A Game Of Lovers

Saturn's mouth gaped open, words stripped from her tongue.

She turns to the door before her wide eyes look at her father with creased brows, trying to make sense of what just happened.

When she doesn’t get the answer she wants, she leaves the hall with the three maids.

Heidi, however, stands frozen in place. Her mind is a chaotic dwelling for contrasting emotions.

She doesn’t know if to feel anger, confusion, or fear. And Hunter’s words left a lasting trail on her mind that she can’t erase.

Just hours ago, he acted as though she didn’t exist—like he wasn’t the sweet guy she exchanged texts with.

Now, out of the blue, he claims that she’s his.

It makes no sense to Heidi no matter how she looks at it. And she can’t help but wonder what kind of twisted game he’s playing.

Nighttime is fast approaching; preparations for his birthday party are in full swing.

Heidi ascends the grand staircase with heavy steps, her thoughts still consumed by the baffling encounter at the cellar. 

She hears footsteps replacing hers behind her, and she glances back only to meet the offish stare of Madam Kwakye’s penetrating eyes.

Heidi quickly averts her eyes and dares not stop or let Madam Kwakye walk past her, as the vicious woman would likely drag her by the ear to her destination or shove her down the stairs straight away.

The tension between them lingers as they reach the servants’ quarters, where Heidi enters the room with the same agitation of a worker caught slacking during work hours. 

She stands still, her hands crossed before her and her head hung low, waiting while holding her breath for the looming trouble.

However, Madam Kwakye walks past her without a word and heads toward the room where the servants’ luggage is locked away.

She unlocks the door and stands Akimbo by the entrance.

“Find your case,” she says curtly while popping her bubblegum with a sharp snap.

Heidi seems hesitant, as Madam Kwakye always has a trick up her sleeves.

She revels in the pleasure of playing with people’s minds and could be testing Heidi for all she knows—probably to see if she harbors an intent to leave.

If Heidi goes into that room, she may end up trapped inside to face the stiff stare of Dad Griffin.

Nah! She won’t fall for some bloody toddler tricks.

“Go get your bag, Heidi. I’m losing patience,” Madam Kwakye repeats, her tone softer this time as if coaxing the girl.

But Heidi isn’t a fool.

She sticks her eyes to the floor, her body a mannequin. 

“Fine. I’ll have my price for this,” Madam Kwakye says under her breath, before disappearing into the dark room.

The light flickers on, and Heidi watches as the robust woman, with birdlike movements, goes about the room, humming to herself while snapping her gum.

A few minutes later, she rolls out a spinner bag and slides it to Heidi’s feet. 

“There isn’t more than one Heidi here, I presume,” she utters while pointing to the label on the bag.

Heidi’s brows furrow with confusion as the woman locks the room and heads to the dressing room.

Within seconds, she finds Heidi’s clothing line and begins rifling through it, muttering, “Let’s find uh… those… chic clothes.” Then she glances back at Heidi. “Heidi, come find them.”

Unsure of what to make of the situation, the girl stands rooted to the spot.

Is Madam Kwakye taking the trickery too far? Yes.

Will Heidi fall for it? Positive—only because she doesn’t know how long she can keep defying the chubby woman before she starts tossing hangers at her.

She perches by Madam Kwakye’s side, her hand reaching for the clothes.

“You know those stretchy tops you wore as White cosmetics CEO?” The woman says, still busying herself with the clothes. “I’ll take them.”

Heidi tries to point out how the tops aren’t her size. But whatever Madam Kwakye wants, she gets.

As she hands the tops over, she catches satisfaction in the woman’s eyes before a timid knock comes at the room door.

“I presume someone else will take you from here. Don’t be carried away though, you still have eyes watching you,” Madam Kwakye says indifferently as she leaves the room.

Heidi mumbles after her, “I don’t understand a fucking word you’re saying.”

But Madam Kwakye heard. Her voice echoes from the hallway, “Lose the bad language too!”

The girl from the first bathroom incident, alongside three other maids, walks in and bows her head to Heidi; a gesture that shocks the latter to the bone.

The girl from earlier speaks first. “Ma’am, I’ll show you to your new room. Your luggage will be delivered later.”

“Ma’am?” Heidi repeats, dumbfounded by the unexpected change in tone.

She follows the girl out of the servants’ quarters. But whatever brings about this new development doesn’t entirely settle everything because Heidi still hears the other girls sneering behind her as she leaves.

