Chapter 3

With widened eyes and a shaky breath, I stared at Samuel. He had a small smile on his face as he studied my shocked expression. 

What the hell was going on?

With shock, sadness, anger, and so many emotions filling me, I slapped Samuel hard across his face, causing him to double back and let out a string of cusses. I did not wait for him to regain his composure but rather let out my anger by hitting his strong muscular body in an attempt to cause him to feel at least a small portion of how hurt I felt.

“How could you?!” I cried as I hit him with my hands. I was pissed but mostly hurt. After breaking up with me with no explanation, and ghosting me, he had the guts to stand in front of me with a smile.

Was he a sociopath?

“Ouch, stop hitting me!” The man protected himself by using his arms as a shield before he finally grabbed me by my waist, closed the door with his leg, and held me tightly, not giving me the chance to assault him.

“Stop fighting!” He tried to get me to calm down but that was clearly not working. He had a look of confusion on his face as if he did not know why I was angry at him.

I yelled at the top of my lungs for Samuel to let me go, and he finally did. He had fear and swirling emotions in his eyes as he looked at me. 

I then asked him calmly why he left me; why he decided to break up with me when all I had done was love him. He was speechless, which made the dam break; the tears I was holding came rushing down without control. 

Speaking for the first time, Samuel’s voice sounded different. It was deeper and his American accent was now replaced with a very thick British accent. “Miss, I’m sorry but I don’t know you. And I would definitely remember if I was in a relationship with you. You’re literally gorgeous.”

“Oh, cut the crap.” I rolled my eyes and then tried to calm my now-disturbed hair. I was not buying his memory loss act. I was not stupid. Who was he trying to fool?

“No, seriously. I don’t know you,” He tried to convince me. “This is my first time meeting you. I don’t even know your name.”

He sounded like he was telling the truth, but his entire appearance said otherwise. 

I could not believe this guy, instead of taking responsibility for his crappy actions, he was now saying he was another person. I was beyond pissed now. 

But the sincerity in his voice tugged at my curiosity. It sounded like he truly believed what he was saying. 

He did look different; more defined muscles, was a bit taller, had a completely different accent, and most of all, he didn’t have the small tattoo of the bird that we both got on my birthday last year.

We both got those tattoos right on the right side of our necks. At first, when Samuel had asked me why we were getting tattoos of birds, I told him it was because they were cute. But Samuel came up with a much deeper meaning.

He said that the birds represented our love for each other; that they were lovebirds.

Could it be that this was not Samuel? But that was impossible, the guy literally had Samuel’s face!

“I’m confused…this can’t be right,” I mumbled to myself as I headed for the large fancy bed. I sat down on it and held my head with her right hand. I could feel a headache coming on. 

Since Samuel left, I didn't even remember sleeping.

“Who do you think I am?” The man who I thought was Samuel, asked me, and I lifted my head. His eyes were not the same as Samuel’s too. The color was the same, but he was not looking at me the way he always did.

He was looking at me with confusion, concern, and curiosity. Not with love.

“Samuel Willaims…” I couldn’t believe that I was entertaining this act. But there was a possibility that it was not Samuel, and even if it was, maybe he had lost his memory.

“Oh, my days.” The man laughed to himself. “You were in a relationship with Samuel?” 

I watched him, no, studied him. 

With careful observation, I began to notice things about this man that Samuel never had. The man had a small scar right above his eyes that Samuel definitely didn’t have; it was fading but evident.

“I’m guessing you know him?” I felt so weird speaking about Samuel as if he was not standing right in front of me. It made me feel almost as if I was a bit crazy.

“Hell, yes!” The man exclaimed. “The bastard is my twin brother, he fled to America two years ago.”

“Wh-what?” Things were beginning to make sense, but I was still left with questions. Twin brother? Well, she could see how that could be true due to how alike they looked, but then that meant that Samuel was royalty. 

Why did he lie to me then? Why was he struggling in America if he had such a wealthy family? 

“Yes, Samuel and I are the only children of our parents. He was born a few minutes before me so he is technically my older brother. He was first in line to be the heir of the Williams fortune until we woke up one morning to a note from him,” Samuel’s twin brother explained.

“A note…” I scoffed lightly. “He left me the same when he broke up with me.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry about that,” The man apologized as he sat next to me on the bed. His cologne was strong and expensive. 

“And I’m sorry about hitting you,” I replied, and we both chuckled lowly. “What did his note say?” I was intrigued. Was it written in a rush like mine was? Or was it carefully written because Samuel was addressing his family?

“Nothing much. Just that he did not want to be a businessman or CEO, that he wanted a normal life, and to work his own way through life.” Samuel’s brother sighed. I still did not know his name.

