I tried to tell myself that that added to the excitement, although I knew that it was just me trying to be too optimistic about everything to stay sane. “I know exactly how you can help me. What about deciding that Diana has to go off on holiday or something for a couple of months?” I asked before I grinned at him. Honestly, I didn't think that he would agree to my outrageous idea, but it didn't seem like it would hurt to give it a try.“If I allowed that, then what are you going to do? Are you going to move in with the king at the palace?” He asked coldly.Of course, that wasn’t what I had in mind. All I wanted was to stop acting as Diana for a while so that I could focus on being myself and helping out Desmond with his plan when it counted the most. However, I could already tell that my suggestion must have sounded very ridiculous to Bradon and that it must be impossible for him to agree to. “What do you want me to do?” I asked as I stared directly into his eyes.Braddon stared b
I stared at the calm and accepting expression on his face before I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you really okay with this?” I asked suspiciously. “I guess we have to do what we have to do. What I think doesn't matter,” he replied too casually. I pursed my lips together before rolling my eyes upwards towards the ceiling. “You do realize that if we get this busy, then I won't have time to do any work with the King,” I reminded him pointedly. He's not doing this intentionally to keep me from spending time with Desmond, is he? “You were the one who said that you would somehow manage both of your roles without letting your plan with Desmond impact our arrangement,” Bradon reminded me all too quickly. I bit down on my lower lip as I hated to admit that he was right. However, when I made that promise, I had never imagined that my workload as Diana would literally take up all of my waking hours for every single day of the week. “You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?” I said accus
It would also be a matter of time until Desmond summoned me to help him out. Everyone was itching to know about my relationship with the new king and I was sure that Desmond was silent for now all for the sake of building up the anticipation. When everyone is curious and everyone goes crazy about gossip related to us, we would appear in public to debut our rekindled romantic relationship.“I'm exhausted…” I complained as I threw my handbag down onto the sofa before collapsing on it. Bradon shrugged off his suit and loosened his tie before sitting down next to me. He turned to offer me a smile before he began patting my back as if to console me. “If next week's schedule looks anything like this, it's going to end up killing me,” I complained bitterly. I hoped that Bradon would take my warning seriously and work out our schedule with Anthony's team. There was no way that we could be that busy with events, given that Anthony had work to do at the company as well and I also knew that B
Although most of the events dragged on into the night, fortunately there was a day when the event ended early in the evening. Based on our agreement, that meant that there should be no issue if I were to take off right after the end of that event. When I told Desmond about my free schedule, he had no issues in finding an evening celebration event for the two of us to make our public appearance together.“I thought that this was supposed to be some sort of event that we needed to attend together?” I asked as I felt slightly upset and betrayed. “This is a special dinner date. I don't think that it's wrong to call this an event or unusual for this to appear in our calendars,” Bradon replied casually.The event that was supposed to end early in the evening that was placed in our calendars turned out to be a private dinner between Bradon and myself and nothing more.“Listen, we've been spending all our waking hours together already attending all those planned events. Don't you think that
“I better get out here and get this over with,” I mumbled to myself before currently adding lipstick to my lips. I had to say that I looked beyond presentable and there was no doubt that my first public appearance with Desmond was going to be a huge hit.“Wow! You look amazing in the dress. Honestly, you've managed to exceed my expectations,” Desmond said as his eyes swept over my body from head to toe. I turned a little from side to side as I glanced down at the dress that I had on, while his intense gaze did not bother me at the least. “Do you think so? I have no idea why this dress has to be so revealing,” I commented as I patted my hands Softly on my boobs. “I think you look gorgeous. I hope you don't mind showing off your assets a little,” Desmond replied playfully before letting out a soft laugh. “I guess putting on a little show to grab extra attention isn't going to kill me or anyone…, " I agreed with him without much care. I couldn't quite tell him that the dress didn't
I don't know, you look quite tired, he said as he kept on Staring at my face. “I'm fine. How many times do I have to tell you this?” I said with a mocking tone of annoyance. Desmond probably didn't want to get on my bad side, so he decided to take my word for what it is before escorting me to the car....I hadn't realized just how tired I was until I was alone in the car on my way back to Bradon's mansion. It felt like I closed my eyes momentarily, but when I opened them again the car was already parked right in front of the mansion. My body felt slightly heavy and sluggish from sleep, but the short nap that I had in the car definitely made me feel better. I must have been so tired that I fell asleep in the car without even realizing it. I walked into the mansion while taking extra care not to trip over the high heels that I had on with the intent of heading directly to my bedroom to catch up on some sleep.I felt my body tremble slightly when I walked into the mansion because it f
