Chapter 2 - Run Away

C H A P T E R  2  :  R U N  A W A Y

"Elias? He is joining the contest too?!"

Crystal rolled her eyes at Xavier's surprised voice. They were sitting on the long sofa, right behind the large glass wall that separated the glass room from the archery area. Aiden was already there, ready to take aim. It seemed that he was determined to prove that Javier Leonidas’s crazy contest was nothing more than a mistake, and Crystal's whining all night would not go to waste.

"What do you think? I am Crystal Leonidas! C-R-Y-S-T-A-L! Only a fool and a madman would miss the chance to marry me!"

"Everyone is welcome, but not Elias. His job is to take care of Axelion and Aurora!" Xavier stood restlessly, his clear blue eyes squinting at the blond-haired man who was also aiming—Elias Parks, his own bodyguard. "Christian. Find out what ID Elias had used to sign up for this."

His right-hand man, who was always standing guard beside Xavier nodded obediently. “Very well, young master.”

“Why are you ordering such a useless thing? You should have ordered this madness to stop!" Crystal stood next to Xavier with her arms folded in front of her chest. "I can not stop thinking about you and Daddy. You always say you love me, want the best, but you are willing to give a chance to an unknown man to marry me, instead of letting Aiden—”

“They are not random bachelors. Christian has investigated their family background before allowing them to—"

“Oh, really? Then how did Elias manage to join, and you do not even know why he comes along?” Crystal stomped her feet hard on the floor, then looking at the archery area with pure annoyance. “And to make matters worse, I do not know them!”

“Including Aiden?”

“Except him! I have known Aiden all my life! If it was not for you and Daddy, of course, I would have married Aiden ages ago!”

“Truly, Crys, just how much do you love him?” Xavier urged, looking at Crystal with one eyebrow raised. “Are you willing to lose your position in the Inquireta for him?”

“W—what?! What kind of question is that?!” Inquireta is a subsidiary of Leonidas International which focused on fashion and jewelry. Crystal had been managing it for almost four years. “Aiden and Inquireta, both are mine!”

“Your answer is disappointing.”

“What did you expect? That I was willing to let go of the Inquireta for Aiden? Now I ask, are you willing to let go of Leonidas International for—”

“For my wife? Of course.” There is no compromise in Xavier's eyes. “Never mind Leonidas International, I am even willing to destroy the world to get it back.”

There was a glint in Xavier's eyes that could not be ignored. Her spine stiffened at the seriousness of his voice. She herself had witnessed how Aurora's departure had changed her brother over the years. Colder, crueler—untouchable. Even she had not been able to reach out to him, things finally had gotten better when Aurora returned.

Crystal remained silent. She took a deep breath and looked far away at the place where the first contest was being held. Although she was reluctant to admit it, Xavier and Javier were two figures who made her believe that true love existed. How could a man love his woman so much? They made her dream of getting herself a prince, which she had found in Aiden. However, why did they make this more difficult than it already was?

“I have never loved anyone but myself, but now I love Crystal Leonidas.”

"Crystal... you are my everything."

Crystal recalled every word Aiden had ever said to her. A faint smile appeared as she watched Aiden's arrow nearly touched the bullseye. However, anxiety crept over when she found Aiden's name was in fact number two on the scoreboard, right below the name of Rhysand Leonard.

Rhysand Leonard? Who was he?

Crystal tried not to wince when her gaze met a chubby man with bald hair who was smiling at her, blinking disgustingly while pointing a bow. Shit. If it came down that she had to marry that man named Rhysand Leonard, she vowed to run away from here, leaving her last name Leonidas—then refused to come home until her dad canceled everything about this ridiculous contest.

However, why did Leonard's name feel familiar?

"Young master."

Crystal turned her head when Christian returned hastily and spoke in a panicked voice. Elias had used his real name; Rhysand Keith Leonard, in order to pass the preliminary selection. He was one of Ares Leonard's sons, born to Ares Leonard's second wife. His two older brothers; Liam and Lukas Leonard were also on this yacht.

"Damn Elias! He forgot his own words." Xavier groaned, then rushed out of the room followed by Christian.

Crystal remembered who Leonard was. Leonard's family.

