Alexandra could not stop crying and weeping after what Nikolei had said to her. She quickly walked out of the house with Nikolei's maid saying sorry repeatedly towards her. She felt downhearted after the incident. She felt small, how her world had completely turned upside down when the love of her life detested her so much that her presence made him disgusted.

Where should she stay for now?

She sighed and slowly approach a building with a 'rent' sign hanging on the sign board. Despite the sadness that overwhelmed her, she was glad that she could find a place for her to crash for a while.

She was an orphan from the start and had no one to be called a family. Independent is what she was as she had to grow and faced the world on her own without anyone to support her other than the family she has at the orphanage. Despite the harsh world treating her badly, she was met with a handsome young man who had her hooked the first time they met.

She met Nikolei when she was in freshman year at college. Nikolei had bumped into her sending them off to the ground, laughing and feeling sorry at each other. From there, they started to hang out more often and and fell in love with each other. He was her light in her dark life. He was her strength. Everything was perfect from then.

She knew the Machiavelli family was very well-known in the outside world. Everyone respected the family as they held the business world in the palm of their hands. Despite all the wealth, his family never critique her background but instead accepted her openly and treated her just like their own family.

She admitted, it was her who had invited the dark clouds in his family. Her choices had everyone in jeopardy, but what she did was to safe his family from poverty because she knew how outside world was very judgemental and harsh. That time before the wedding, Nikolei was under stress as the company's life was in jeopardy when a few clients decided to pull out.

However, he had assured her everything was fine and reminded her how he was so ecstatic for their wedding to arrive. Just two days before the wedding, she had received a phone call and a letter stating that she has to leave and will not attend the wedding or else Nikolei and his family will face the consequences ─ bankruptcy.

Like anyone else, she was not to think about herself and be selfish but to think about Nikolei. She was not to become the only reason for his family to face the cruelty of the world. As an orphan, she had faced and seen many cruelty growing up and she would not let the downfall of the great Machiavelli clan to occur just because of her pathetic self. So, she decided to take her best friend's advice that is not to anger the man who had threatened her.

She ran away.

She wiped her tears and decided to pack her belongings in the closet. Thankfully, the apartment she had rented was fully furnished and the price was very reasonable although it was a bit small, but hey, who is she to complain? She was glad that she had save some money from her job at the bakery outside the state when she was a runaway.

For now, she will have to find another job to keep her life upright.

*****

Nikolei was fuming after meeting Alexandra. After all this years, she has the audacity to show her face in his house. He was glad that he had said those harsh words to her and seeing the tears had brought him pleasure and satisfication. Nothing could beat the hurt that his family had to endure. Especially the hurt that he felt when she left him. He was not himself when she had left, wondering what was wrong with him that could possibly made the love of his life pulled out from the wedding last minute.

"Nikolei, you are too harsh to that poor girl." His maid, Maria, said.

He grunted, "There's no such thing as harsh for her, Maria."

Maria sighed in defeat. She had no idea what was going on between the young lady and Nikolei but the name that came out of Nikolei's mouth had rang some bells in her mind.

Alexandra... Alexandra Rakers.

She knew the lady named Alexandra was Nikolei's ex-fiancée but has never see the woman's face. She did heard some rumors from the Machiavellis but decided not to interfere with their personal business. Maria was Nikolei's nanny when he was still a baby and she had considered Nikolei as her son, but she had no rights when it comes to the personal matters of his family.

She could not come to the wedding because her husband had fallen sick the same week and decided to retire to take a good care of her husband. When her husband had died after a few months of battling with cancer, she was called back by Nikolei and offered her to be his maid at his house. Without anything on her hands to keep her busy, she decided to take the offer.

"Will you come back for lunch later?" Maria asked, handing her his suitcase.

"No, I'll be having lunch with a client of mine. You can fetch Gayle at three o'clock."

*****

"What do you mean I have to marry her?!" Nikolei yelled at the lawyer.

The lawyer cleared his throat, "W-well, that is in her will. You have to marry her if you want to keep Gayle."

Nikolei groaned and ran his hand through his hair, making it disheveled. How can she do this to him? He paced around his office with the lawyer's eyes never leave him. Today was the day his wife's lawyer came to read the will she had prepared and this is what he received?

"Is there any other way that I don't have to marry that woman?" He said angrily, suddenly felt mad when the thought of that woman came to his mind.

The lawyer sighed and shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, sir. There's nothing else you can do. It has been clearly stated here that you are to marry the woman she had chose for you."

"Is there any other conditions?" He asked.

"No, sir. She only stated that Gayle will receive all her wealth when he reach the age of twenty and for you to marry the woman stated here a month after her death. However, she did not state whether you have to stay married to Ms. Rakers in a certain period."

"You mean, I can divorce her anytime I want?"

The lawyer nodded heavily. He could see a bit of anger and disgust in the man's eyes but he just shrugged him off. He has no time in dealing with something petty right now. Nikolei sighed exasperately. What is her intention of forcing him to marry that woman? She knew how much he could not stand being in the same room with her, and much worst, she wanted him to build a sacred bond with her?

"If there's nothing else, I'll be heading my way. Thank you for your time, Mr. Machiavelli."

He nodded and shook the lawyer's hand. He then quickly called in his secretary.

"I want you to find this woman's address immediately and inform me today." He said while handing his secretary the note.

"Right away, boss."

He leant back on his executive chair and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. My day just got much worst, he thought. His eyes were focused at the view of the blue sky from his office window when his secretary entered his office.

His eyebrow quirked up when his secretary handed him a yellow file. No doubt that he had hired him as his secretary.

"Here you go, sir. The information you needed. If that's all, I'll excused myself."

He took the file and took a look at the information. After taking in the address, he quickly slipped on his suit jacket and went out of his office to his car. When he reached the building where the address located, he remained static in his car and focused his eyes on the building just a few steps away. He stepped out and approached the apartment room she was in. 

He took a few minutes fighting with his inner self before he knocked a few times on the wooden door. Just a few seconds later, footsteps approached the door and the door creaked opened, revealing the tenant in a baggy sweatshirt and pink pajama pants, wearing a tight bun on her head. The tenant's eyes widenend as she took in his features.

"We need to talk." Nikolei said while staring into the woman's brown eyes.