15. Disclosures

3 am

After dropping Liza off at her villa to sleep off the alcohol, Elizabeth pulls up outside Emily's place, intending to drop her off as well, but Emily is way too drunk.

Elizabeth looks over at the passenger side and notices that Emily has passed out.

Thinking back on the evening, Emily and Liza hit it off unexpectedly well, although a bit too well. The two of them danced and drank the night away; Elizabeth felt like the third wheel and resigned herself to being the designated driver.

"Emily, wake up. We need to get you inside, "Elizabeth tries to coax her awake while giving her gentle smacks. Emily eventually wakes up, and Elizabeth bolts to the passenger side door. Emily gets out and leans on her for balance.

As they walk towards the villa entrance, Emily is mumbling drunkenly, "Thank...Thank. You for taking out, Lizzy." She muttered. Elizabeth grimaces and continues to lead and drag Emily inside. "The Dereons will kill me if they see Emily like this! she thinks to herself. Getting the code from Emily, she opens the front door and leads her inside.

Climbing the staircase, Elizabeth asks her. "Em, where's the master bedroom?"

She goes towards the first door she sees and proceeds to open it. "No, no, no, no, that's August's room; mine is over there," she says between hiccups and points to the room further down the hall. Elizabeth frowns and closes the door behind her.

Do they sleep in separate rooms?

As she leads Emily inside her room, she sits down on the bed beside Emily, who had flopped down.

"Em, do you and August sleep in separate rooms?" She finally asks

"Uh-huh," Emily mutters again while taking off her heels. "But why Em? You are an engaged couple! Is August that old fashioned?" Elizabeth asks and laughs, falling backwards onto Emily's bed. She turns to look at Emily, who has already curled up under the blankets. Emily looks at her drunkenly and smiles when she says, "Because we don't love each other," and closes her eyes. "I like Liza; she's nice..." Emily ends off.

Stunned, Elizabeth does not know what to respond with, then she hears Emily's breathing becoming laboured and realizes she's passed out.

Getting up from the bed, Elizabeth makes sure she is appropriately covered and leaves the room. She grabs a pillow and blanket from Emily's linen cupboard in the passage and heads downstairs.

Thank God August isn't here, she thinks to herself because she was too tired to head home.

Making a makeshift bed on the couch, she slips off her heels and gets comfortable. As soon as she puts her head on the pillow, she passes out as well.

August POV

4:30 am that morning; August pulls up at the villa. He looks toward the front door and sighs. After another few months of pretending for the sake of his family, he thinks miserably and parks his car.

He punches the code to the front door and heads inside.

The past two weeks have been worry-free, but his father was bugging him to come home as they needed to prepare for the wedding and merging of families.

He prepares to walk towards his study as he walks inside but notices a figure sleeping on the couch. That's odd. Did Emily pass out on the couch? He thinks to himself.

Walking closer, his heart stops, and his pulse races as he recognizes the sleeping figure.

It was Elizabeth White.

Watching her sleeping face, he stares at her with a longing expression as his fingers inch closer to touch her cheek, but he suddenly pulls back. He should not be doing this. Why was she here?

There were two reasons he left. One was Emily, the other Elizabeth. It seems like leaving for two weeks has done nothing but make him more miserable.

As he stands up to head for his study, he glances once again at her sleeping face and walks away.

"August..."

He stops dead. She was awake!

Heart in his throat, he turns around to face her; he notices that she is not sitting up at all. He walks closer to her and hears her muttering in her sleep. She was dreaming.

She called his name out in her sleep.

He turns around and walks upstairs with an aching heart, willing himself not to turn around.