Valentianus sat behind his desk, one leg crossed over the other, resting his arm on the armrest, chin lying on his palm. He stared at the wall, deep in thought.
Father Silverius had informed him of another assassin roaming in the streets of Carran. His little spies sure knew everything.
For a holy man, Father Silverius used dirty tricks so he could be ahead of everything. Father's spies had learned every single detail of House of Valor´s assassins and had memorized each one's faces.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, he supposed, but Valentianus was curious. What secrets did Father Silverius keep hidden in his room ever since he had surrounded himself with spies?
Was the holy man merely paranoid that one of his employees would someday come after him without a reason, or were his fears justified? Either way, Valentianus guessed he would find out about it, eventually.
Valentianus smirked when he remembered the Father's pale face when one minister brought him a message. When Valentianus asked if there was something wrong, the Father had mumbled something about the most skilled and cruellest assassin alive was coming after him and had fled into his room, locking the door.
Valentianus was more than baffled about this event, but when he tried to ask for more information from the minister, the man merely shrugged his shoulders.
After that, all hell broke loose as Father Silverius ordered every single red file from the archive to be removed to another location.
The assassin couldn´t get their hands on them. His thoughts erupted when there was a knock on the door, the irritated Valentianus straightened his posture.
"Enter!"
He barked and watched as the door opened and his younger brother stepped inside.
"Riss. What do I owe the pleasure? I thought you would be wooing some young girl at the club."
Valentianus hummed, resting his elbows on the table while placing his chin on the back of his hand.
The Tharron club was popular among wealthier people who went there for breakfast and to socialize.
In the evening, it turned into a gentlemen's club where businesspeople met each other with their spouses. It was a regular place for Riss trying to get a young woman to share his company.
Bars weren´t his style much to Valentianus´ amusement, Riss loved the challenge of picking up some sober girl and bringing her to his bed.
"I was, but then I stumbled upon your wife." Riss shrugged, flopping onto the armchair in front of the desk. Valentianus raised his brow in question and leaned back in his chair.
"What was she doing there?"
Valentianus asked, suspicion in his voice. "She was fetching one of her friends from the club. I had a funny feeling, so I followed her. They headed to the Firefly Sip Tearoom and stopped to talk to some guy along the way."
"Some guy?"
Valentianus voice dropped dangerously, and his eyes narrowed. His wife had a maddening habit of flirting with men, although married to him. It infuriated Valentianus, but as long as she wasn´t violating their marriage agreement, he couldn´t do anything.
Talking to other men wasn´t exactly forbidden, but it didn´t mean Valentianus liked it.
So far she had honoured the boundaries and settled for innocent flirting and talking. Valentianus was sure she did it to piss him off.
Their marriage was arranged because Theia´s old father was neck-deep in debt to the Tharron family and had tried to sell his daughter to Valentianus to get out of the situation stating she would be a valuable worker in Valentianus´ company.
Valentianus wasn´t going to agree to such a suggestion at first. What he was going to do with a naïve little girl who didn´t even have a decent education? It disgusted him how willingly Theia´s father tried to sell his flesh and blood to save his skin.
She wasn´t going to be much help to him but after some reconsideration and stubborn sell speech from her father, Valentianus decided to make a deal.
He wasn´t thrilled about it but maybe he would gain something out of it. After all, he was a businessperson.
Valentianus would marry her, and Theia would work for him to pay her father's debt, as his wife. Her security clearance would be a level 5 for allowing her full access to his company's data. Of course, she was in constant surveillance to prevent any foul play on her part when she was dealing with Valentianus´s company's accounts.
She had 5 years to accomplish that.
After that, she was free to divorce him, but if she failed to do what was asked of her, her father would pay the price.
Valentianus wrote on the contract that if Theia wouldn´t be able to work hard and pay the debt in the given time, Valentianus was free to sell their house and everything inside it for the Tharron family to get their money back and if that didn´t cover it, Theia would work for him until the debt was fully paid along with the interest's charge.
The look on her face was one of horror, betrayal, and defeat when her father and Valentianus broke the news to her.
Theia had caused quite the scene, screaming and crying while accusing her father of letting himself in this kind of situation.
Then her anger had targeted Valentianus; yelling how such a disgusting excuse of a man he was to agree to such a suggestion.
Valentianus hadn´t reacted at all.
Merely glaring her down and waiting for them to sign the contract.
"Yeah, I haven´t seen him before. Might have been just passing through. Besides, he didn´t accept Theia´s invitation for sharing breakfast, so I didn´t intervene."
Riss pulled his brother out of his thoughts and the way Valentianus was now glaring at him, Riss was confident Theia would be in trouble.
"She what?" Valentianus growled, and his eyes had a dangerous gleam which made Riss uncomfortable.
"I overheard she tried to lure the man to join her and her friends for breakfast in the tearoom."
Riss answered warily.
Valentianus leaned back on his chair, tapping the left armrest with his index finger.
