“A bigger smile, please!” Payton exhaled gently as the photographer said and she breathed in again.She raised her head, clenched her teeth together, and widened her fake smile.It must have been evident.She thought.That this marriage was just of convenience and nothing more, because right now, without being told, she knew that she had the fakest smile ever.“Can the bride's father and mother move closer to the bride?”He demanded again.“Jesus, can we just get this done with?!” She burst out unconsciously and then swallowed hard.She dared to not let it show.Why was she letting her emotions get the best out of her?“Ohhhh, I see that the bride can’t wait to walk down the aisle,” he joked and Payton forced a smile again.After a while of taking pictures in different styles with her family, they moved away from her while she sat ‘pretty’ on the chair, a bouquet held tightly in her hands“Sister!” Came the loud pitched voice from Ava who rushed to her and then pulled her in a quick
“Do you, Payton Inez Vass, take King Thorn for your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”King pinned his eyes on Payton as the officiant asked her. She stared at him back and he chuckled inwardly.She really looked like she was going to yell NO to his face but instead, she exhaled.“I do,” she said.“King Thorn, do you take Payton Vass to be your wife, to live together in harmony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"“I do,” a mocking smirk tugged on his lips as he said immediately.‘Forsaking all others… for as long as you both shall live?’As if they would even manage to spend six months together!King knew that he was going to have real issues with Payton. He does not even need to be told.‘Dream on. If that makes you sleep at night?’She dared to tell hi
“Ah… I… F… I am so sorry, ma'am,” she bowed gently while she twitched her lips rather guiltily.She really should not feel guilty, honestly. It was King’s fault that he did not tell her about her.Just an ‘I have a mother’ would not hurt his ego, for real.But instead, all he was after was how she should respect him and not put her mouth in his matter.What an egoistic bastard!“I can see you are short of words,” she smacked her tongue.“I am so sorry. King did not tell me…”Should she be saying that?What if King had told his mother that he had told her already?“Girl, same!” She exclaimed and Payton raised a brow.The ‘girl, same’ totally blew her away!“He did not even show me your picture either. I have been wanting to meet you for a long time!” She said.“A long time?” Payton raised her brows.“Yes. About a year or something. He kept refusing to tell me anything about you! Could you believe he called me a few days ago to tell me about the wedding?!”Hold on. A year ago?She had b
The drive home was as silent as a graveyard as Payton and King refused to say to each other other words.While Payton looked out of the window, like she was taking the new route in, King took quick glances at her while he held his phone tightly in his hand.All he wanted to know was why this woman was still pretending even now that they were married.At least, she must have done that to him because she wanted something, and this must have been it.Getting married to him.So, why the fuck was she crying when they were leaving the wedding hall?As his phone beeped, he turned to look at the message that had just entered and then clicked on it.It was from Sasha and he smiled softly. “Yes, I promise. It is just a deal marriage. It will be over soon,” he typed back in response.Earlier, she had messaged him and asked if things were over between them, and of course, he had told her no.There was no way he was going to let go of Sasha because of this sly woman.Once he gets the truth out of
“I never considered you as my friend either, King Thorn. The world does not revolve around you.”“And I said that you will respect me. Not spewing cuss words at me is included!”“Hold on, what is your obsession with respect? Were you disrespected all your life?!” She asked and finally snatched her arm from him.“You asked for this, my dear wife,” he shook his head.“Ask for what? This stupid marriage? Damn me if I ever want this for myself!”“You did that on purpose just to have me marry you. You knew it was going to be the only way around this!”“And why would I?” She frowned.“Because I am King Thorn, and everyone is dying to meet me, to know me, or be with me!”“You are so delusional, King Thorn,” she shook her head in disgust.“You think I am amongst those people? I don’t even know you! I mean, I have never heard of you till last week. I told you, the world does not fucking pivot around you!” She snapped, pointing her index finger at his chest.“First, you drugged my drink, then,
As Payton closed the door behind her, she turned to look at her surroundings and when she saw the door that looked like that of an elevator in a corner, she breathed out.Does he have an elevator in his house?Feeling down, and pained, she dragged her feet down the route she had taken when she was coming with the man and when she had descended about three staircases, she met with the maids who were ascending the stairs with loads in their hands.“T… that is my load, right?” She asked.“Yes, ma’am. Should we show you to your room?” One of them asked and she nodded her head.Payton moved to the side for them to pass first so that she would go after them and then, she palmed her forehead.She must looked so ridiculous right now.She probably looked like a fool and they must have been mocking her behind the doors, right?She followed them till they got to a door and then entered the room with them.As she entered, she ignored the women who went ahead with their business and then stared at