I could no longer hold myself back and ended up letting out a moan when he twirled my erected nipple between his fingertips. Thoughts of electric pleasure run through my chest before running down to the throbbing ache in between my legs as he continued squeezing and tugging on my sensitive nipple. My pussy spasmed as I felt my core heat up so rapidly. As if it was not yet enough, Bradon buried his face into the side of my neck before taking in deep breaths as if he was taking in my scent. I let out another moan when I felt the heat of his lips against my sensitive skin as he planted kisses along the side of my neck. He finally freed his other arm from around my body just so that his other hand could join in on feasting on my breasts. Both his hands dipped easily beneath my clothes to squeeze my breasts at the same time as his lips began sucking softly on my neck. Everything that he was doing to me overwhelmed my body with pleasure, and everywhere that he was touching and kissing me t
It seemed like my lack of rest and all the work that I had been doing up until that point was quickly catching up to me. “Dahlia…” I heard him whisper my name.When I opened my eyes again, my vision was blurry and it felt like I was seeing double. I frowned as I wondered what was happening to me. Bradon called my name again but his voice seemed so far away and so soft. I couldn't bring myself to answer him as my eyelids felt so heavy and then everything blacked out from my vision.…**Bradon's point of view**“Dahlia! Dahlia! Dahlia!” I called her name as I cradled her limp body in my arms, but no matter how many times I called her name, Dahlia never opened her eyes. I cursed myself for not realizing that there was something wrong with her or that she was feeling unwell. The sense of regret that sprouted in my chest reminded me that I probably couldn’t forgive myself if something were to happen to her.After Dahlia suddenly fainted, I drove her to the hospital after evaluating that
My heartbeat thundered in my ears as I approached them. The three of them were engaged in such an intense conversation that, at first, they did not recognize my presence. Diana's voice was the first that came to me. Her voice was shaky, as if she was barely holding herself together."The doctor said that there's no change in his condition. Anthony is still unresponsive, although it's been months, and this whole thing with the snipers is only making it worse..." Diana said.I came to a stop as my mind struggled to process her words. My heartbeat grew even faster in my chest, and for a moment I thought that perhaps I had misheard my own sister. What did she mean when she said that Anthony is still unresponsive?Diana already knew that Bradon had taken Anthony's place, and that meant that the man who was shot was none other than Bradon. Yet how was it possible that Anthony was the one who was unresponsive? Nothing made sense to me at that moment. It felt like I was missing a very key pie
It hurt me more than anything to realize that I couldn't blame him, even if he did that, because I was the one who betrayed him first. I left him without a word or farewell, running away from him as if he were the one who had done something wrong. Memories of our time together came back like waves. The fake honeymoon that we enjoyed together felt more real than anything, right at that moment. I remembered the way that he would laugh whenever he let his guard down on the nights when we enjoyed each other's company simply as our true selves, and the dangerous world outside and our identities didn't need to complicate things for us.There was a time when I thought that love was enough, but a small voice inside of me reminded me not to be so foolish. As time slipped by, I found myself praying that the door would just swing open and that Bradon would be standing there with his arms wide open. I wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms once again. I had to admit to myself that, with
"Where is this?" I asked without hiding my suspicion. I knew very well where the Vulkan mansion was located and also what it looked like, and the place that we had just parked in front of couldn't look more different than the mansion that I remembered."You didn't think that we would take you to our home, did you?" Mrs. Vulkan snapped before looking away with a clear look of disgust on her face."I guess your home would be the first place that Bradon would look when he finds me missing," I replied dismissively."No more chit chat," Bradon's father said as he urged me out of the car.I told myself that it did make sense that they would find a place for me to stay, but did it have to be such a shabby-looking place? The isolated low-rise building looked like it could use a round of maintenance. The room that they led me to was simple, with a single bed, a television, a desk, and absolutely no windows."How long am I supposed to stay here? I thought we made an agreement that you would h
