Sonia let out a sigh of relief once she had put some distance between her and Evelyn. She turned to look behind her and felt slightly guilty that she had abandoned Celsie with the lady, but quickly shook off the guilt. She had at least cleared Celsie’s image by telling the woman that Celsie was decent and she had been the one to convince Celsie to wear that dress. Who would clear hers when she was dressed even more indecently than Celsie? Not that she wanted to be cleared anyway. She was sure Celsie would get along with the woman just fine unlike she who had joined Bryan in deceiving her.
Shaking off her concern she looked around the living in awe, “Wow!” She exclaimed in admiration. No wonder they were in the den playing games. No one would dare to undignify such a living room by playing games here, Sonia thought with a smile.
The place looked like something out of a novel. It looked more like a castle. A perfect castle for Princess Celsie. The whole place was a mixture of gold and white colors, and it gave her a royal vibe.
She looked up at the golden staircase that extended from one end of the room to the top, with two white king-sized chairs at one side of the foot. She could hear Celsie’s mom talking with Alicia and Jasmine at the other end of the room which she assumed to be another living room. The whole place looked spacious and impressive.
She moved further down the living room towards another glass door when she heard Bryan’s laughter, and her lips curved involuntarily as she followed the sound.
Bryan who was busy trying to win the Kombat with his father turned to the door distractedly when it opened and did a double-take when he saw Sonia. His eyes roamed over her body as he dropped the pad in surrender and stood up, making his father shake his head in disappointment.
“After fighting so hard to win, you give it all up for a woman?” His father asked, making him chuckle.
“I gave it all up for MY HOT woman, dad. I guess you’re old now, so you won’t understand,” Bryan said as he walked over to meet Sonia with an appreciative glint in his eyes.
“Dad, meet my hot girlfriend, Sonia. Babe, meet the senior Mr. Delgado,” Bryan said, and his father dropped his pad as he stood up and looked at Sonia.
“It is nice meeting you, Mr. Delgado,” Sonia greeted with a polite smile.
“The pleasure is mine, Bryan’s hot girlfriend,” he said as he looked her over in amusement, “Has my wife seen you yet?” He asked curiously.
“Yes, she has. I met her at the door,” Sonia said with a small smile.
“What did she have to say about your dress?” He asked again, but from the expression on his face, Sonia could tell that he wasn’t asking because he was against her outfit. He just wanted to know his wife’s reaction.
“Why? What is wrong with her dress?” Bryan asked, looking at Sonia’s dress curiously.
“She seemed okay with it,” Sonia said with a shrug, and he gave her a nod.
“Good then. What about your friend?” He asked, looking behind her for Celsie.
“I left her with your wife,” Sonia said, while Bryan snaked his hand around her waist.
“Enough with the interrogation already, let’s go somewhere private,” Bryan said with a naughty smile before waving at his father, “See you at dinner, dad,” Bryan called to him as he led Sonia out of the den.
“Where are we going to?” Sonia asked as Bryan led her towards the stairs.
“Somewhere I can appreciate your dress best,” Bryan said with a wink as he led her to his bedroom.
Meanwhile, in another part of the mansion, Benne showed his tourists the ballroom, “Although I’ve never held a party here, I’m planning to host one soon. Perhaps a Christmas ball with a retro theme,” Benne said.
“That would be awesome! I hope we will be invited?” Alicia asked hopefully.
“You’re my neighbor, how can you not get an invite?” Benne asked as he glanced behind him, wondering what his mother was talking to Celsie about, and when she was going to join them.
“Did you buy the house? Or you deliberately built and decorated it to look vintage?” Jasmine asked curiously, cutting into his thoughts.
“The building is over a hundred years old so there is no way I could have built it myself,” Benne said with a chuckle, “I bought it. Although I’ve done a lot of renovations, I didn’t want it to lose its originality,” Benne explained as he led them out of the room and the others nodded in understanding as they followed him.
Celsie’s father who had just been following the others silently while observing Benne, sneaked away from the others when he caught sight of Lucas heading upstairs with their bags, and he quickly followed him, “Hey!” He called as he caught up with him and took one of the bags from him.
“I thought you were busy looking around with the ladies,” Lucas said as he let his father take the bag but continued walking.
“I’m not interested in the house. That’s women stuff. I was too busy monitoring him. Are these all the bags?” His father asked, and Lucas nodded.
“Adolf already took the other bags to the bedrooms,” Lucas said, and he stopped walking when Adolf came out from a bedroom ahead of them after dropping off Celsie’s luggage in Benne’s bedroom.
“That is your bedroom. And the one opposite it is for your parents,” Adolf said pointing to the doors before walking away.
“Thanks, Adolf,” both Miller men greeted and Adolf gave them a polite nod as he walked away.
Once Adolf disappeared from view Lucas walked into his parents’ bedroom with their bags, and his father followed him.
His father watched him as he set the bags on the bed, and he cleared his throat to get his attention, “Are you okay?”
“Sure. The house looks really grande,” Lucas said as he looked around the bedroom which looked like a hotel room.
“Why are you refusing to take Rachel’s call? Did something happen?” Mr. Miller asked, not letting him change the subject.
“What do you mean? You are aware that I ended things with her. There is no reason to take her call,” Lucas said with a shrug, not wanting to tell his father about Rachel’s threat.
“Are you sure that is all?”
“Yes. That’s all. I should check out my bedroom,” Lucas said as he picked up his duffel bag which his father had also dropped on the bed. As Lucas walked out of the room his father called out to try and give Rachel a call to find out what she wants, but he said nothing.
Once he walked into the bedroom Adolf had shown him, he locked the door behind him and dropped his bag on the floor before lying face down on the bed. His chest felt tight like something was lodged in there. He had been trying to focus on every other thing going on around him and not to dwell on Rachel, but she was making it difficult for him to ignore her.
Taking his phone out of his pocket, he sat up on the bed and ran his fingers through his short crop of black hair as he contemplated whether or not to give Rachel a call to hear what she had to say.
He took in a deep breath as he dialed her line, and almost immediately the call connected.
“Baby! Why are you doing this to me?” Rachel cried the moment she received his call. From her tone, he could tell that she had been crying.
His heart squeezed painfully in his chest on hearing her voice. “What do you want?” Lucas asked coolly.
“I’m sorry, babe. Maybe I overreacted…”
“Maybe?” Lucas asked incredulously.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been upset with you for going to be with your sister. Now that the issue has been resolved can you come back so that we can make up?” Rachel asked hopefully and Lucas pinched the bridge of his nose.
Lucas knew that it would be so easy for him to want to believe her words and makeup with her just so that he would stop being hurt by this break-up, but this wasn’t just about Celsie. It was about Rachel being a spoilt brat, and how he had been enabling her the whole time. If he forgave her and continued with the relationship, he was going to be subjecting himself to Rachel’s irrational possessiveness and emotional blackmails, and he couldn’t live that way.
“No.”
“Please, baby. I’m so sorry. Forgive me, please. I love you. I can’t live without you. I don’t want to,” Rachel cried, but Lucas was past being deceived by that.
He knew that the only reason she was being this way was just so that she would get her way again. Her threats failed to work, and so this was the way Rachel knew how to get her way. This was what she called love.
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.