“So what happened after?” Savannah asked amidst laughter and Payton hissed.It was early in the morning, a Sunday morning and if not for the change of environment, she would not know that she was married as there was no even difference.She had woken up quite early and Savannah’s call had come in almost immediately.So, she began to tell her what happened the previous day after she got home with King.“Hey, can you help me look into this guy further? I think he will be abusive or something,” she smacked her tongue, trying to not talk about the kiss.If it could even be termed as a kiss.He had abused her. That was not a kiss.Still, she did not want to tell that to Savannah.“Why? Did he hit you?!” She screamed.“He did not. He just… he could for an abuser,” she shrugged as she returned her toothpaste to its rack and then dabbed my mouth with a towel.“Payton, I don’t think he is that kind of person.”“What do you know?” I hissed.“There has never been any scandal about him! No one has
Payton knew that one of the best ways to not seem weak in front of the man was to always dress well. Of course, she was not dressing to please the man. She would never do that.She just wanted to maintain her elegance around him. She would never let him catch her unkempt.She wore a shimmery black material dress. The V-neck was a little deep, held up by two small spaghetti straps, but then there was also a drapey off-the-shoulder cap sleeve. She had actually worried that the dress would make her shoulders look huge as it was her first time wearing it, but with the pushup strapless bra she was wearing, she loved it. The material gathered below the bust then it loose fitting to the floor, with a slit that goes halfway up one thigh.“You are so beautiful, Ma’am,” Tiana commented as Payton looked at herself in the mirror again.“Thank you.”“But, are you going out after having breakfast?” Tiana asked again.“No, why?”Tiana stared down at her dress again and then shook her head.“Nothin
“Fucking fuck!” Payton screamed as soon as she entered the room and locked it behind her.She stood transfixed in the middle of the room, covered her mouth with her palms, and then stared into a space.Hold on… did she really have sex with… KING?!No. No way that would happen.That would have never happened.But… How can she explain their naked body joined together on the couch in the morning?Did he really take advantage of her?There was no way she would let King have se—And the memories of the previous night came crashing into her head which made her widen her eyes and then scream."Don’t look so naive. Your dick is shaped like a banana, and I think I had imagined it getting into me once, right?"The words she had said hit her head and she widened her eyes again, this time like it was going to pop out of her head.“THE FUCK— I SAID THAT?!” She screamed at no one in particular and then shook her head.“No way I said that. Jesus! That is defamation!”“But… we truly had sex?” She sl
King couldn’t believe that he was doing this right now. It shouldn’t be right because Payton was so wasted, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull back either. The feeling of her lips on his was so intense, and he couldn’t stop himself from licking her lips like it was a cherry. He slowly pulled her by the waist, but she slipped once more into his arms. He laughed softly, unable to believe that Payton was actually in his arms. "Think about it, you wouldn’t be able to leave my hold if you keep doing this. So, you have all the time in the world to leave now," he said softly."You talk too much," she mumbled as she placed both hands on either side of his face.King growled as he looked into her drunken eyes. "I don’t want to talk too much anymore," he whined as he pulled her head down into a kiss.He could feel her hand all over his body, and he loved it. Their kisses turned sloppy, and Payton tried to slide his shirt off. She was literally wrestling with it at that point. King softly
“What if I told you that the feeling is mutual?” He asked amidst laughter, enjoying every bit of anger that was on her face.“I hate you so so much!” She shrieked and tried to slap his arm again, but he was quick to catch it.He dragged her down to his position, her face just a few inches away from his.“We…” King started, his breath fanning her cheek.“Are we ever going to stop fighting and probably get on the same page?” He asked, almost in a whisper.Payton stared at his pink lips and then breathed out heavily. “I doubt that, asshole.”She pushed him away and then stood upright. She adjusted her clothes and then walked away.King leaned in the chair comfortably, placed his index finger on his lips, and then smiled.“So cute.”He does not know exactly what was cute, but, ‘so cute.’===Payton exhaled as she stabbed the another piece of the stir-fried beef and put it in her mouth.It had been a week and a couple of days since she had that discussion with King and to her greatest surp
