9: A Third Wheel

Carla

I stared in shock, and confusion— as Zade held her away from him before she could get fully into his arms, a stormy expression across his face.

One thing was very clear. He didn’t look so happy to see his girlfriend.

I frowned as I looked between the two of them, which reminded me of the fact I never knew of the fact that he had a girlfriend despite always seeing him in the news and atop the headlines. He was always in the rankings of the most bachelors with potentials, and he was always topping all those lists.

Who could have thought he had a girlfriend this whole time? Perhaps he’s the kind to not want his romantic life on the internet? Then why make our faux marriage public?

None of this was adding up to me, I noted within myself as I looked between the two of them again, right before Zade dragged Lena behind one of the shelves. Because I was so curious, I trudged along with them just as Zade let go of Lena, an unimpressed look across his face.

“What are you doing here?” He asked and Lena let out a small whine as she tried closing the distance between them, but he held her away again.

“You know we can’t be seen together in public, Lena.” He berated but she blinked up at him, a pout on her lips.

“But no one can see us here!” She whined and after letting out a sigh, Zade dropped his hand and she ran into his arms, embracing him tightly. He held her with one arm, stroking her hair with the other and I felt something squeeze tightly within me at the sight before me.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Lena. Why are you here?” He asked without pulling her out of his arms.

“I wanted to come here you two select the perfect ring, you know I’m the best when it comes to picking out diamonds.” She responded but Zade clicked his tongue as he pulled her out of his arms this time, a disappointed look on his face.

“Lena, just because I told you where I’d be today, doesn’t mean I needed your help or wanted you to come over.” He began. “If I had wanted you to come over, I’d have told you that.”

Lena blinked up at him, clearly trying to sway him with her eyes, but I didn’t think that was helping much.

“I wasn’t thinking, because I missed you so much, baby.” She whispered as she tried going in for a hug but he held her away from him, then he stepped back and dropped his hand.

“Go home, Lena.” He said as he pocketed his hands.

Her eyes widened as she tried to inch closer then moved backward again and stomped her feet again.

“Are you mad at me, babe?”

Zade sighed before shaking his head. “No, Lena. Just disappointed, but we’ll continue this discussion later. For now, tell your driver to take you to my house.”

Her eyes brightened and she stifled a squeal, then she still closed the distance between them to embrace him.

Zade didn’t hug her back, but she didn’t seem unfazed, like she was already used to this kind of behavior from him.

“I’ll be waiting for you at home!” She called out as she rounded the shelf and exited the store with an extra bounce to her feet.

“You can come out now.” Zade’s bored voice filled the air and this time, I stiffened, feeling a wave of embarrassment come over me as I awkwardly stepped out into his line of sight, embarrassment making my cheeks burn as I cleared my throat.

“I wasn’t hiding, I- I just didn’t want to be present while you two… spoke.”

He didn’t seem like he believed me, and he rolled his eyes as he walked past me and over to the cashier.

As I stood beside him while the ring got scanned by the machine they used, my eyes almost fell out of their sockeye at the amount that stared right back at me.

“Two million dollars?!” I screamed in bewilderment.

A few people turned around to glare at me and I flushed in embarrassment while apologizing to them. Zade’s lips was in a thin line as he acted like I hadn’t said a thing while handing a black card to the cashier.

After it was debited and handed back to him, he pocketed the boxed ring along the ring, then he was walking out of the store, leaving me to scramble after him.

Once we were in the car, I was too preplexed to get a word out.

“Why was the ring so freaking cost?! And you paid for it?” I demanded as he pulled into the busy road.

“I owe you no explanation of how I spend my money.” He said and I glared at him as irritation flared within me.

“I don’t care how you chose to spend your money, however I’m bothered because this is feeling like my debt to you is becoming bigger and bigger and I don't feel comfortable with it. I don’t like this at all.”

After speaking, Zade only scoffed without glancing away from the road before him.

“Well… deal with it.”

This time as I glared at him, I kept wishing I could strangle him with his seat belt tight now.

“Can I ask a question about your girlfriend?” I asked after a few minutes of silence between us. I noticed him stiffening a little before giving a tense nod.

“Is she aware of the fact that it’s a lie between us and nothing more? Cause I wouldn't get into unnecessary fights with her on moving forward,” I pointed out while the encounter I had with her yesterday crossed over my mind.

“She’s well aware.” He responded and I nodded.

“Okay, good.”

He snorted. “Not like she’d be jealous of the likes of you anyway.”

I stiffened this time before whirling around. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“It’s as it was said. She’s way above your level and league, so why would she feel threatened or intimidated by you, to the point of feeling jealous?” He pointed out and I swallowed emptily as I bit at the inside of my cheeks, deciding to say nothing else because I had nothing to say.

Clearly, I dug a hole only to fall right into it.

He got me real good with his words this time.

Cruel bastard.

It’s like he’s hell bent on breaking all my self worth and confidence till nothing's left. But I’d be damned before I ever let that happen.

I swear on my mama.

The rest of the car ride was silent till Zade pulled up before a large and popular clothing store.

As we walked right into it, I just knew a lot of people would be present here compared to the diamond store, and so I tensed up, ducking my head as we walked in. I didn’t want anyone to recognize me before they started pointing at me while blatantly gossiping about me, so I quickly walked into the first corner I noticed, and I didn’t realize it was for lingerie till Zade was stopping beside me.

“Lingerie, huh?” He drawled from behind me and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me up, because we were standing right before some really lewd and obscene sets.

Refusing to let him make me feel stupid again, I held my head up as I reached for a set without seeing what I selected.

“It’s just underwear, Zade. It’s nothing serious.”

After saying that, I held my head high as I walked past him. He didn’t say anything in return, and he always have a response to everything.

Good.

Clearly, I got him good and left him speechless because I soaked up to my mortification and turned the situation around.

However, his next words made me stumble.

“Are these the kind of set you wear for your husband? I must say, that’s so unlike you, Carla. You keep surprising me every now and then.”

I struggled to say something in response, and after failing to get a word out three times, I decided to give up. With my cheeks burning and my heart racing, I quickly exited that row to walk into the next one, and the next one. I wasn’t fully seeing where I was headed, since I was mostly staring at the ground. At the same time, I tried to calm my racing heartbeat while also cursing Zade out underneath my breath.

He was so freaking impossible and frustrating!

Ugh.

At that very moment, as I took an abrupt turn, I walked right into a hard chest, hurting my nose in the process and losing my footing.

Before I could fall, the stranger was grabbing my waist and righting me. I was breathing hard as I stepped back and began to apologise.

“I’m so sorr–”

The rest of my words died in my throat as my eyes widened in surprise and disbelief as I gaped at the man standing right before me.

I could never forget this face.

The face that kept me daydreaming throughout most of my highschool years, because I had a massive crush on him.

Sebastian Valkings’ grinned down at me as recognition settled in his eyes.

“Ah, Carla… it’s really you!”