Dreading the arrival of that moment, I ended up taking a very long time in the bath while listening to the sound of the door opening to announce his arrival. At first, I didn’t want to face him but when it took such a long time for him to return to our bedroom, I started to wonder where he went. “This is so stupid…” I mumbled to myself before letting out a sigh.The water in the tub was no longer warm and I had gotten quite bored. Just as I climbed out of the bathtub, I heard a few knocks on the door. …Bradon?I wrapped a towel quickly around my body and headed out of the bathroom. Since Bradon would never knock on our bedroom door like that, I knew that my first reaction in thinking that it was him was definitely incorrect. “Who is it?” I called out questioningly as I approached the bedroom door. “It’s me…” a man’s voice replied. “Zain?” I replied, after recognizing his voice. “Yes, My Lady…” he replied. “I’m…I can’t open the door right now. Do you need something?” I asked. “
“I need your help again, my friend…” he said before letting out a long sigh. It wasn’t rare for the prince to give me a call and he was right when he said that we are friends. While taking Anthony’s place over the years, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to meet the crown prince. At first everything was very distant and formal between us; however, our relationship started to change when I suddenly received a mysterious invitation from the palace. What surprised me even more at the time was the fact that the invitation was addressed to me as ‘Bradon’ instead of to my younger brother. I had always thought that I was good at impersonating my brother but it appeared that the crown prince was even more talented at telling people apart. Upon our meeting, he could tell that I wasn’t Anthony and my true identity turned up after some investigation. Instead of probing into the reasons why the Vulkan family had a hidden son that sometimes impersonated their only son, the crown prince was more
I could tell that he would rather come along with me and the rest of the men but I felt like he would have a much more important role to play here. “Watch over her and make sure that she stays out of trouble. Make sure she doesn’t do anything reckless,” I instructed sternly. “Will this help make you focus on your work?” Zain asked as he stared directly at me. “Of course. I’ll feel much better knowing that I can trust you to handle things here,” I replied honestly. “What should I tell her?” Zain asked for further instructions. “Tell her that I have some things to deal with and that she shouldn’t wait up for me,” I instructed. I didn’t think that Dahlia would wait up for me and it would come as no surprise if she preferred to have me gone. Zain nodded his head once to show me that he understood. …**Dahlia’s point of view**What time is it now?Is it possible to tell how much time has passed from the movement of the stars in the sky?I must have heard that from somewhere but I co
It infuriated me that he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted without a care about how I felt while I didn’t have the freedom to do the same. It honestly felt like my chest was ready to explore from the tension and frustration that had started accumulating inside. “I’m going to sunbathe…and then I’ll play in the water…then I’ll go for a swim in the pool…” I muttered my plan as my voice shook from anger. **Bradon’s point of view**I managed to wrap up the whole mess and calm down the situation within a few hours which was something that I felt slightly proud of. However, the fact that it came at the cost of a handful of my men sustaining injuries made me feel like I could have done better had I been less hasty. Men getting injured during these kinds of crackdown operations wasn’t abnormal no matter how well prepared we were. There would always be unforeseeable circumstances and dangers. Everyone had to stay on their toes and learn to expect the unexpected. Everyone’s life w
“I’m Sam. Nice to meet you,” he introduced himself before showing me a smile. His sun-kissed tan skin complimented his light brown eyes and hair and I found myself smiling easily in his presence. “I’m Diana,” I introduced myself simply because I believed that he already knew who I was supposed to be. “Shall we get started?” he asked with clear excitement. “Sure…” I replied as I unwrapped the thin shawl that I had around my waist to reveal the bright red bikini that I had on. While in the middle of my lesson, I realized that Zain had suddenly disappeared somewhere. It must have been while I was under water with Sam because I didn’t realize when he left. It did not bother me and I decided to devote my attention to Sam and all that he was teaching and showing me. He was a good and patient teacher and he made sure to strike a good balance between teaching me the basics in words and getting me to try things out for myself. The staff was right in the deep end of the pool being very de
“What were you doing in the water? Were you trying to kill yourself?” he asked with widened eyes. He did mention just now that I couldn't swim. Could it be…?“Bradon, you don’t happen to really think that I can’t swim, do you?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. “You can't…swim…” he murmured.This time I could tell that he was less certain than before and there was an unmistakable look of hesitation and confusion in his eyes. “Listen, I don’t know who told you that I can’t swim but I can. I can swim just fine,” I stated, slowly and clearly. Bradon looked confused and he didn’t seem convinced about the fact that I could swim while I wondered how much longer I needed to deal with this nonsense of his. “I’m not a pro but I’m quite a competent swimmer. Just so you know, I’m not going to simply and randomly drown in a swimming pool, and in case you haven’t realized, I had an instructor with me as well,” I explained while wondering why I had to point out the obvious.H
The wind blew all around us and I could hear the rustling of leaves from the trees close by. The sea wasn’t far off and I could smell the unique scent of the ocean. It was getting dark quite fast but I didn’t want to go back inside until we finished our conversation properly. “You’re right. It’s my fault for leaving you here. Although you seemed to have enjoyed yourself immensely while I was gone, I’ll stick to my offer to buy you whatever that you want,” he said emotionlessly. I was quite surprised that he was freely admitting that it was his fault for leaving me, although I did not miss that he hadn’t exactly offered me words of apology. Then again, I wasn’t dying to hear him say ‘sorry’. Instead, there was something that I wanted but it was something that his money couldn’t buy. “There’s something that I want from you, and lucky for you, you don’t even have to pay to give it to me,” I said as I took a step towards him to close the distance between us. “What is it that you want?
The wind was getting stronger and the temperature had dropped. I knew that Bradon was logically right that we should head inside but my stubbornness had already taken over. “Your hand is cold…” he said to me softly. “Stop trying to change the topic…” I warned. The moment he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it, my words felt stuck in my throat. His lips were soft and warm and their touch on the back of my hand made my insides tingle. Even though I knew that he was doing this to distract me from pushing him for answers, I couldn’t help the way that my chest tightened. It took a lot of effort to stop myself from moaning when I felt the wet tip of his tongue flicking softly against the back of my hand. “Stop…” I said as I tried to pull my hand away.Of course, it was no use. On top of failing to free my hand from his grasp, Bradon rewarded my vain effort by sucking softly on the back of my hand. He looked straight at me as his lips continued kissing and sucking on the back of my
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