“Just around 76 times…” I said before showing her the screen of my phone.“That’s…” she murmured before pressing her lips into a thin line.“Why is he ignoring me? What did I do wrong this time?” I continued complaining while sounding very upset.“I’m sure that he’s not intentionally ignoring you,” Jenna said in her desperate attempt to defend Bradon.“Then…he’s unintentionally ignoring me?” I asked before making an overly exaggerated sad face.“Why don’t you give him another call? It doesn’t hurt to try again…” she suggested enthusiastically.I knew that giving Bradon another call wouldn’t change the outcome. However, it didn’t hurt to illustrate my point to Jenna. Maybe she could reprimand him in some way since she seemed to be the acting mother figure in this household.“If you say so…” I said as I began calling Bradon.I could tell that Jenna was more anxious than I was as we both waited for Bradon to answer my call. After waiting for a while, the call was once again directed to v
The strangest part was that I didn’t trust her but at the same time, I did trust her. I had a lot of faith in her stubbornness, her persistence, and her perseverance.It would be interesting and entertaining to break her…Perhaps I just wanted to see what kind of crazy moves she would execute next that I thought that it was the right decision to simply ignore all of her calls. Although I didn’t want to stay away from her, I had to admit that it was probably safer for her this way because I had no idea what I would do to her if I spent time with her. Seeing how her face lit up when she thought that she had finally gotten the chance to see my brother irritated me.The way she spoke to him was different and it didn’t help that she had many things to criticize about our marriage even if some of them might be true. Dahlia did many things to incur my wrath; however, after spending a few days flipping various thoughts over inside my head while pretending to pay attention to Anthony’s meeting
In a sense, she was right. I knew that Dahlia was anything but stupid and that was probably why everyone in her family thought that she was dangerous. With what they had in mind, there was nothing more dangerous to them and their plans than a woman who had a mind of her own. For a moment, I had to admit to myself that I thought that it might be better for me to come out and tell her about Anthony’s condition and situation. If she was going to find out about it sooner or later, then I might as well tell her about it.It will hurt her but delaying the pain wasn’t going to make it hurt any less…I opened my mouth as I wondered what exactly I should say to her. The sound of a woman yelling outside the door thwarted whatever effort and will that I had in telling her the truth. There was another ruckus at the door, and I was beginning to wonder if this was something that Anthony had to go through very often. I made a mental note to myself to give the secretary a raise at the end of the mont
“You’re right. We are only married in name only so it’s really not a big deal at all. A marriage certificate is nothing but a piece of obsolete paper signed for the convenience of both parties nowadays. I guess you two have plans for the evening, I should leave so you two can get on with it,” I replied before letting out a high pitch laugh.I made sure that I was nothing but all smiles. What she said might have been wrong had she been talking about Anthony and Diana; however, she got it all right if she was talking about Bradon and me. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that we weren’t even married in the very first place. With that in mind, it shouldn’t bother me at all who he decided to meet or spend his evenings with.“Diana…” Bradon called my sister’s name to get my attention.“Don’t worry about what we were talking about. We can discuss it later when it’s more convenient,” I said before showing him a smile.When our eyes met, I smiled brightly while staring right into his blue eyes.
