41
Ella
I stare between Dean and Matt.
Going to the police?
Forced marriage?
Intent?
How the hell is that a thing?
Giving a statement about Amelia’s ‘affair’ and my father’s blackmail, I can understand. But how would they even prove that, let alone the forced marriage thing? Dean and I haven’t even got married, so how could—
“How do we prove any of it? What the hell are they going to do? You and Ella aren’t married, so a crime hasn’t been committed.” Matt pipes up.
“Forced marriage is illegal in this country. If we can prove there was the intent, they will investigate,” Dean says.
“So, how do we prove any of this? All four of them will just deny it.”
He brings out a wad of paper in a transparent wallet. “I made a photocopy of the contract. Proof of a forced marriage right here. It has all four of their signatures. I couldn’t find evidence in my dad’s office of my mother’s affair. So, we will give a statement about everything they did, but if the police won’t do anything about her, she will get done for trying to force a marriage on someone. This right here shows intent. This contract was never legally binding, Ella.”
“ What ?” I demand.
“Our marriage pact was never legally binding; it was just a formal written statement. You cannot legally force two people to get married in this country, so if it ever came to it, a court would’ve never made this binding. I’ve had it looked over by a lawyer-friend – one of the best in the country, actually – he does mostly criminal work, but he knows his shit. He told me they couldn’t have made it legally binding if they wanted to. The formality of this was always just so that they had it in writing for each other,” Dean explains.
I glance at Matt. He doesn’t buy this.
Now I’ve seen the paperwork in his hand, it makes sense. If they go to prison, Matt’s life will be safe, and Dean has his company and money.
“So, what, we and this lawyer go to the police, and what?” I ask.
“The lawyer will testify for us if it gets that far, or at least, represent us. The police will investigate, the Crown Prosecution Service will determine if there is enough of a case to prosecute the four of them. The proof in black and white should be enough, plus our statements,” Dean explains. He passes a business card across the table. “The lawyer told me to give you his details in case you want to know more.”
Matt pipes up, “Forced marriages weren’t made illegal until 2014, Dean, so it—”
“Indeed, but the marriage was originally – before Ella went to university – going to take place in 2015, after the new law came to pass. The marriage then got changed to this year when it’s still illegal. This isn’t a legally binding contract, so they can’t claim that there’s a loophole. We can also get them done for blackmail toward Ella and me. I will even testify to being a witness to the assault on Matthew if that helps the case. With just the forced marriage alone, they will be looking at up to seven years in prison, Ella. This here, this can secure Matthew’s life, this can get us justice. This… this is the key to everything.”
“You mean the key to your money and the company too?” I arch an eyebrow. “In the spirit of working as a team, we all know you’re mainly doing this for yourself.”
“I’m in line to take over the company when my dad retires. If he gets put in prison, or hell, even if they so much as press charges against him, his reputation is ruined. He’ll have to step down. Which means I’ll be acting CEO. I can then decide to force him out, force him into retirement, or just vote him out with the board. If I’m the one to bring this to police attention, then my reputation isn’t touched, and therefore the company will be safe. Thus, my money is safe and so is the company. It’s a literal win-win for everyone involved.”
“What about Ella?” Matt asks. Dean gives him a questioning look. “I mean, all we get is justice, which is lovely and appreciated. You get a bloody company and money out of this—”
“You can have a permanent job with me, which means safety for life with a hell of a salary.” Dean shrugs.
Matt laughs. “You think I’ll be bribed like—”
“It’s not a bribe, it’s not a contract. Well, the job will be employment, but it’s not shady. If you don’t want it, don’t take it. I’ll give you a share in the company, money, whatever you want. I am serious about this, Matthew. As I said, I realise how horrific some of my actions have been. All I have left is the company and my money. I’ve said this all along; I’ve never agreed with what my mother did. Despite how I feel about Ella, forced marriage is… well, illegal, amongst other things. I can understand why you’re sceptical, and I can understand why you don’t want to believe me. But, in a matter of minutes, hours, days – I don’t know – they will work out where you are, what’s happened and they will kill you, Matthew. Especially if my father finds out about the pregnancy, and now marriage.”
“What about the fact you hit me, Dean? You hit Ella. You stalked us. What do we do about that?” Matt demands.
Dean shrugs, a look of indifference clouding his eyes. “You can tell the police about that, too. But I have come here with the proof you need to be free; I’ve apologised to both of you. I may have been a villain in all of this, but the real villains here are these four people. It’s up to you, but I will not blame you if you want to give a statement against me, too.”
Matt looks at me with a sense of disbelief. Something inside me wants to be as sceptical as he is, but something about the way he’s speaking, a hint of the old Dean perhaps, is what makes me believe in him.
“How do I know you’re serious about this? You threatened to kill my husband multiple times over this. Your father, my father… they would kill him , if this fails. After everything you’ve done to me after you hit me… after everything you’ve done to Matt… why would I believe you?” I question.
I wish I was Sherlock Holmes; if I was, I’d be able to piece this all together like a kid’s jigsaw puzzle. Everything would slot in within ten seconds. But I’m not. I’m like Watson – just watching in awe, unable to process what the hell is unfolding in front of me.
Dean stares at me. I feel Matt’s hand grip mine under the table. He’s uncomfortable about this entire exchange. I can understand why; since we’ve known each other, it’s all been about getting away from Dean as much as possible, trying to avert ourselves from his grip. Yet here we are, talking about joining like a trio of adventurers trying to take down the big, terrible villains.
“I apologise for hitting you, Ella.” He blinks and gives me a small smile. “How long have we known each other?”
“My whole life,” I answer, ignoring his apology. I didn’t want it in the first place, but I said it to make the point.
“You know how much I respect my father, and your father, right? And you know how much I love the company, which would completely financially ruin me if it went down, right?”