"Why would my son want to keep you here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as his eyes seemed to search my face for the answer that he was looking for. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe he hasn't had enough of me yet..." I replied before showing them a fake yet extremely sweet smile. "Even if he isn't considered a normal member of our family, I still can't have you associating with him," he continued on as if he was lecturing me of my lack of worth. "I just told you that I'm not the one begging to stay here and with him," I replied coldly. I had hoped that by then it had become plain obvious what I wanted the two of them to do for me. With their help, I was certain that they could find a way to get me out of Bradon's mansion. Bradon wasn't around, so the next in command was Zain, whom I did not think could directly stand up against the head of the Vulkan family. At least, that was where I decided to place my bets at that point in time. "So you want to leave but he won't let you? Is that what you
I quickly followed them inside, sensing that the two of them were here looking for trouble. One glance at Zain, and I could tell that he was already informing Bradon of their unexpected arrival. It wasn't like Zain could throw out Bradon's father and stepmother, so I could understand the pitiful position that he suddenly found himself in. I straightened my back and followed them further inside, thinking to myself that I needed to hold the fort until Bradon returned. Whatever it was that they wanted, I needed to make sure to find out.The two of them sat comfortably on the sofa as if they were in their own house by the time I made it to the living room. The fact that neither of us spoke a single word as I sat down on the sofa only made the tension in the room skyrocket."I'm sure that Bradon will be back soon," I said, more to tell myself than to tell them."Why are you still here?" Mr. Vulkan asked as he turned his cold gaze in my direction.The way that he looked at me left no room f
**A few days later**"How many times do I have to tell you? You can't keep me locked up in here!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, my hands clenching into tight fists. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as anger and frustration took over.Over the past few days, I had already lost count of the number of times Bradon and I had had this argument. For some reason that I could not comprehend, my life as a prisoner inside his household had resumed. There must have been a change in Bradon that I couldn't fully understand-something that had led him to decide to keep me under house arrest. Going out was no longer an option, even if I was escorted."You may leave when I tell you that you can," Bradon replied with the same infuriatingly calm response he always gave, his tone ticking me off even more."Listen, I'm not doing this because I want to be selfish. If there's a reason why you can't let me go outside, then please just let me know, and I'll try to be understanding," I said, taking
"I'll try not to come back late," Bradon replied without any further explanations. I only managed to simply nod my head before he was already out of the living room. The look that Bradon gave me told me to hold my tongue and not ask him any questions. I knew very well that asking him anything would be useless because he most likely wouldn't give me any kind of answer. As I stared at the doorway, my mind became even more unsettled than before. Something was definitely going on and Bradon was keeping it away from me. "Probably just work..." I mumbled to myself. It wasn't unusual for Bradon not to tell me much about matters related to his work, and I never minded. A sigh escaped my lips when I realized that I had officially failed once again. The worst part was that I felt very relieved at the very same time. Bradon's parting words, telling me that he would hurry back home gave me something to look forward to and that made me realize just how much I yearned to be with him. "Stop it,
I needed to leave him and as soon as possible, but I didn't know how I could achieve that. My past experiences have taught me quite directly that I couldn't truly run away from Bradon. Escaping from the mansion was unquestionably impossible. I could not run away, so that meant that I needed to get Bradon to agree to let me leave. My legs already felt weak, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and shut my eyes to escape reality. I knew that I needed to talk to Bradon about ending our fake marriage as soon as possible, although I had no idea how to bring up the topic. Something told me that it might prove to be difficult to get Bradon to agree, and there was always a risk that he might react unpredictably.However, if everything he did was simply him just acting out his role and his feelings for me didn't truly exist, then that might be the solution to all of my problems. If he felt no attachment to me, then he should have no problem letting me go just as planned. After all
The party ended early, yet it was quite eventful, at least for Bradon and myself. I felt like there was a storm raging inside of me all the while that we rode back to his mansion. It felt like there was something right at the tip of my tongue that I wanted to say, but yet I couldn't bring myself to say it. There were times when I thought that I fully understood myself and what I wanted, and yet at the very same time, I felt so confused and lost. The feelings that were struggling to take dominance inside of me did not make sense, and it made me feel as if my thoughts and my feelings were heading in the direct opposite direction of one another.Bradon's words of defiance as he confronted my father came back to me loud and clear:"Dahlia is not your daughter anymore, and neither am I one of the Vulkans. I will never let you take my wife..."I should have known that entering into this contract marriage with Bradon, while taking my sister's place, would somehow lead to blurring the line be