“Just put it on my husband’s account. That too…and this…and that…” I instructed as I pointed my index finger randomly at various luxury bags there were on display.“Yes, I will do that. Would you like to see our newest shoe collection. It’s this way…” the sales assistant quickly recommended.She must have thought that luck was truly on her side after I turned up at the store. Of course, she recognized me as my sister immediately. I bet that in her entire career, she had never met a customer that bought so many things and without a thought.“There’s no need. Just get me all the designs that you have,” I replied casually.“Of course. May I know your size?” she asked before showing me a polite smile.“Just get me on in every size,” I replied.“Oh…right. Of course, I will do that. Thank you very much,” she replied with widened eyes.The objective of this shopping spree wasn’t so that I could buy things that I liked and wanted but it was a way for me to relieve stress. On top of that, sinc
“I think you’re just overreacting,” I said as I waved off his concerns.“Also, it is inaccurate to say that you don’t matter,” Zain said so softly that I almost didn’t catch his words at first.“What do you mean by that?” I asked as I tore my gaze away from the sparkling diamond necklace that I had been eyeing.“You do matter…” Zain replied in short.The way he said those words to me sounded sincere enough to make my chest feel tight. I wanted to believe him but that didn’t mean that I completely understood what he meant. I cocked my head slightly to the side as I pondered and flipped around his words in my mind. The movement of the boutique door opening caught my attention as my eyes focused on the person that had just walked in. For a moment, I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.“You’re finally here…” Zain said without hiding his relief.It felt like he was truly glad to be somewhat relieved of his duties. I was too stunned to react to Zain’s words as my eyes felt glued to th
I wanted to tell him that I didn’t want a diamond ring, but something told me that Bradon wouldn’t put this matter to rest unless I decided on a ring.“I’m not sure. Anthony, can you help me pick out a few that you like?” I asked as I forced a smile that I hoped looked natural.Since I couldn’t come up with any other reason why he was doing something like this, I figured that he must be playing the role of Anthony by acting as the perfect husband in front of everyone. He must have regretted that slip up that happened at the office. Perhaps, he didn’t intend for his lover to turn up like that. It would make Anthony look bad and it would cause a lot of trouble if news about that woman’s sudden appearance were to spread. I nodded my head slightly as the dots began to connect. In order to cover up for that, Bradon needed to create evidence that Anthony was still the perfect loving husband and that our relationship was smooth like butter. That must be it because I couldn’t think of any oth
I felt lost in a trance as I wondered what it was that I was feeling and what was making me feel that way. The slightly cold hardness of the ring sliding along the length of my ring finger brought me back to my senses. Bradon was staring right at my face as he seemed to observe my reactions. His eyes met and held mine and I felt trapped in their beautiful blue depths. At that moment, everything surrounding us seemed to fade away and it felt like we were the only ones in our private little world. I felt the ring at the base of my finger. As if it had been custom made for me, the ring felt like a very perfect fit.“I think it looks amazingly perfect on you, Lady Diana,” the store manager spoke up brightly.I could almost hear the shattering sound of glass as the spell that held us together seemed to have been broken. My eyes blinked rapidly as I tore my gaze away from Bradon’s so that I could focus on the ring sitting on the base of my ring finger. The large diamond stood out against my
Just thinking that the fool right in front of me dared to say he was in love with my sister, while he couldn't even tell the two of us apart, made my blood boil. It took a lot of effort to repress the urge to reach out and strangle his neck right then and there. I reminded myself that I had a part to play and quite an audience to impress."No... this can't be..." Mr. Malton whispered hoarsely from a distance, stepping even further away from me. I stood up from the table, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back to my side as I glared up into his face."It's actually quite simple to fool you. All I had to do was dress up in my sister's clothes whenever I met you and talk a little more sweetly..." I said, letting out a hysterical laugh. I could still feel everyone's eyes on us as the attention in the room escalated even more than before.Mr. Malton was speechless as he tried to pull his arm away from my grip, but I wasn't about to let him get away so easily."Well, now I guess the secret is
I had no idea how Diana managed to keep the girls silent up until that point so that the news wouldn't spread; however, I knew that it wouldn't be too long before everyone in school knew about this illicit affair. We would be extremely lucky if this news did not spread beyond the school walls. Despite the gravity of the situation, Mr. Malton was already ready to make his retreat."What if they don't believe us? I feel so scared. I don't want to be alone, and I don't want you to leave me," I said pleadingly just to see his reaction."You know that I would never do that. It would just be temporary until everything blows over. I promise that I will never leave you. How could I possibly leave you? I love you so much," he declared his love for me boldly.The more dramatic things became, the more I felt that his act of adoration was completely fake. No matter how many times he claimed to be in love with my sister, it seemed like he couldn't even tell us apart. I wondered what kind of face h