“We learned that he had gone America later, New York, to be specific.” He adds. 

“Oh,” I had no perfect response. On the subway in New York was where I met Samuel. It was where our love story began.

“I’m Sterling Williams, by the way.” Samuel’s brother smiled at me as he introduced himself. He almost sounded like Samuel too, except for the accent. 

“And I’m Heather Smith,” I replied, feeling satisfied with knowing his name. 

“Ah, the infamous Smith family,” Sterling smirked. “They are known for their success in business. Your father is an icon.”

“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled. It was not like I was not proud of my family or name, but I wanted to be recognized as Heather; with my own identity. 

Sterling rose from his sitting position and stood with his back straight. “Come with me, would you?” He extended his hand to me confidently.

I stared at his manly hand for a few seconds before finally accepting the invitation. “Where to?”

“I want to show you your new home for the next four years,” He replied to me as we walked out of the room. 

My hand was still in his, and although I wanted to remove it from his gentle grasp, I did not want to come off as rude. 

“Four years?” I asked. I was eager to know more about this arranged marriage. This was my first time doing something like this. 

And my parents were also not telling me exactly everything, except that this was for my own good and for the family’s image. I knew that there was more to the story, they just didn’t want me to know.

“Yes, four years. The arrangement is for the duration of four years; after that, then we can call it quits.” Sterling smiled at me as he explained. 

“And why is this marriage happening?” I was desperate to know, and Sterling could tell. He seemed amused that I knew so little about the subject.

“Well, your family and mine would both be getting something from this arrangement. I am oblivious to what each party would gain from this, but I do know what I’m getting.” Sterling sounded confident.

If Sterling would be getting something then that meant that I was to be getting something out of this too! So why was I the one being shoved into this? 

I was not getting anything, if anything, I was losing something. I was losing Samuel if I had not already lost him.

“And what would you be getting?” I asked. Sterling had now led me to the living room; it was fancier than my parents’ house back home. It felt more like a five-star hotel than somewhere residential.

“Stop being nosy, Heather,” He surprised me by saying, and I couldn’t help but laugh. 

We just met each other today but I was already feeling comfortable with Sterling. He still held my hand in his and now we were heading to the theater. There was a freaking theater in the house!

“No, tell me,” I encouraged Sterling to tell me about what he would be getting out of the arranged marriage with me.

“Okay,” He gave in, and I smiled proudly. “Samuel is first in line to our family’s fortune. The businesses, the companies, all of it.” 

“And although he ran from it all, that still does not change the fact that he’s the older brother and first heir. But if this arranged marriage is successful for the four years period then my family would make me the first heir.” Sterling continued.

I was learning so much about Samuel’s family in just a few hours more than the two years I spent with him. I thought our relationship was perfect, a novel-like love, but it was all built on lies.

Samuel told me that his parents were dead and that he had no siblings. If that was a lie, then what else were lies?

Sterling was now leading me to the other side of the house. On our way, we met a man with a bald head, wearing a distinct uniform. 

“Sir, we have a problem,” The man said to Sterling, causing him to let go of my hand. The warmth around my hand was now gone.

“What kind?” Sterling was calm and attentive despite the situation.

“The kind that requires you to call your parents, or even the police if the need arises,” The man responded, he kept glancing over at me for it was his first time seeing me.

“Hello, ma’am.” The man who I was guessing was the head butler greeted me, and I smiled in response.

“No need for the police, or my parents.” Sterling straightened the blue suit on him. “I will take care of it.” He said as if he already knew what the problem was.

I was a bit nervous about what was happening. Why would the man suggest calling the police? This must be serious, so why was Sterling so impressively calm about it?

“Lucas, would you mind taking this beautiful lady to the master bedroom?” Sterling asked the bald man, and he nodded while smiling warmly at her.

“No, I rather not return to the bedroom. I want to see what the problem is. This is now my new home so I should know about its threats.” I mentally slapped myself for saying this. 

What was I thinking? Was I trying to impress Sterling who I had just met?

Sterling smiled at me. My voice was smeared with boldness but he could see fear in my eyes. “Very well, let’s get going then,” He said to me. 

The head butler led us to another side of the house, towards a mini-bar. 

A man stood by it while drinking very heavily. He had his back turned to them, not even knowing that they were approaching him. My heart rate had increased and I was now regretting why I decided to come along.

Was this man an intruder? Was he a murderer?

“Hey!” Sterling yelled for the man’s attention, and I inhaled sharply. 

The man then turned around and my mouth dropped in awe. It was the real Samuel; my Samuel.