3. Zaiden Alvaro

“What happened?” That voice made Cyra take her emerald eyes upward from the ground and she saw the light hazel orbs of her boyfriend, Ethan, gazing at her, confused.

“N…. nothing,” she shook her head at her 25 years old boyfriend, who was sitting beside her. They both were sitting on the same bench of that park where they had been meeting each other in secret for the past 3 years.

Ethan clearly caught that gloominess in her eyes which befuddled him because he had barely seen her so lost ever in his life but today, she was looking exhausted.

“Did you get tired a lot after celebrating your birthday party last night?” His question made Cyra clench her fists as she didn't even have that courage to tell him what she had done last night with that stranger because she was terrified of losing Ethan.

“Yes,” she lied to him, feeling like her heart was aching. She knew she should tell him the truth but she was terrified of seeing his reaction.

“Don't worry. Go home and then get some rest,” he placed his palm over her head and then tenderly caressed it. It hurt her even more because it made Cyra feel like she was cheating on him.

“I will inform you about how my interview will go this afternoon, okay?” He said to her, earning a nod from her.

Cyra stood up on her feet and turned around to leave but his voice stopped her.

“Angel….” Her heart shattered more brutally by hearing him calling her with that nickname which he had given her.

Cyra turned around slowly and saw him standing in front of her.

“Here's your birthday gift,” she saw him extending a small jewellery box towards her and Cyra witnessed a beautiful silver ring inside it.

“I know it's not something very special or expensive but it's the only belonging of my mother which I have with me and I want it to hand over to you today,” Cyra heard him telling her. Ethan had lost his both parents in a tragic accident when he was a kid and since then he never had a proper family ever in his life.

Grabbing that ring, he held her hand and then gently slid that ring inside her ring finger.

“Because after my mother, the only woman I love the most in my life is you and it will always be you for me, my angel,” a tear slipped down from her eyes, hearing his words which made Ethan cup her face.

He wiped her face and washed her tears away.

“Now, you have turned into my bride and my bride shouldn't be crying,” he tried to cheer her up but Cyra broke down into tears and hugged him tightly.

“I….I love you. Please…never leave me, Ethan,” she begged him while hugging him as tightly as she could. Smiling, Ethan embraced her back before he kissed the top of her head.

“Never, my angel because I love you for the best and for the worst,” his words made her cage him more firmly. Now she didn't even know whether she would ever be able to tell the truth to Ethan or not because she knew she was not capable of living without him, so now she could only hope for that unknown man to never come in front of her ever again.

But little did she know, that unknown man was already present around her and was gazing at her embracing another man which filled his cerulean orbs with that malicious madness.

“Until tonight, mi amor,” he breathed out while that treacherous smirk formed on his sinister face.

……….

“No, I am going with my parents to attend the dinner with the Alvaro family right now,” Cyra said to Leena on the call while trying to cover up those dark red hickeys on her neck with her makeup which she had received from that unnamed man.

“Oh….okay. Don't think too much about last night,” Leena's words made Cyra sigh because Leena knew nothing about Cyra's relationship with Ethan, so she had no idea of that pain Cyra was feeling at that moment.

“By the way, did you hear that conversation in our college group chat about Kellan that he….”

“I will talk to you later, Leena. I am getting a call,” Cyra halted Leena in the middle, witnessing Ethan's call entering into her phone. She hung up Leena's call and then picked up Ethan's.

“Hello…..”

“Guess, what happened? I cracked the interview and got the job, angel,” Ethan's enthusiastic voice notified her which brought a smile on her face.

“The Alvaro Corporations hired me and now, very soon, we can disclose about our relationship in front of your parents with no worry,” tears shimmered in her eyes, hearing him but Cyra wiped her tears away and then sighed heavily.

“Congratulations. I am extremely happy for you……”she wished him. She was genuinely happy for his success because she knew how hard he had worked to get this job, so that they could announce their relationship to her parents would at least think about giving their relationship their approval, especially her father who was extremely strict and protective of his daughter and her future.

“Cyra…..come fast, sweety,” she heard her mother calling for her.

“My mother is calling me. I am going out with my parents. I will talk to you soon,” she uttered to Ethan.

“Oh…okay. Bye. Love you,” he replied back, making Cyra clench her palms.

“Love you too,” she replied back, not even sure whether she was even worth his love anymore or not after what she had done last night and how she was still trying to hide the truth from him with the fear of losing him.

“Bye,” she hung up the call and took a last glance at her reflection in the mirror where she found herself wearing that red tea length midi dress.

Now Cyra was feeling ashamed to even look at herself. No, she couldn't hide the truth from Ethan anymore. She should tell him the truth and she would definitely do it after returning from this dinner.

Sighing heavily, Cyra walked out of her room, praying in her heart that she would never have to get in the presence of that barbaric man ever in her life again but little did she know.

……………..

“Welcome,” Cyra saw the Alvaro family welcoming them inside their manor which was beautifully lavish and extravagant just like their family name and status.

“We are happy to have you all here, especially my beautiful lady, Cyra,” Cyra witnessed her father's best friend and the head of the Alvaro family, Caius Alvaro, saying to her with a tender pat on her head.

Cyra passed him a smile in order to respect him which made him beam at her too. She knew the Alvaro family since her childhood and they had always treated her like a part of their own family.

Both the families started greeting each other.

“Martha, please go and call Zaiden downstairs,” Her aunt Leora said to the house staff and Cyra just continued to stand there beside her father who was talking to her uncle Caius.

“Tell him everyone is here,” Cyra saw the house help bowing at her aunt Leora and then she turned around and left to follow the request of her aunt Leora.

“Come, sit please,” her aunt Leora requested all of them to settle down on the sofa. Cyra looked at her father and mother where she saw her father nodding at her tenderly and then she saw her parents sitting on the sofa, along with her uncle and aunt and when finally all the elders sat, Cyra decided to sit too.

“Come, Cyra,” she heard Kaena Alvaro saying to her, who adored her a lot since her childhood. Cyra smiled at her and decided to sit beside her sissy Kaena.

She walked towards the sofa and was about to sit there when suddenly she again felt that presence which caused those tendrils of chill to run down her spine, just like last night when she entered that club. Her feet paused.

“Look, Zaiden is here….” She heard her aunt Leora saying with a smile while looking behind her which made Cyra slowly turn around and that was where every ounce of her being went numb when her gaze collided with those piercing cerulean eyes of that person again.

For a brief moment, Cyra couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that man in front of her but when she noticed his cerulean eyes getting fixed at her, the corner of her own gaze immediately picked with tears. It was him. That man to whom she lost herself last night. It was Zaiden Alvaro.

Now what kind of cruel game her fate was trying to play here by making her stand in front of him again and this time, not as strangers anymore?

But only if she would have been aware at that moment about how cruel this game was going to be when she would have to become the forced bride of Zaiden Alvaro.