Her new space looks breathtaking, with a king-sized bed she only felt in her dreams for months.

There’s a private balcony too—the view; a mesmerizing, hued sky with fog gazing back from the distant mountains.

The sight reminds her of her old mansion—how she would sit on the balcony for hours, listening to the nightingales’ melodies while watching the white butterflies dance between steel railings.

The maid prepares a bath for her before she sinks into the warm water and revels in its glee.

It has been so long since she enjoyed such a simple pleasure. Surely, a year and four months is enough to miss out on many things.

“I’ve prepared your dress, ma’am, for the party,” the maid says, and Heidi regards her awhile.

For some reason, she senses a strange tension coursing through her—a feeling that seems to tell her that she needs to act in a certain way not to be regarded as a villain again.

But then she doesn’t even know what’s going on. 

Why the sudden formalities? 

Even Madam Kwakye had been surprisingly nice, as one would never catch her staying that calm after being defied, not for a second.

“What’s going on?” Heidi asks.

The girl doesn’t hesitate to answer. “The First Heir sent word across the mansion. You’re to be treated as a White.”

Heidi feels urged to ask what the catch is, but she needs to speak with the person who gave the order instead. 

Nodding to dismiss the maid, Heidi is left to sort her thoughts.

She still can’t read Hunter. And he’s becoming more confusing by the day.

Is he trying to play a game with her? Because if he is then she’s out—she isn’t signing up for that.

Heidi has grown less keen on attending the party. All she wants is to retire now that she has the chance.

But she figures that with the thoughts of Hunter running across her mind every second, sleep won’t come easily.

She needs to speak with him. Yet, her head advises against it just as her heart urges on.

~

Tugging at the flannel of her red cotton bathrobe, Heidi stares blankly at the emerald, fitted maxi dress the maid prepared. 

“Can I just wear something casual? I’m sorry for the trouble,” she says, and the girl nods, heading for the wardrobe. Heidi’s voice stops her in her tracks. “I’ll get it myself. You can leave now. Thank you.”

Heidi releases a deep breath, which she’s been holding. Then plops down to the soft bed.

She doesn’t like this pressure weighing on her shoulders. She doesn’t like any of the things happening either.

She can hear the thumping beat of pop music as she puts on a gray, chunky knit jacket over a tucked black-green top and high-waist denim pants.

Then she loops a scarf around her neck, not bothering to pull her loose hair out of the clothes before making her way to the party hall.

It’s crowded and colored in dim blue and red flashes, loud music blaring through the speakers.

The first person she sets eyes on is Saturn, and while Heidi’s initial intention is to hang around for some time and return to her room, she can’t resist the urge to approach Hunter when she sees him at the drink counter.

She stares at him for a second, then at Saturn, torn between the two who to approach first.

After much consideration, she pushes through the crowd to the girl in a satin dress, who has her butt crashing against her lover’s crotch, a glass of drink in hand.

“Saturn, my phone, I need it now,” Heidi demands with her voice raised over the music.

Saturn lazily rises to her full height and turns to her with a nonchalant expression.

Her tousled hair falls over her face, and her breath reeks of alcohol when she slurs, “Yourrr what?”

“My damn phone!” Heidi repeats.

“Ah! Don’t know!” Saturn shouts back. “You should find it in one of these hearths.”

“Gods, no, Saturn!” Heidi sighs.

And the other girl burps. “Oops, sorry,” she says with a sheepish smile, starting a drunken giggle.

Ignoring the intoxicated girl, Heidi pushes herself toward the drink counter. 

She locks her eyes on Hunter’s back and counts her strides to him before she collides with something solid that causes her to stumble back.

She winces as she rubs her forehead, then looks up to find the two hefty men dressed in all-black attires blocking her path.

They look like Hunter’s bodyguards, their countenance forbidding.

Heidi glances past them to find Hunter still at the counter, so close yet far to reach. Knowing she can’t win with the men, she gives up. 

She’d just find a better way to talk with Hunter. Or not talk with him at all even though curiosity gnaws at her.

She hates being kept in the dark.

And the more he avoids her, the more she wants to understand why, even as he isn’t allowing her to do so.

Two strong hands suddenly grab her arms.

“Fucking let me go!” she screams as she struggles to no avail, until she ends up outside the mansion, thrown into the snow.

Heidi looks up to find a pair of Dad Griffin’s guards retreating into the hall, while, standing at the entrance is the man himself, his scowl a gelid token of the cruelty she has been dealt.