“I see,” Robert says into his phone. “Yes, I’ll tell him at once.”
“Sir, the maids, said that Leilani returned to the mansion,” Robert says. “They said she insisted on taking a few things. They swear they tried to stop her and hope you won’t punish them too severely.”
Waylen sighs and turns to face Robert. The butler looks pale and sweaty, and the corner of his mouth twitches nervously. Robert hesitates as if he’s not sure he should continue talking.
“What did she take?” Waylen asks impatiently.
“They say it’s nothing valuable,” Robert says. “They say they thought about asking the bodyguards to stop her, but they were too scared. She took a recording pen, a book, and the computer-generated picture of her future baby.”
Waylen feels his broken heart hammer dully in his chest. Unless she’s erased the message, the pen still has the recording he made after the visit to Nanny. In the recording, he repeats her words from the diorama, telling her he loves her. Why would she take that if she hates me? He wonders. Is it possible she still cares for me in some way?
He quickly shakes his, trying to get rid of the hopeful thought. If she really loved me, she wouldn’t have been so desperate to get away, he thinks. I can’t afford to fall for her mind games anymore.
“Have them clear out everything she left behind,” he says. “When I get home, I don’t want to see a single thing that reminds me of her. And from now on, everyone is forbidden to mention her in my presence. I never want to hear her name again.”
“Sir, what if Mrs—Miss—she has a reason?” Robert stammers.
Waylen grabs Robert’s collar, lifting the man up into the air. He watches Robert choke and gasp before dropping him onto the hard floor. His mouth feels dry, and his blood feels hot in his veins.
“Don’t forget your position,” Waylen says. “Just because you spend a lot of time with me doesn’t mean you can meddle in my personal life. You’re not my friend; you’re just paid help.”
“I’m just concerned—” Robert stammers.
“I don’t need your pity!” Waylen screams. “If anyone talks about her in front of me, I’ll make sure they never talk again. Understand?”
Leilani checks her phone and sees a message from Andrew asking her to meet him in front of the mall. There are two winking emojis. She rolls her eyes and calls for a taxi.
The driver pulls up to the mall, and she immediately sees Andrew’s Bugatti Veyron. He’s parked it in a red, no parking zone in front of the main entrance. Leilani sighs and walks to the car. As she approaches a door swing open and Andrew hops out of the driver’s seat.
“You’re early,” he says with a wink. “Couldn’t wait to see me?”
“Traffic was light,” Leilani says with a shrug.
She looks Andrew up and down. He’s wearing a black tuxedo with a scarlet red bowtie. Although he often wears tuxedos, she’s never seen him wear a bowtie before. His hair is neatly brushed back, and she can smell his cologne from six feet away.
He walks in front of the car to open the passenger door for her. As she passes, he tries to wrap his arm around her waist, but she dodges him.
“Whose funeral are you dressed for?” she asks with a sarcastic roll of her eyes.
“I’m dressed for our wedding,” Andrew says calmly. “I hope my future wife doesn’t think of it as a funeral. Now, do you want to put your suitcase in the trunk?”
Leilani shakes her head and tightens her grip on the suitcase. He reaches for it, and she swings it away from him, holding it behind her back.
“Why are you so nervous about it?” Andrew asks. “Is your dowry in it?”
“I just don’t like other people messing with my stuff,” Leilani says.
Andrew shrugs and walks back around to the driver’s side. Leilani gets into the car and shuts the door behind her. The soft mechanical click of the door’s lock is as loud as the iron clang of a prison cell door. Andrew drives slowly down the street, blasting the air conditioning as he goes. Leilani shivers and wraps her arms around herself.
“Do you know when you’re most attractive?” Andrew asks, his voice low.
“Do you know when you’re most annoying?” she snaps.
“In moments like this,” Andrew says, completely unbothered by her attitude.
“What a coincidence,” she says. “I’d say the same for you.”
