The Daring Billionaire’s Wife by Lypstical

Author's POV

Carmella walks into the visitation room, filled with hope as she believes Dominic is the person who has come to pay her a visit but as soon as her eyes land on Patrick, she twists her face in disgust and stops in her tracks. Taking note of how neatly dressed he is and his smile filled with some mockery, she rolls her eyes and proceeds to take her seat with a confident demeanor.

"You know," she begins, scornfully looking at him. "I thought it was someone actually worth my time who came to see me."

Calmly, he says, "What makes you think I actually want to be here and just have a chat with you?"

"Then spit it out." She leans back in her seat, her eyes filled with mockery.

"First of all, it's good to see you here, where you belong. You've been running from me for such a long time, thinking you can get away with everything you've ever done to me."

She narrows her eyes with a grin. "Wait, you came here to cry like a fucking baby?"

He sighs, shaking his head. "I'm pressing charges."

Her grin falters for a moment but quickly, she regains her composure and leans forward, placing her elbows on the table.

"Do you actually think you have a case against me? Oh, no! I'm screwed!"

Patrick scoffs, leaning forward as well with narrowed eyes. "As a matter of fact, I do. It was my mistake for falling for you. You destroyed me and got away with it for years. Now, it's time to face the consequences."

As he lists the charges and mentions that he has the evidence for it, her nonchalance begins to crumble as her eyes dart around the room.

She turns a little frantic as she attempts to reach for his hand, but he leans back and pulls away.

"If you go through with this, I'll ruin your life, just like I did before!" she warns him.

Despite the threats, he leans forward again while shaking his head. "That's where you're wrong. Just look at where you are and that's not even because of me. Don't forget that what you did to Vanessa is the reason you're here in the first place and the Richards won't go easy on you. Did you even see me that day after you attacked her? You made my blood boil and I feared the worst. I'm glad she survived. I know I messed up, so I'm happy for her now that she's moved on."

"Why the fuck do people gravitate towards that bitch?" She grits her teeth.

"Who wouldn't?" He smiles, deeply thinking about Vanessa, then turning serious again. "It feels so good to say that I have you right where I want you this time and there's nothing you can do about it."

With a sigh, he rises to his feet and she swallows hard, bringing her hands together.

"Hey, don't do this. I already have enough on my plate with what I did to Vanessa. You and I...we...we...shared some good times together!"

"See you in court, Angela." He faces the door, making his way out without looking back.

She calls out to him at the top of her lungs, desperate to change his mind but after he closes the door, she aggressively pulls her hair, realizing there's no escape from what's coming.

-

Carmella flinches at the echoing sound in the corridor of a grill door opening and she sits up on her small and hard bed, looking around her small cell as she catches her breath.

The sound of heels getting louder in the hallway begin to irritate her as they disturb her thought process about Patrick's visit a few hours ago. And when she can't take it anymore, she rushes to the bars and holds onto them to look into the hallway, ready to yell whoever it is to keep it down.

As soon as her eyes land on Vanessa, she angrily tightens her grip on the bars.

Not only does Vanessa seem more radiant than ever before, she walks with an unmatched confidence as she holds her head high, her baby bump perfectly fitting in her elegant dress.

Bodyguards and a few officers walk behind her, reminding Carmella of just how powerful Vanessa is.

Composing herself, she sneers and says, "I was wondering which dog was being so loud and now that I've seen you, it makes sense."

Vanessa chuckles softly, stopping right in front of her on the other side of the bars. "I heard you look like shit and now that I see you, it's actually much worse than that."

"You fucking bitch!" She grips the bars in an attempt to bend them and get her hands on Vanessa.

As she lashes out, jerking her head around while her face turns red with anger, Vanessa crosses her arms, her lips curving into a smile of satisfaction.

When Carmella finally lets go of the bars, she slams the wall and yells, "Fuck!"

"Now that your little tantrum is over," Vanessa says in a serious tone, grabbing her attention, "listen to me carefully. You've done a lot of bad things in your life but the worst thing you ever did was attack me that day. You'll get what's coming and I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life. The way I see it, you didn't care that you attacked me in the presence of everyone because you were certain Dominic would get you out after being threatened with revealing his secret. How did that work out for you?"

"Get away from here!" Carmella yells, realizing she can't go up against Mrs Richards.

"I definitely will, but I just want to thank you. When you slashed my stomach, your intention was to end my life and my relationship with Dominic but instead, I survived and that only brought us closer."