I nod in response. He respects those arseholes more than he should, and as for money, we all know how much he loves the stuff.
“So, you must know that if I’m coming to you with a way of taking down the very people I’ve respected for life, I must be serious. If I’m doing that, then my plan must be a serious way for all of us, including your unborn child, to be safe. Why would I lie to you about taking down the people I respect?”
“He’s got a point,” I state.
“You can’t respect either of them that much if you’re willing to betray them like this,” Matt pipes up.
“You’re right, but the point is, I used to respect them. My father is a business-orientated leader. Her father is a calculated, driven man. Before this all came out, I wanted to be like them; respected, rich, feared. Then I found out what they did,” Dean admits. “To be fair, my father runs that company damn well.”
“If you say so.” Matt scoffs. “I don’t understand how a man who protects his cheating, paedophilic wife can run a company well, but there we go.”
Dean ignores the comment and looks at me. “What do you say?”
I look at Matt when he takes my hand in his.
“You believe him, don’t you Ells?” Matt asks, and both look at me for an answer.
I look at Dean, at the papers he’s laid on the table, and then back into Dean’s eyes. “If this fails, what then?”
“Then I will ship you both off somewhere and get your names changed,” Dean says, and those blue eyes deepen to show me he’s serious. “But I truly don’t believe it will.”
He’s shown me that look before; when we were younger, years before we even knew we were engaged. I was thirteen; he was seventeen and I remember running to his house after school, sobbing because I thought I was in love with a boy called George. I’d asked him to be my date at the school disco. He told me he’d think about it, then when we were in class, he laughed out loud as he told everyone I’d asked him. I remember the pure hatred spewing from his mouth as he told everyone that I could have all the money in the world, but that it would never make me attractive or lovable. Everyone in the class laughed.
I ran home to Dean, who hugged me and made me look him in the eyes as he told me that no matter what a stupid teenager who hadn’t hit puberty properly thought of me, I would find someone in the world who will think I was the most attractive, most lovable person in the world, and when I found them, I had to never let them go.
He gave me the same look he gives me now. Pure truth.
“I believe him, Matty.”
I expect him to sigh, to stand up and strop like a child because he’s pissed off. Not even two days into marriage, and I expect our first argument as a married couple to happen.
What I don’t expect is Matt to stand up and stretch out his hand to shake with Dean. Dean immediately understands the gesture and I watch as the two of them stand and shake hands as if they were just doing business.
“If you double-cross us, I swear to—”
“If I were double-crossing you, you’d be dead by now,” Dean points out.
“Yeah, you have a point.” Matt smirks.
I blanch from my seat; they’re acting like friends now?
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask.
“We go down the station, tomorrow morning. It’s a bit late now,” Dean announces. He looks at his phone. “I have no notifications saying they know where you are, so I’d say we have enough time.”
“We’ll meet you there at eleven.” Matt sighs.
“Sounds reasonable. I will leave you two in peace.” Dean nods and stands.
I stand from my chair to make sure he leaves the vicinity. Dean looks at me, and I know he’s hesitating about offering me a hug.
“Goodbye, Dean,” I say, not going to him for a hug. He has to earn that privilege back by not double-crossing us, and I can tell he knows it, too. He nods, paperwork in hand, and walks out of the front door. The door doesn’t slam this time.
∞∞∞
“So, you’re telling me you actually believe him?” Nick demands.
“Yes,” I reply.
“You do realise that he threatened to kill Matt multiple times. He also spied on you… multiple times. He also told your parents when he found you, right?” Nick adds.
Turning to Matt, I say, “You realise you shook his hand ? Twice? You made a deal in the business world, right? Even though the guy threatened to kill you?”
“That’s because this… deal? Plan? Whatever you wanna call it, makes sense. Behind the expensive suits, slick hair, and charming grin and the evil acts, the guy is quite smart. It works for us, Ells.”
“See, now you’re on side with him. Which is it? I’m tearing my hair out here. I believe him, I believe this could work. This could save us .”
“I believe he’s in this plan, thing, for himself. We just help him because an extra few testimonies will make sure they get sent to prison. He’s mainly in this for himself, like everything. He knows he’s lost the war for you. I just don’t believe he’s changed, which apparently you do. I assume they still don’t know that we’re married?”
“Well, I’d be surprised if they haven’t worked it out, and immediately come here. It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together,” I say.
“As long as they don’t find out before we leave for the police station tomorrow, I think we should be okay. It would be pretty handy if we could move into the house now, but apparently, the estate agents can’t hurry themselves up.” Matt replies. “I’m not fucking happy about this; nor about going along with his ‘plan’. I’m not fucking happy that we all suddenly believe he’s had a change of fucking heart. Ells, the man stalked you for three years. He threatened us. He groped you, kissed you without consent and then physically tried to drag you with him. Because he’s in love with three things: you, money, and power. I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either, but what other choice do we have?”
“To get the hell on with our lives!”
“Yeah, until my father, or his father finds us and potentially kills you? I’d rather risk Dean double-crossing us than have you dead. We both know he’s doing this for himself, so why not help and get us something too? The chance to be a proper, safe family? We’ve come this far.” I approach him and take his hand in mine. Instinctively, he entwines our fingers together and touches my stomach. I smile, remembering those words he spoke to me all those months ago.
“Take a chance on me, Matty.”
He knows what I’ve done; I can see it when his eyes glower at me for a single second before melting and succumbing.
“I know what you did there,” he whispers. “I’m glad you did it.” He lets go and grabs me closer to him. The kiss he presses on my lips is desperate but soft.
“Get a damn room!” Nick laughs, throwing a cushion at us in jest.
“Yes sir,” Matt jokes, throwing the cushion back.