“Believe you?” I laugh brokenly. He flinches at my sharp tone and when my tears escape, his arm reaches for me again. “God! You must have been laughing at me the whole time. I willingly let you in my life, my body, and worst of all, I gave you my heart. No wonder you fooled my parents and acted like the perfect husband.”

“Don’t. Everything was real, kitten.”

“How could you? You could’ve just told me he was cheating on me. Why did you cruelly send me upstairs and let me see them together? Seven years, Dash. I spent seven fucking years with a broken heart, thinking I wasn’t good enough to be loved, to be cared for. I stopped trusting people. Do you even know how lonely that feels? I bared my deepest fears to you.”

“I know, kitten. I’m sorry.”

Crossing the distance like he can’t bear to stay away, he pulls me into his arms. I shake my head and hit his chest. Again and again. Sob after gut-wrenching sob. He takes every punch until I grow tired.

“You fucking broke me, Dash.” I shove but his arms tighten. “Let. Me. Go.”

“I can’t.” His tone broken. “Please forgive me, Bianca.”

His arms drop when I shove hard and distance myself from him. “I never should’ve trusted you. I’ll never forgive you for this, Dash. Never.”

“Don’t say that, kitten. Please. You’re my world. I can’t survive without you.”

The words I longed to hear from him burn like a flaming rod against my chest. His pained eyes stare into mine lovingly, letting me feel the truth, but then again, he’s always been a great actor.

“You don’t hurt the ones you love, Dash,” I angrily say. “You betrayed me, used and lied to me. I was never a person to you. Just a toy you wanted to snatch from your brother. You deserve to be alone.”

He stills at my harsh words yet the longing in his light pupils doesn’t diminish. They beg me to stay and when a tear slips down his cheek, something inside me shatters.

The wound in my heart is like a live wire.

“You love me, Bianca. Don’t do this to us.”

“I warned you, Dash,” I whisper, repeating my words. “I’m incapable of loving anyone. Least of all you. How can I, when you’re the one who made me stop believing in it?”

He staggers like I physically hit him and the raw guilt shadows his features. It slowly twisted into horror like his worst nightmare and fears came true. Wiping my tears, I leave him standing and run.

He shouts my name but I don’t stop.

Why did I think coming to this city would be different this time? It will always be the place of my heartbreak. My scars. My ruination.

In my haste to get away, I didn’t realize I ran toward the front exit where the media and the camera crew were waiting. I flinch when the first shutter goes off and I cover my eyes when thousands of flashes hit my tear-stained face.

Oh god.

Panic swells inside my chest and my breathing turns choppy as I try to evade them. It’s like they are surrounding me from every direction. My heels break but before I can fall down the stairs at the entrance, two strong arms appear and yank me inside the threshold.

“Kick them all out. Now!” Dash barks. He tilts my face and demands in a raw voice, “Are you okay, kitten? Look at me, please.”

“Don’t touch me.”

I slap his hands away, burning at the touch. He’s the last person I want around me.

“Please let me get you out of here.”

“No. Let me go.”

“Never. You’re still my wife, Bianca.”

The photographers are still going strong. My mind warns me to stay quiet but when I hear him call me his wife, I lose my calm, and hurt and rage combine. How dare he still call me his?

“I’m your fake wife. The marriage was a sham, remember?” I shout. “None of it was real.”

His fingers tighten when I hurl the words, and the same heartbreak I felt years ago mirrors in his eyes. We remain in a silent battle and it takes me a second to notice the crowd of partygoers have gathered around us. Their faces, shocked and horrified. I realize what I blurted out in a fit of anger and panic.

No. No. No. My head feels dizzy as my surroundings blur around me. My lungs cave, like they can’t get enough air. Justin appears in my periphery and says in a low voice to Dash, “Let her go, Stern. I’ll take her home.”

“No,” he growls, like he knows it’s the last time he’ll ever hold me.

“Look at her, she’s seconds away from having a panic attack.”

When he notices how I’m leaning my weight on him, my strength gone, worry shadows his features. I hear the reluctance and anxiety in his voice. “Okay. I’ll be right behind you guys. Take her in my car. It’s waiting in the back.”

Justin nods and I’m shifted into the other man’s arms as he soothingly whispers, “I’ve got you, beautiful.”

I bury my face in his chest as he hugs me to his body, but I know the damage is already done. Now, everyone will know my shame. The treachery I did against my own family.

The fear is nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

The second we are alone in the back hallway, my breathing returns to normal—albeit slowly. The driver is waiting with the car. He opens the door and Justin helps me inside before sliding in himself. Numbness spreads in my bones and I just want to disappear. I can’t stay here.

“I need to call someone,” I whisper to Justin.

“Okay, beautiful.”

He passes his phone and I type Rosa’s number. She picks up on the first ring.

“Hello?” her voice is rough and confused from sleep.

“It’s Bee.” I hiccup.

“Bee? Is everything okay? Whose number is this?”

“I need you, Ro.”

“What happened? Are you hurt?” she rapidly fires. “Wait… why do you sound like you’re crying?”

“I-I… It hurts, Ro.”

“Talk to me. You’re scaring me, Bee.”

“Dash.”

My voice trails off but she understands. “Pack your bags and text me the address. I’m coming to get you.” In the background, I hear her shout at someone to fuel the jet her family owns. “Stay strong until I get there, Bee.”

“Okay.”

“I love you.”

When I hang up the phone, Justin makes an attempt to speak, “Bianca—”

“Just take me to the airport,” I cut him off. “I’ll wait there.”

With a sigh, he orders the driver to turn the car around and I gaze out the window. Loyal to his selfish best friend, he defends him and tries to explain.

“Whatever anger you feel at him right now, it is nothing compared to what he feels for himself to this day or the guilt he carries. He blames himself for not stopping a drunk Niall after he left his house, but tragedy waits for no one.”

“I don’t blame him for the accident. It was nobody’s fault and I know if it was in his power, he would’ve done anything to save him,” I murmur. “All he had to do was tell me the truth, Justin, and I would’ve forgiven him.”

“Dash grew up in a dysfunctional home with a father who kept his emotions to himself and neglected him. When you’ve lived like that and someone comes along to fill the empty hole for the first time, you just want to hold on to that ray of light. You’re that ray to him, Bianca.” He pauses and I feel his eyes on me, but I don’t look while crying silently. “You’ve both suffered enough. So don’t sacrifice your future for the sins and mistakes of the past.”

It’s too late now.

It’s over.