“It’s nothing, really.” I put on a smile and got up from the chair. I looked at him with compassion and kindness. “We are meant to be, right? This is all part of your plan. So from now on, we should just cherish the love we have for each other, right?”
Listening to that, Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at me with doubt in his eyes. I could see he was contemplating his next moves.
As I resisted the urge to strangle him, I raised my hand and stroked his cheeks lovingly. “Now you can be with me in public, isn’t that good?”
“But you’ve just told me you’ll love Anthony till the day you die,” Nathaniel said stubbornly.
Well, I had to oblige if he couldn’t see past what I said. I lowered my gaze before I continued to brainwash him. “That doesn’t matter. As I said, we’re all greedy by nature. I do love Anthony, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love you at the same time. At the moment, there’s nothing I would do for him I wouldn’t do for you. Now, I guess everything depends on which of you two wants me more.”
Suddenly, Nathaniel grabbed my waist and pulled me toward him. We were standing so close to each other that I could feel his breath on my cheeks. “You’re so greedy,” he blurted.
I felt a hint of unwillingness in his words because his tone was so cold. Not only did he emit a dangerous aura, but it was like he was the hunter and I was the prey.
With zero distance separating us, I tried my hardest to squeeze out a smile, albeit an awkward one. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
I could tell that he didn’t fancy my answer, but he couldn’t resist me. He put his hand at the back of my head and hugged me.
He hugged me so tightly I had no choice but to let him have his way with me. As a reaction to his affectionate hug, I then forced myself to give him a few pats on his back.
At the same time, I felt that he wasn’t as tense anymore. A hug was all it took to soften up the beast inside of him.
I always believed that hugs could intensify the love two people had for each other. The more love he felt from me, the more miserable his life would be. I was prepared to torture him for a long time to come, but I wondered how much he could take.
After a few seconds, he finally let me loose. Our eyes met, and an awkward silence hung in the air. It was as though he wasn’t used to being so close to me.
As a gentle and loving girlfriend, I smiled blissfully at him. I intended to say something in order to bring the awkward moment to an end.
But before I could utter a word, he fled like a scaredy-cat.
As I watched him dashing away, I continued sipping my tea with great satisfaction.
You can never escape my clutches, Nathaniel. As long as I am still alive, you’ll be my prisoner.
It was exactly like what Anthony did to me for four years when I was still in R Province. I’ll toy you around while making sure that you can’t get rid of me.
After Nathaniel left, I rang Emery. I was hoping that she could get Alexander to meet me.
“Okay, I’ll try. I can’t promise you that he’ll show up,” Emery said hesitantly.
I wondered if she was making a fool out of me because I knew Alexander wouldn’t say no to her.
Just as I expected, Alexander agreed to meet at The Jade that afternoon.
Evidently, he didn’t know I was the one requested to meet him. When he entered the private room, he casually blurted, “Emery, it didn’t take long for you to forgive me…”
He immediately stopped speaking when he saw me inside. Embarrassed, he scratched the back of his head and asked, “Sienna? What are you doing here? Where’s Emery?”
While asking, he swept a cursory glance around the room, searching for Emery.
“Stop looking around. I was the one who requested to see you. Emery isn’t here.” I raised my head and pointed at the sofa next to me. “Sit.”
Immediately, he turned moody. Before I could even speak a word, he blurted out, “I know you’re here for Emery. Honestly, I didn’t do anything wrong to her. It was my mom who arranged that woman for me. I’m not even interested in her. Hence, it wouldn’t affect my feelings for Emery.”
Then, he leaned back and rested his head on the sofa. “I know I’m younger by a few years. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a grown man. It has been seven years. Don’t any of you see my sincerity?” he grumbled.
Then and there, I got a grasp on the situation. Alexander approached another woman because of his family’s arrangement. Hence, he wasn’t on good terms with Emery.
That’d explain Emery’s hesitation when I asked her to ask Alexander out. She just wanted to avoid him.
“I’m not here for that,” I answered. “But I do believe you care for Emery.”
“Really? You believe me?” Alexander was surprised. So much so that he sat straight abruptly.
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter.” I shook my head and advised, “Maybe it’s not so good of an idea to drag out a potential relationship. Don’t you think it’s about time the two of you should take the next step? A real man wouldn’t let a lady wait too long.”
Alexander waved his hand in dismissal. “Don’t you think I want that? It’s just that Emery doesn’t want to go official with me. Obviously, I want to be acknowledged as well.”
Speechless, I held onto my forehead. He had been in countless shows depicting life lessons, and yet, he had no idea how everything worked in life! “If Emery really doesn’t see her future with you in it, why would she still stick around for the past seven years? Think about that!”
Some men would never come to their senses.
Alexander was visibly confused by what I said. It seemed like he needed more time to figure it out. But unlike Emery, I don’t have the luxury to wait. I quickly took the map from my bag, put it on the table, and said, “Give this to Benson. But don’t look for him right away. It’s best to do after a couple of days.”
Indeed, I used Emery to ask Alexander out because I didn’t want to be seen to have anything to do with Benson.
Although I could use the relationship between Emery and Alexander as a smokescreen, it would still be suspicious if the three of us were to be seen showing up at The Jade at the same time. Also, it was a possibility someone would notice if Alexander were to look for Benson right after we’d met.
“Okay,” he answered half-heartedly. He was still dwelling on the advice I’d give him.
As I was about the leave, I got worried about Alexander’s competency. Hence, I turned around, shoved the map into his pocket, and reminded him, “This is very important. Please don’t mess this up. Otherwise, I’ll stop putting in good words for you in front of Emery.”
I got his attention as soon as I mentioned Emery. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it done,” he said.
“Well, thanks in advance then.”
“Sure. I’ll make a move if that’s all.” Alexander stood up.
“Aren’t you going to wait for Emery?” I thought they had things to say to each other.
“She would already be here if she wanted to see me.” Alexander let out a long sigh and left.
I waited for a while before leaving the private room so that we wouldn’t be seen together at the entrance of The Jade.
I bumped into Emery while I was waiting for the elevator. “You’re done speaking to him?” she asked.
I nodded. “You’d have been able to see him if you came earlier.”
Emery rolled her eyes at me. “Are you crazy? I only came after I saw him leave.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. When a person like Emery had nothing to hide, she wouldn’t even hide the fact that she avoided him on purpose.
Since Emery was good at reading others’ thoughts, I pulled her back into the private room and told her the things that had happened in the past few days.
To my surprise, Emery wasn’t shocked to hear what I had to say.
“What’s the fuss about? When two people of the opposite sex were to mingle for a few days, feelings were bound to show up.” Emery was unfazed.
She did have a point. I pouted and said, “Well, I just didn’t expect it.”
“What do you mean? You didn’t expect him to be attracted to you?” Emery responded quickly. “But this has nothing to do with your attractiveness. Everything happened just because you’re Anthony’s woman. That’s why Nathaniel couldn’t resist you. He can try as hard as he may, but his jealousy and competitiveness would make him fall even harder for you. Men are all attracted to this sort of excitement in life.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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