King stared at Payton whose legs staggered and then settled on the floor gently.Was she being sentimental because of what he had said?If he knew that he would be getting this reaction from her, he might have told her since.In fact, he would have told her that the moment he found out.“No one believed me,” she started as she picked on her fingers.“Only Savanah did, though.”“Ah… Savannah is my friend, but she has traveled out of the country again,” she said as if he had asked her who Savannah was.“Even my father didn’t believe me. No one did. In fact, it got to a point that I started to believe that maybe, I had done it on purpose. Maybe I had gone to your room that night by myself… or maybe I had set you up like you had claimed…” she inhaled and shook her head.“The truth is not always what we see, right?” She chuckled.“Even Ava did not believe me and that was painful because she knew so well that I would not have done that.”‘But she set you up, dummy.’King thought inwardly.W
When King had arrived home and had not met Payton, he, at first thought she was somewhere around their perimeter but when he walked around and didn’t find her, he proceeded out of their property.Finding Payton with another man was the least of what he was expecting. She didn’t know anyone here, so he did not expect that he would find her with someone. A man especially.They were standing so close to each other that he wondered what they were talking about.Not thinking twice, King rushed over to her, and then wrapped his arm around her waist, like he was marking his territory.“What are you do… doing here?” she struggled to ask the man who refused to let go of her even for a second.“I have been looking for you,” he repeated, still staring at the man.“Ah… he is your…”“I am her husband,” he said as he finally released his grip on Payton.“Why are you here?” Payton grabbed the tip of his clothing.She knew this look in his eyes.He looked like he was ready to pounce on Ramon and then
“I… I did not know you could cook though,” King said after he finally finished eating in silence.“I guess I should have walked around with vegetables hanging around my neck,” she said casually, and he shook his head.“You could have just accepted that compliment without being insultive,” he hissed.“How is that a compliment? You think I could not cook. Is that a compliment?”“Is it not? Women like you don’t know how to cook,” King said as he worked on his juice and he was still drinking it before he realized that he might have said something to annoy the woman.“Now, that is an insult. You cannot tell me otherwise,” Payton seethed and he shook his head.“You think that is an insult?!” He widened his eyes.“Women like me… It sounds like you are being prejudiced.”“Or it is you giving it too much meaning,” he shrugged his shoulders off.“I guess I should not have gone through the hassle of cooking for you.”“It is a hassle?”“You are ungrateful,” Payton smacked her tongue and stood up.
The previous night had to be the most hectic night that Payton had ever had.Did she even close her eyes at all? She doubted it.The evident eye bags were proof on their own.When she and King had retired to the room after a very silent and awkward dinner, she divided the bed with the side pillows on the bed and warned the man sternly to not cross the line.King only watched while she performed what he had called stupidity.It was not like they were little kids that something would happen even if their bodies just touched a little.After the woman finished dividing the bed, he lay on the side of the bed, and he did not know why he had slept off almost immediately.Only when he woke up at midnight did he see that the woman was sleeping, while sitting and her back resting on the wall.He shook his head, and then returned to sleep, comfortably of course.When they woke up, he could hear the woman cussing and mumbling that she had a worse night, but still, he said nothing and had his busi
When the chauffeur dropped them off late at night at the house that their mother had arranged for them, Payton breathed out in relief as she entered the beautiful house that was literally built with glass.While she was outside, she could see the inside clearly and even though she could, she could not wait to enter the house.It was a beautiful glass house that was located by the island, and this was the kind of sight that she had always longed for.Maybe it was nice that she was on this honey— no, vacation.She had not had the chance to travel out for vacation before. It was all for work, and strictly work.It was not that she could not afford to, but she spent all of her time working, and coming up with new ideas.The pressure of running her mother’s art gallery was a bit heavy and she had never admitted it to anyone before.She wanted to do well.She wanted to work so well that no one would blame her mother for leaving her with something like that.And she knew she was trying. She
Payton and King sat in silence in front of each other in the plane as it forced its move forward to the air.Payton leaned her head comfortably in her seat and shook her head.Before they had entered the plane, King and her had tried to persuade their mother but Amerie remained adamant and then went ahead to tell them that if they kept pestering her, she would extend it by two months.The plane was silent. It was just them and the flight attendants in the awkwardly comfortable plane.She had never been on a plane alone before. Not even when she had business outside the country. Why would she anyway?The space they were in was so huge and comfortable that it could pass for a room. The seats were facing each other and without saying much, they settled in front of each other even though there were many seats in the plane.As she remembered again that she would be stuck with King in an unknown place for the next four weeks, she breathed out in frustration and shook her head.King raised