She looks out the window as the city passes by. After several minutes it becomes clear that Andrew isn’t taking her out of the city.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“To City Hall,” Andrew says. “We need to get a marriage license first. Why do you look so surprised to hear me say that? I thought we had an agreement.”
“It just seems a little sudden, doesn’t it?” Leilani says, fighting an intense wave of nausea.
“At least I’m dressed for the occasion,” Andrew says, looking at her white tracksuit out of the corner of his eye.
“The outfit doesn’t matter,” Leilani says, desperately trying to think of an excuse. “The problem is the date. Today is a bad day for marriage—I’ve checked the horoscopes and everything.”
“Really?” Andrew asks with a smirk. “I didn’t know you believed in fortune-telling.”
“Sure,” Leilani says. “And I’m telling you this date is bad. Anyone who gets married today will probably have a divorce. And if there isn’t a divorce, the wife will bring terrible luck to her husband. He’ll suffer terribly and die at a young age.”
Andrew laughs and says, “But I have to return the heart to Charles, so it’s only a matter of time until I die.”
“Not soon enough if you ask me,” Leilani mutters under her breath.
“You really want me to die?” he asks, his voice soft and sad.
Leilani turns to look at him, surprised that he could hear her. She looks him up and down and feels an intense wave of sympathy for him. She sighs and shakes her head.
“You know, when you’re like this, I don’t find you quite as annoying,” she says.
Andrew narrows his eyes and presses his lips together. The car starts to go faster, and he weaves in and out of the city traffic. Leilani closes her eyes with exhaustion. She knows she only has to stay with Andrew for six months, but that time is starting to feel like an eternity.
“Maybe we should sign some sort of agreement,” she says, keeping her eyes closed. “In case you don’t honor your word.”
Andrew laughs and says, “If I don’t want to honor my promise, nothing will force me to do it—least of all a piece of paper. You’re the only thing that binds me, Leilani.”
Leilani opens her eyes and stares at him, trying to find a trace of guilt in his expression. But he seems perfectly calm. The thought of cheating her doesn’t bother him at all.
“You better treat me well during our time together,” he says. “You wouldn’t want me to regret our deal suddenly, would you?”
“How dare you!” Leilani hisses.
As the car slows for traffic, she jerks at the door handle. It doesn’t matter that the car is still moving; she wants to get out as quickly as possible. The door doesn’t budge. She tugs on the handle again, pulling with all her weight, but the door is locked.
“Stop this car and let me out right now,” she says.
“I forgot how feisty you are,” Andrew says. “Rest assured, Jackson will never let me off the hook. If I don’t honor my promise, he could easily forge an alliance with Waylen, and I’d be powerless against them. Does that make you feel better?”
Leilani shrugs. An alliance between Jackson and Waylen doesn’t make her feel better at all. She doesn’t want to ever see Waylen again. Andrew takes one hand off the wheel and makes a finger gun. He points it to his temple and smiles lazily.
“Or you could just shoot me here and now and take the heart,” he says. “Really, you’ll have many opportunities to kill me. If you think about it, you’re the one with the advantage.”
He turns the car onto the highway and begins to head out of the city. He changes lanes quickly and suddenly without signaling, and Leilani gasps and clutches the sides of her seat. He laughs and drives even faster.
“If you don’t want to get married today, that’s fine,” he says. “We can choose another day.”
She closes her eyes and gives in to the exhaustion. It’s a long drive to Misty Mansion, and she figures she might as well sleep. She opens her eyes as the car slows to a stop and looks around in confusion.
Bright light streams through the tinted windows, and she can see the clear blue sea in the distance. They’re parked next to a beachside villa made of glass on top of a hill. Red, yellow, pink, and orange hibiscus flowers cover the hillside, bending and swaying in the sea breeze.
Andrew hops out of the car and opens Leilani’s door. She inhales deeply; the sweet smell of the flowers mixes with the salty sea air. In the distance, she can hear the waves crashing onto the sand and the cries of seagulls.
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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