Suddenly, Carmella charges at Vanessa, attempting to grab her but she's instantly pulled away by one of the officers even if the spaces between the bars aren't wide enough.

"You think this is the part where you get to be happy? No! I won't let that happen!"

Vanessa raises her eyebrows, mockingly nodding in agreement.

From her handbag, her phone begins to ring and she smiles at the caller ID as she speaks to Carmella.

"Guess who's calling me?"

"Like I give a shit!"

Vanessa picks up, placing the call on speaker as she says, "Hey, babe."

"Babe," Dominic says from the other end of the line.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Babe?" Carmella shakes her head in disbelief.

"I see you're still with the devil," he says.

A tear runs down Carmella's cheek at Dominic's description of her and it only angers her when Vanessa laughs in her face, looking right at her as she speaks to him on the phone.

Their conversation is sweet and flirtatious, something that makes Carmella realize just how different things are. She lost her man to the one person she never thought stood a chance in winning him over.

Without saying anything more,

Vanessa turns to leave while still talking to Dominic about their date leaving Carmella in a state of rage that makes her press her forehead against the bars, as if trying to break out so she can get her hands on her.

"This isn't over, you damn bitch!" She cries out.

Realizing she can't get to Vanessa, she channels her anger into the wall while slapping it, acknowledging just how much she's on the losing end.

-

Despite Carmella's lawyer convincing her she still has a fighting chance of evading some of the charges, the verdicts leave her devastated as she's found guilty on all counts.

She rises to her feet, looking right at the judge with wide eyes as she's given a total of 60 years in prison.

"No...no...this can't be!" she stammers, her face turning pale.

As part of her meltdown, she screams, cries and even lashes out at her lawyer, aggressively sweeping the documents off the desk to the floor with her arm.

Even after she's restrained by the bailiffs, she screams at the top of her lungs, not even paying attention to Patrick since she's too focused on Vanessa and Dominic, who holds his wife close as if to shield her despite no danger.

"I did this all for you!" she cries out to him. "Is this what I get for only trying to keep you to myself? What was so wrong with that?"

Everyone shakes their heads in disbelief at how there seems to be no end to her justifying her actions.

On her first day in prison, Carmella

walks into her new cell and lies

down on the only empty bed, ignoring the two occupants she finds inside. Not even their towering figures can grab her attention as she's frustrated with how she's lost everything.

"Well, look what we have here," one of the women, Bertha, says to Gina. "I guess we have ourselves a princess with no manners. Don't you think so, Gina?"

"You're right about that," Gina nods. "Just imagine the audacity of this little bitch t-"

"Can you both shut the hell up?" Carmella spits, shutting her eyes.

The two women look at each other and burst into laughter.

"Acting tough now, hey? Do you know who you're talking to?" Bertha raises the corner of her mouth, her eyes threatening.

"I don't give a shit who you two are! Just shut your mouths because I find your voices annoying as fuck!"

Bertha cracks her knuckles. "That's it. It's time to show you why we run this place."

Carmella scoffs. "What bullshit are y- ah!"

She screams as she's yanked by the hair and dropped to the floor, the two women cornering her with no one to come to her defense. She tries to fight back while still belittling both of them and that only makes them angrier. Finally giving it a rest, they straighten up and look down at her as she curls up.

"Listen here, fucking princess. As of this moment, you do whatever we say. Is that fucking clear?" Gina warns her.

Trembling with fear, Carmella nods, soon closing her eyes as she realizes she can't have things go her way any more. She ends up sleeping on the floor that night, unable to get back on her bed since everything hurts. Morning comes and she's woken up by Bertha's yelling.

"Wake the hell up!"

Already terrified, she sits up and grunts, her body sore from the previous evening.

"My nails are filthy as hell. Clean them up!" Bertha orders her.

"Uh...w-what do I use?" Carmella asks, intimidated.

"Do I look like I have the answer to that question? Make it quick or you'll regret it!"

Panicking, Carmella gets off the floor and looks around the cell for anything she can use, hunched over in submission. As she begins to clean Bertha's nails while Gina waits for her turn, the harsh reality fully sinks in - this is her new home and everything she's ever done has led her to this moment.

Miserable, she bursts into tears and drops her hands, something that angers Bertha.

"Did I say you could stop? Get back to it! Now!"

Carmella flinches, quickly resuming her task and no matter how much she cries, Bertha and Gina nonchalantly have a conversation and that marks the beginning of her role as nothing but their servant.