Theia had been trying these past few months to get under his skin constantly.
He was confident she planned to anger him enough to call the lawyers and divorce her.
They had been married only a year and so far, Theia hadn´t earned enough money to cover even five per cent of her father's debt.
Was she trying to punish her father for what he had done?
It would make sense, but by doing so, Theia would condemn herself in the process.
Didn´t she remember if she would fail, she would be stuck under his employment for a long time until the debt had been cleared?
Valentianus heaved an irritated sigh, shifting his gaze back to his brother.
"Fortunate for her, he declined the invitation. It would seem I have to remind her of the contract and that this kind of behaviour isn´t going to free her from it. If she doesn´t pull it together, I have no choice but to restrain her freedom or sign a guard who is going to follow her every step. She gains nothing by acting like a pouting teenager."
"She isn´t going to be happy about that." Riss chuckled, watching as Valentianus rolled his eyes.
"I don´t care if she's not going to be happy about it, she can blame herself for that." Valentianus huffed, earning a crooked smirk from his brother.
"I can tolerate her talking to other men but asking them to join with her at breakfast, now that...Is something I won't let slip. "
Riss merely looked at his brother, Valentianus was a coldhearted man whose blood streaming through his veins was cold as ice. Although he was married, Valentianus didn´t show any affection toward his wife.
Riss was confident his brother didn´t love Theia or even liked her.
To Valentianus, Theia was part of business, nothing more.
Not that Riss particularly cared. In his opinion, Theia should be glad that Valentianus agreed to take her as part of their family at all and allow her to work in his company to try to save her father.
Theia´s family wasn´t poor, but they didn´t have a lot of money for anything extra either. So, for her, marrying his brother was a fluke of luck and now she had everything she could ever dream of having.
But did Theia appreciate it?
No.
Instead, she constantly got on his brother's nerves, acting like they had sentenced her to death, and she tried so hard to wiggle out of it.
"She is your wife, so I don´t have advice on how to deal with her. I have better things to do."
Riss smirked, earning Valentianus to roll his eyes yet again.
"Yes, acting like a prodigal son. One day you need to act as part of this family and take some responsibility."
Valentianus lectured Riss while wagging his finger at his younger brother.
"Pfft. Not my style. I like my freedom too much. Besides, you are the smart one in this family, which is why dear old daddy signed you to take over this company. And mom agreed."
"Are you ever going to grow up?"
"Nope."
Valentianus sighed and rubbed his temples.
It seemed Riss would never accept the throne. He was way too carefree, even the newspapers called him "the Tharron bachelor."
Whenever he ended up on the news when he pulled a stunt, it caused grey hairs on the rest of his family.
But the latest stunt he had pulled made Valentianus make sure no one would learn about it. Not even their mother.
Riss lacked empathy for others and didn´t care who he hurt as long as he was entertained or gained something for himself.
Women called him an arrogant and narcissistic asshole, which Valentianus had to agree with sometimes but Riss was still his blood and the Tharron family took care of their family members no matter what their crimes were.
"Someone posted about the Shrine on Ciacro…"
Riss suddenly spoke and Valentianus snapped his gaze on his brother's face.
"What?"
"You heard me. There are a lot of rumours about it, and someone has posted a picture of the Shrine. Looks like someone buried the priestesses in the backyard as there are pictures of the graves. People are guessing what happened."
Riss shrugged, not so concerned about it, but Valentianus was fully alert. He had been thorough in covering it up so no one would discover about the Shrine. What his brother had done was one of their darkest secrets and would drag their family name into the gutter if people would ever find out.
Their mother didn´t know.
No one but Valentianus knew what Riss had done.
He was one of the few people who could protect the family name, but Valentianus didn´t know for how long.
His only hope was there were no leads that would point to Riss.
Then he frowned. Ciacro was the only massive social media people of Kyrre used regularly and which his family and House of Valor controlled.
How did the House ignore delete posts like this?
They had an agreement which entailed the House would delete immediately that any posts that could hurt the Tharron's name. The Tharron family was one of the oldest founding families of the faith after all. The offerings people gave them were more than enough to keep the House standing, but Valentianus didn´t care about that.
The House would protect his family name on social media at all cost and in return, Valentianus donated them a fortune every four years.
It was just good business.
"Who started the threat?" Valentianus then asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Can´t tell. It's a fake account, so it can be anyone in Carran or nearby towns. Or that is what our private investigator said when I showed him the post." Riss answered. The way he was lounging on the chair told Valentianus that his brother didn´t have a care in the world.
It irritated Valentianus, and he was about to snap when there was another knock on the door again.
"What?!" Valentianus shouted angrily, ready to bite the head of whoever was on the other side of the door. The door opened and his blazing glare landed on his wife, Theia, who casually sauntered in with a bright smile.
"Morning to you too darling," she chirped. But Valentianus merely glared at her while clenching his jaw. Theia was a very beautiful young woman. He had to admit that, but she wasn´t very smart.