Their family was similar to hers. Apart from Leonidas, the world's economic arena was under their control. Both of them did not need to cooperate with other billionaires, because standing alone all these years had made them strong. The only one who could destroy Leonidas was perhaps only Leonard—and vice versa. However, at the moment, both of them chose not to meddle with each other's business, finding it better not to spend their energy on something that was not necessary. As if they were following an unwritten rule, Leonidas continued to control America, while Leonard controlled Europe—with exception of Spain which was indeed Leonidas' headquarters.

Crystal trembled. Dealing with them was equivalent to causing trouble. What if their family's son won? The comparison of the power of the Leonard and Lucero families was very far. Could she and Aiden fight them off to be together?

Crystal was still struggling with her own thoughts when her gaze accidentally met Elias's tiger eyes. Crazy. This was really crazy. Even though he just stared at her expressionlessly, it still made her knees weak. Instantly her mind was flooded with questions; why did Elias with such a great family background want to be his brother's bodyguard? Why would he wish to take part in a stupid contest his father made? Was that guy really after her from the start? 

There had been no change on the scoreboard when Crystal checked it again, simultaneously breaking her gaze from Elias. Her worries rose quickly. Fuck Rhysand and his angelic face. Even if he was not the fat man from earlier, he was still not Aiden. How could her prince charming be replaced by a foreign man?

It was time to run away. She immediately slipped out of the room without a second thought.

From the start, this contest was the dumbest thing in her life. She did not care if her dad and her brothers wanted to continue this. If the winner was not Aiden, they should not bother to wait for her to come back. 

* * *

"Crystal, is that you?!"

Crystal took a deep breath and then turned around, looking at a beautiful woman with dark brown hair in a black dress with red accents and a high slit. Samantha Emerald Ederd, the main heir to the Emerald family — one of the diamond suppliers for Inquiereta. Crystal gave her a small smile, although Samantha had delayed her 'escape' plan after she had successfully managed to escape from Xavier and Javier's watch.

"Ah, Sam! Are you coming too?"

With cheerful steps, Samantha approached and took her hand. "Of course! I am so curious about your twin nieces! It is not in vain that I am here! Alistair and Adrianna are so cute! I can not wait to have little babies of my own!"

Crystal smiled stiffly, hoping that their conversation would end soon. Under normal circumstances, she would have been happy to respond to Samantha's chatter, but right now her future was in danger. Unfortunately, her wish was not granted. Samantha kept on chattering, even calling her husband—Justin Ederd, to join them in the conversation. The conversation continued to grow further when they discovered that Justin was one of Aiden's business partners.

The seconds went by so slowly and there was no sign of this unimportant conversation ending anytime soon. Crystal grew increasingly nervous, worried that the stupid contest might be finished and they found a winner she did not want—while she was still here. It was not that Crystal doubted Aiden, but Elias… Aiden should be able to get to first place in archery considering that it was his forte. How could Rhysand Leonard beat him?

"By the way... I was a little surprised when your father announced the contest earlier.  I thought you are going to marry Aiden. Didn't you both have a long and stable relationship with him before Justin and I got married?" asked Samantha.

"To be precise, since I was in junior high school. At that time Aiden was already a senior."

"Well! Then why not just go straight to Aiden?" Samantha frowned, looking confused. This woman must have thought this contest was stupid. Very very stupid. And Crystal agreed with her. “Who doesn't give you their blessing? Your family? Or Aiden's family?”

“I feel like I am being interrogated.”

"Ah, I am sorry. I was just curious." Samantha showed a look of regret. "Okay. I simply wish you all the best, Crys. Trust me, I feel like you and Aiden are getting along very well."

Everyone thought the same, except for Javier and Xavier. What were they really thinking?

Crystal's heart rumbled. The first contest seemed to be over. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Javier, Nolan, and the group of men who had followed the competition out of the room towards the second venue. The gloomy look on Aiden's face seemed to be a sign for her to get out of here immediately.

She pretended not to see them. It was only when the people left and Samatha said her goodbye was Crystal able to breathe a sigh of relief.

The doorman in sailor uniform touched his hat as a greeting when she walked out of there. She ignored the guard as she was busy on her cell phone to call Quinn Jenner—a distant cousin who was also on the yacht. "Where is your helicopter?" Crystal asked as soon as Quinn answered her call.

"My helicopter? For what?"

