'I Do' For Revenge-Chapter 248: You Planned All Of It

~LAYLA~

I stared at the property deed in my hands, my mind trying to process what I was seeing.

Pearl River Hotel.

That name. Why did it sound so familiar?

Then it clicked.

"You own The Pearl River Hotel?" I asked slowly, looking up at Axel.

He went completely still as I asked that, the colour draining from his face.

"I had no idea you owned it," I continued. "That’s... that’s where we met, isn’t it? The night with the room mix-up and..."

I stopped, looking back down at the deed and at the date it was signed. It was the day after my wedding to Daniel got ruined by Cassandra... the exact day I checked into that hotel.

The same hotel that was supposedly overbooked and had made a mistake, assigning me to Axel’s suite by accident.

Wait a minute.

Charles’s words from the coffee shop echoed in my mind, crystal clear now: "I know men like him. They don’t make moves without strategy, without multiple layers of calculation. He had his reasons for marrying you, Layla. Twisted, calculated reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with romance or love."

My hands started shaking.

"Axel..." My voice came out as barely a whisper. "Why do you own the hotel where we met?"

"Layla, I can explain..."

"When did you buy it?" I asked, my eyes still fixed on the date. "This says you purchased it the day I checked in. The day after my wedding to Daniel fell apart."

"It’s not what you think..."

"Then what is it?" I looked up at him, my vision blurring with tears. "Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you bought a hotel specifically so you could engineer our meeting."

Axel took a step toward me, his hands raised. "Layla, please, just let me explain..."

"The room mix-up," I said, pieces falling into place with clarity. "The overbooked rooms, me ending up in your suite... that wasn’t an accident, was it?"

His silence was deafening, but it was enough of an answer.

"Oh my God." I stood up, the deed falling from my hands. "It was all planned. All of it. You set me up."

"No, not set up. I just... I arranged for us to meet..."

"You arranged for us to meet?" I laughed, but it came out broken and bitter. "Is that what we’re calling manipulation now? Arranging?"

"Layla, if you would just listen..."

"I am listening!" I shouted, backing away from him. "I’m listening to what you’re not saying! Charles was right. You had twisted, calculated reasons for marrying me. It was never about love. It was about... what? Getting close to him? Using me as a pawn in your revenge game?"

"That’s not fair..."

"Not fair?" My voice cracked. "You want to talk about fair? I thought I met a stranger that night. A kind stranger who helped me when I was at my lowest. When the hotel was supposedly fully booked, and nowhere else had rooms. How convenient that you owned the place."

"I did help you..."

"You manipulated me!" I pressed my hands to my temples, trying to make sense of it all. "How naive was I? I mean, it was so obvious. Why didn’t I see it? A billionaire businessman just happens to be in the exact hotel, on the exact night my life falls apart, wanting to get revenge on my family, just like I wanted to? And I believed it was fate?"

Axel’s jaw clenched. "It wasn’t all manipulation. Yes, I arranged the meeting, but..."

"But what?" I demanded. "But you fell in love with me anyway? But it became real? Is that what you’re going to say?"

"Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying!"

"And I’m supposed to just believe that?" I wiped at my eyes furiously. "How do I know what was real and what was part of your plan? How do I know any of it was real?"

"Layla, please..."

"What else?" I asked, my voice going cold. "What else do I not know? What other lies have you told me?"

"That’s all," Axel said quickly. "I swear, that’s all. The hotel, the meeting... that’s the only thing I didn’t mention. Everything after that was real."

"You swear?" I laughed bitterly. "Your word means nothing to me right now."

"Layla, I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but if you would just let me explain the full context..."

"The full context?" I interrupted. "What context could possibly make this okay? What context makes it acceptable that you manipulated a vulnerable woman into your plan and then into marriage?"

"It wasn’t like that..."

"Then what was it like, Axel?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Explain it to me. Make me understand how the man I love could do this and not tell me about it afterwards."

He stepped closer, reaching for me. "I did it for revenge initially, yes. Charles killed my parents, and I spent twenty years planning to destroy him. I saw an opportunity..."

"An opportunity," I repeated numbly. "That’s what I was. An opportunity."

"You were supposed to be," he admitted, and at least he had the decency to look ashamed. "But then I met you, really met you, and you weren’t what I expected. You were smart and funny and broken in ways that mirrored my own brokenness. And somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you. Really, genuinely fell in love."

"And I’m just supposed to believe that?"

"Yes!" His voice was desperate now. "Because it’s the truth! Yes, I manipulated our first meeting. Yes, I had ulterior motives. But everything after that... every moment we’ve shared, every touch, every word, that was real. My feelings for you are real."

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. "I don’t know what’s real anymore."

"Layla..."

"I need space," I said abruptly. "I need to think."

"Don’t leave," Axel pleaded. "Stay. We can work through this."

"Work through this?" I looked at him incredulously. "Axel, our relationship started as a contract. Our first meeting was manufactured. You married me to get revenge on my father; this I had come to terms with for a long time. But how do we work through it?"

"By talking. By giving me a chance to show you that what we have now is real..."

"I can’t." I moved toward the door. "I can’t look at you right now without seeing all the lies."

"Where will you go?" His voice broke on the last word.

I stopped at the doorway, not turning around. "The Duke’s safe house. I’ll stay there until the Memorial Tea. We have a plan to execute, and I won’t let my personal crisis derail it. But after that?"

I finally looked back at him, and I saw my own pain reflected in his eyes. But I couldn’t let that sway me. "After that, I don’t know yet."