"Really?!" Desmonda yelled, her eyes full of tears. "After everything I've done for you, this is how you betray me?!"

Her fiancé shrugged and slipped on his coat, unbothered by her glare. "What did you expect? You're an ugly, useless woman Des. You forced me into this engagement when I said I wanted nothing to do with you, why are you so surprised now that I've chosen to take on a mistress?"

Rage coloured Desmonda's face, and without letting herself think twice she lifted her hand and slapped him harshly across the face.

He blinked rapidly and so did she when she realised what she'd done, anger and emotions had just controlled her actions, something she'd sworn she'd never allow to happen, but right now she couldn't bring herself to feel bad about it.

"You deserve that, hell, you deserve a lot worse than that! You stand here, unapologetic after I caught you cheating on me and then you try to insult me like I brought this upon myself!" she started, her chest heaving from the heavy breaths she drew.

She could feel tears stinging her eyes and sobs rising up her throat, but she couldn't cry, she couldn't let him know how much this affected her, even though she was utterly shattered inside.

"Because you did bring this upon yourself," he hissed and took a threatening step towards her. She retreated, intimidated by the anger in his eyes and the tension lining his shoulders. "Did you actually think a man like me would be interested in a slip of a woman like you? I told you I didn't want this engagement, I warned you that I wouldn't be faithful, but you ran off with the stupid idea that you could change me, you thought you could make me love you."

He snorted and this time, Desmonda couldn't stop the tears. She clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the sobs that'd been threatening to burst out of her since the private investigator first dropped those photos on her office table.

Photos of Freddie and a woman with her face hidden by large hats and hoodies, some of the pictures showed them hugging or on the rare occasion kissing, their faces were permanently frozen in stills of them laughing and teasing each other, Freddie looking happier than he'd ever had with her.

He was right, she had deluded herself. She'd been the one to agree to their pairing when even her parents advised against it, she'd been the one to delude herself into thinking that she could make this work, that she could make him fall in love with her.

They'd known each other for years, she was sure that with all the fond memories they'd shared, she could get him to love her the way she loved him and now look where those ridiculous notions had gotten her.

"Let's call it off then," she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked over to where the pictures were, spread out on the bed of their hotel room. "You're right, I was stupid to believe we could make this work. Let's call off the wedding and you can be with whoever you want. We don't have to-"

He scowled. "What? No. We're not calling off the wedding Des. Imagine what it'd look like when the news comes out, it'll ruin my family's image and yours, not to mention our company..."

"You're thinking about your image now!?" She yelled, confused by his words. "When you've been cheating on me for months!? Don't you think that's more damaging than us splitting up?"

He waved away her words as if they held no meaning to him, he backed away from her and picked up his wristwatch from the dressing table, slipping it on with practised ease. "Can you imagine the field day the tabloids would have if our split hit the media? Not to mention if the reason for our split ever got out. Besides, what's a little cheating? It's normal for men of my calibre to keep a mistress, if anything you'll be laughed at for being delusional enough to think you could keep me entertained."

Des sputtered with disbelief and threw her hands up. "I don't care, Freddie! I don't care if your image or the image of this company is ruined! I don't care if I look pathetic, I want nothing to do with you from now on-!"

She'd barely gotten those words out when Freddie stepped forward quickly and grabbed her by the throat. She gagged and stared up at him fearfully as he pressed her against the wall and glared down at her with rage contouring his features.

He tightened his fist around her throat. "I'm only going to say this once and just once. You will not call off this wedding, you will act alright when I introduce my mistress to the family and you won't cause a scene. We'll get married and you'll play the role of a smiling and perfect wife, you'll give me as many heirs as I need. It's either you do this, or I swear to all that is good and holy I will bring down that pathetic company you and your family struggled to start, I'll make sure you never work or live in Arindale again and you know I can do all this and more."

Desmonda reached forward to wrench his hand away from her throat, but it was of no use, Freddie was much stronger than her and much more powerful. He could bring down her family's business, he could make it impossible for them to ever have a life in this country and it would only take a snap of his fingers.

Their marriage was always more beneficial to her anyway. Freddie was the handsome CEO of the second most powerful corporation in the country, he had ties to the government and like other executives in the country, he had ties to underground networks of criminals that he used to do his bidding. His influence wasn't only relegated to the business world, but to literally every sector you could think of.

Compared to him, Desmonda was nothing. She was the the adopted daughter of a new money family. She didn't have half of his influence, reach or wealth. Their wedding was her way of fixing that and now she was having it used against her.

She was powerless here and she realised that very quickly.

"Do you understand me Desmonda?" He asked again, squeezing her throat tighter for emphasis.

She nodded shakily and he instantly released her.

Her body slumped to the floor and she coughed violently as tears of pain and despair stung her eyes.

"Get up," he said impatiently and rolled his eyes at her hunched-over figure. "You have foundation, use that to cover the bruising and wipe away your tears. We'll have dinner in two days where I'll introduce you and the family to my girlfriend, she'll be around often so I want everyone to know where I stand from the beginning. You got it?"

She nodded and bit down on her lower lip to keep from lashing out at him, that would get her nowhere.

"Room service will be here soon, don't let them see this mess you've made of yourself," he glared down at her. "Remember Des, it's my image you stand to ruin, I'm already a laughingstock because I got an ugly fiancée like you, don't make things even worse by overreacting. Is that clear?"

She nodded.

"Use your words," he spat.

"Yes, Freddie," she replied hoarsely, her throat hurt too much to speak. She stood up with her head still bowed and remained frozen in place until he picked up the photos from the bed and left the room with them.

Slowly, almost robotically, Desmonda rearranged the room as much as she could. She folded the clothes that she'd initially angrily tossed at him, picked up her smashed phone and rearranged the pillows.

When she made sure the room showed no sign of their tussle, she sat in front of the vanity and picked up her makeup to hide the bruises on her neck.