"Leya, you need to help me find a way out of this. Diana simply cannot make this kind of mistake," my sister told me slowly and clearly as she stared directly into my eyes."You're right. You can't afford to make these kinds of mistakes," I agreed solemnly."No one else must find out about this. We have to do something before word gets out because word is definitely going to get out,," my sister stated calmly, and I could tell that she had returned to her calm and collected self."Can't we tell them that they simply misunderstood and that it's not true?" I asked, daring to harbor a little bit of hope."They probably won't believe what we tell them, but they might believe what we show them," Diana replied, and I could tell her mind was made up.Without using any more words, it seemed like an understanding had formed between us, and once again, it felt like it was us against the entire world....**The Next Day**As I pushed open the back door to the building that was supposed to be off
The moment that thought entered my mind, I quickly killed it and pushed it out of my mind as if extinguishing a small flame before it would spread and engulf everything. I told myself that it wouldn’t have to come to that and that we could find another way to figure things out.“Does it matter? Why does it have to matter?” Diana asked, and her tone was cold.My sister’s response quickly snapped me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I narrowed my eyes at her as my irritation started to take over.“It does matter! Have you completely lost your mind? He’s our teacher,” I reminded her as I started to truly lose my head over what my sister had confessed to me.Had I known that the person she had been dating was one of our teachers, I would have definitely stopped her. That was probably the reason why Diana decided to keep it a secret, even from me. In reality, I had my own doubts about whether or not I could have persuaded my sister not to pursue her taboo relationship with Mr. Malton
"I guess he is not someone in this school," I said as I ran my mind through potential candidates who could be my sister's true love."It's a secret," Diana repeated again before pressing her index finger teasingly against her lips."Are you really not going to tell me?" I asked."Honestly, you have no idea just how much I am dying to tell you who he is. But you see, I did promise him to keep it a secret between us... at least for now," Diana said before flashing me a regretful smile."I don't think I will end up liking this guy. He's telling you to keep secrets from me," I replied teasingly."I'll make sure that you're the first one to find out," Diana promised me with a beaming smile."I guess that it's good enough for me that you're happy," I told her honestly."Thank you, Leya. I love you so much. You're probably the only one who truly cares about my happiness," my sister said before pulling me into her embrace.Back then, when I held my sister in my arms and hugged her back tightl
“Shall we?” Bradon asked as he offered me his arm invitingly.“Thank you,” I replied as I smoothly slipped my arm into his.Appearing in front of the public as Diana, with Bradon as my escort as he flawlessly acted out the role of Anthony, drew quite a lot of attention to us. I could tell that Bradon felt restless, even under his calm and collected exterior, and that was probably because he couldn’t wait for this engagement announcement to come to an end. Even though he should have been reassured now that Diana was taking my place at the ceremony, it seemed that nothing could make Bradon completely feel at ease given the situation.“I sincerely hope that they keep it short,” Bradon whispered right into my ear before planting a soft kiss against my temple.I was sure we looked like the perfect loving couple, and perhaps that wasn’t so far from the truth. For the life of me, I had no idea how Diana managed to convince Desmond to let her take my place at the engagement ceremony, but I wa
"So, are you going to get on your hands and knees to beg? How much longer will you keep me waiting?" I asked while pointing my index finger at the empty floor right in front of my feet.If looks could kill, I would have died an extremely painful death, stabbed by the millions of daggers flying out of my father's eyes from the way he was glaring at me. Even when I was clearly his only route of escape from the impending hell that was awaiting him, it was clear that my father felt nothing but hatred for me. I returned his stare with one of my own as I continued pointing to the floor where I wanted them to get on their hands and knees."I'm still waiting. Oh, but if you're not willing, then I'll make sure that some men will escort you out," I said before grinning at them. I could tell that my father was hesitating, and that meant that he was truly considering abandoning whatever pride he had left to get down on his hands and knees to beg for help from his long-abandoned daughter.Time mov
“Dahlia, dear! Please help your dear father!” The head of the Alnault family desperately pleaded for my help. I squinted my eyes at his face as I took in the evident panic and helplessness displayed on his features. I wasn't sure what I was hoping for when I wanted to see him, but his reaction surely surpassed even my wildest expectations. Gone were all of his confidence and arrogance. Perhaps, for the first time in his life, this man was feeling truly hopeless and helpless. “Dahlia! You have to help get us out of this. You need to help our family!”my mother's high-pitched voice begged openly for my help.I glanced in her direction. I wasn't at all surprised to feel absolutely no pity for her. The only question that went through my mind was why these two people were still standing on their feet rather than kneeling in front of me on their knees. My biological father continued begging while giving me countless reasons why I should help him out. However, most of his words were lost to
It was true that I had ample opportunities to tell Bradon about it, but it was also true that bringing it up would ruin the romantic and joyful mood between us and whatever we were in the middle of doing. Bradon came home early and in time for dinner every day, as if it was a change in habit. We spent time together just like regular couples—staying at home, watching movies, taking a dip in the pool, walking together in the garden, and doing many other things just to enjoy each other's company. It felt like we were making up for all the lost time.…**Around a week later**Diana's brewing plan kept me on edge. The secret preparation for the royal engagement announcement was in full swing. As for me, I spent a lot of time mentally preparing myself for what was to come. Each peaceful day that went by felt like the perfect calm before a raging storm. One day, I woke up to find Bradon sitting on the side of the bed, his eyes on me as if he was waiting patiently for me to wake up from my sl