At least she acted like it.
"I heard you went to the tearoom this morning," Valentianus mentioned, watching as her expression changed mildly before she put the smiling mask back on.
"Yes, with Cecilia, Nelenna and Ahanna. We had so much to talk about since we haven´t seen each other for a few weeks."
Theia nearly sang sitting down next to Riss, who glanced at her indifferently.
"I´m sure you had a lot to talk about. But what I don´t understand is why would you invite a stranger to join you since you and your girlfriends have much to catch on to."
Valentianus challenged cunningly while raising one of his dark brows.
All the colour on her face drained out as she stared at her husband, slight panic rising.
"I don´t know what you are talking about," Theia mumbled, trying hard to keep a neutral face, but Valentianus leaned back, intertwining his fingers while resting his elbows on the armrests.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Funny. My brother could swear he saw you talking to a stranger this morning."
Theia sent a glance toward Riss, who smirked at her in return. Theia pondered if it was true. She hadn´t seen Riss all morning.
"He must have confused them for someone else." Theia forced a smile on her face, looking at Valentianus.
"Not likely. The woman was wearing the exact clothes as you are right now, and I heard the man's name as he gave it to you, and you gave your name to him. I don´t know any other female called Theia in this city." Riss recalled.
Valentianus glanced at his brother, who leaned on his left arm in a relaxing manner and rubbed his lower lip thoughtfully with his index finger while giving Theia a side glance.
"I advise you to stop lying right now. My patience is as thin as it is." Valentianus warned when he saw Theia opening her mouth. Theia closed her mouth, clutching her purse tighter while her heart pounded in her chest like a rumble of thunder.
Valentianus kept his studying gaze on her for a good moment, enjoying how she squirmed under it uncomfortably. Finally, he placed his arms on the desk, sighing heavily.
"Apparently, I need to remind you of the terms you are under while married to me. You may invite other men to join you and your friends as long as either my brother or myself are present. When you are alone, inviting strangers to join your company for breakfast or dinner or supper isn´t allowed. I expect certain behaviour from the woman who carries my name."
Valentianus´ voice was calm but his gaze was sharp and emotionless. Theia felt anger rising in her but before she could say anything, Valentianus´ voice cut her off.
"Another thing is why I agreed to marry you, was that you work in my company and pay your father's debt with your salary. You haven´t earned enough money this past year to cover even five per cent of it. You have four years left. Do I have to remind you what is going to happen if you cannot pay your father's debt in the given time?"
He growled, frustrated by her lack of interest in the matter.
Theia snapped her frightened gaze toward Valentianus.
She had forgotten about that little detail.
She had been so furious about the whole situation she wanted to hurt Valentianus. And what better way to do it, but to make him jealous. Maybe even angry when she talked and flirted with other men.
Theia didn´t care that Valentianus was her husband, he was that only on paper.
She didn´t care that he was the most desired bachelor in Carran, every woman fought to have when she had stumbled upon him.
Only thing Theia wanted was her freedom.
Maybe she also wanted to punish her father a little too, after all this situation was his fault. But she never thought Valentianus would actually use the terms against her if she failed to pay her father's debt in time. She didn´t think Valentianus would be so cold-hearted.
"You wouldn´t…" she whispered, her lower lip quivering.
"Yes, I would. You can count on that. What kind of businessman would I be if I forgave every single debt people fail to pay back? I would be bankrupt in a year." Valentianus spat, narrowing his eyes.
He was tired of her arrogance over the situation she was in.
Theia´s teary gaze met his icy, nearly unrelenting glare pleadingly, but it had little effect. Sniffling, Theia lowered her gaze staring at the floor and her entire body started shivering.
"Get out of my sight. If I´m not mistaken, you have a long shift today, and it started an hour ago." Valentianus growled. He couldn´t stand wailing women and watched as his wife slowly got up, turned around and walked toward the door. Just as her hand gripped the doorknob, Valentianus´ rumble halted her.
"And from now on, you´re under round-the-clock surveillance. If you want to see your friends or need to go shopping, you´re going to tell me and I send a guard to keep an eye on you. Your teenage-like rebellious manners stop today. You are my wife and a member of the Tharron family. Start acting like one."
Theia twirled around shocked meeting his dark gaze and was about to protest when Valentianus lifted his hand to stop her.
"Don´t even think about causing a scene. You can blame yourself for this. If you can prove to me, you can behave like an adult I might reconsider giving back your freedom. It is up to you."
Tears rolled down her cheeks. There was nothing she could say that would change his mind. Turning on her heels Theia opened the door and stepped out of her husband's office. In her mind, she decided to do whatever it took to regain her freedom. Even if it meant submitting to his ridiculous demands.
"You just wait, Valentianus Tharron. I will make you sorry for doing this..." she muttered while heading to her room to change her clothes so she could start her shift, eyes ablaze with determination.