"Of course to get out of here, damn it! Can not you see what is going on?!"

Quinn chuckled annoyingly on the other end. "You mean the contest? Is this not fun? Actually, I was thinking about joining. It is not bad. After all, if I win, then I can make you a slave for the rest of my life."

"Don't mess around, or I will kill you!"

"You can not kill your future husband."

"Quinn! I am not kidding!"

"Okay, fine." Quinn was still laughing. "It is upstairs, runway number two. You surprised me, Crys. Aiden is struggling here, and yet you are running away. Xavier was right, you seem to doubt Aiden so much that—"

Crystal hung up the call, feeling reluctant to hear the man's trash talk. She only needed to find the location of the Quinn Helicopter, she could handle other things such as how to enter, breaking into any complicated helicopter security system. She was Crystal Princessa Leonidas, she could do anything—except break into Xavier's security system which was guarded like hell.

Her face turned grim, remembering how Aiden had taught her how to hack. The only risky thing that he had allowed. Other than that, he forbade her to learn self-defense, shoot, let alone drive a helicopter with the same old excuse that she was a girl. However, unbeknownst to Aiden, she had learned everything. She hoped that one day she could prove that all of those things were still useful even for women. Today was one example.

As she jogged up the stairs, Quinn called her again.

"Yeah Quinn—" Crystal fell backward and was hit by someone. She grimaced, her elbows tried to keep her from rolling down, but hitting the marble floor was as annoying as rolling over. Both sick and embarrassing!

"Sorry. I did not mean to. Are you all right?" The tone of the person in front of her was polite and gentle, with a hoarse voice that made her stomach turn upside down. She recognized this voice, this was the same voice that had made her flutter all those years ago.

Crystal looked up, flabbergasted.

The man was only wearing a white shirt and a gray suit without a tie that looked very fitting on his body with one top button of the shirt left undone. The tall, sturdy, and sturdy body underneath the suit made all the difference. It was attacking her every nerve with its overwhelming aura.

Crystal believed this man was the waitress she had met when she had gone to a seafood restaurant in New York with Xavier's wife, as well as the bartender she had met at a Chinese casino four years ago. Her heart was beating fast. She still clearly remembered the look on this man's face. Shiny black hair, firm lips, pointed nose, and those brown eyes that…wait. As she recalled again, this man's eyes had been blue previously, why were they brown now?

The question disappeared from her head, as the man's sharp and calculating eyes continued to stare at her. He locked his focus on her until she could not take her eyes off of him. This man looked older than her, but still looked younger than Xavier—perhaps he was around twenty seven, but his gaze made him look older than that. Warm but dark. Soothing ... and scary at the same time. Crystal felt the tingling sensation as if some strong force had been released, pulling her hard and almost real.

The air seemed to crackle between them. Her breath caught. She could not think as the man's seductive scent kept intoxicating her. It was not perfume, shampoo, or bath soap although she was not sure what it was. But, whatever it was, it was very tempting. It was as if an invisible rope was slowly pulling her towards him.

It took a lot of effort to get herself to speak albeit in a trembling voice. "I am alright."

The man did not answer, he merely looked at her with a frown. When he finally approached, she blinked and held out one hand, as if telling him to help her get up.

However, her hand was ignored, he raised an eyebrow then shook his head as if she was doing something strange. Then the man came down a flight of stairs, bent down, and picked up a small plastic cage.

Crystal heard a meow, then saw him bring out a beautiful cat with white and brown hair—which he gently stroked. "Princessa... are you okay? I am so sorry."

As if understanding the man's words, the cat meowed.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Miaw!"

"I am sorry, after this, I will give you the most delicious and expensive food. What do you want, Princessa?"

"Miaw!"

Crystal was still sitting on the floor. She remained silent while looking at the two different creatures that somehow were able to communicate with each other. She also could not believe that she had been ignored because of a cat.

Cats... Instantly her brain started to work again. Her face heated up. She quickly got up and approached the man who was still busy stroking his damn cat with a sorry look on his face. As if it was the cat who had gotten hurt.

Crystal was annoyed with herself. How could she be all nervous, when this guy was so calm? The man even walked past her and chose to help the damn cat instead of helping her. Damn. As if that was not enough, the man also gave the ugly cat her middle name: Princess. Was he insane?

Damn it! This was an insult!