CHAPTER 5: STERLY

STERLY'S POV

The ink on the marriage certificate hadn't dried, yet the weight on my chest felt decades old. 

This had never been my plan. I had always wanted to wait. 

When my parents discussed my marriage with me, explaining to me how frustrating the marriage alliances they received from various families, intending to match their children with me was, and made me promise them to bring home a partner, I had thought things would go awry. 

I intensified my search, hoping to find Nate as soon as possible, but things never worked the way I wanted. Even with my power and status, Nate was still nowhere to be found. 

It had been six years since he left... and he never returned. 

Nate was a thorn in my heart, pricking and persistent. I could never let go of him. 

Six years of yearning had turned hope into a ritual until fate played a cruel joke and sent me a man that looked like him... Jared. 

He had stood by the roadside, eyes fixed on the road, and sweat damped his body in an uncomfortable glow. I'd stopped my car beside him with a racing heart, silently praying he would be Nate. But this hope crashed ruthlessly when I got closer and saw him clearer. 

Jared was younger. Nate wouldn't be so young anymore. And Jared was fairer. 

He looked too delicate. 

Nate was never like that...

I felt my heart broke in a way that made me shiver, but in this sea of darkness, was a bit of light that kept me barely composed___ The boy looked almost identical to Nate!

Remembering how my parents wanted me to get married, I immediately considered hiring Jared for the role, but I was cautious. Jared might look innocent and young, but what if he was only pretending? 

I decided to silently watch him from behind the scenes. But he was bolder than I ever expected. 

He approached me first. That wasn't too surprising until I found myself inclined to play along with him. 

His gaze. His smile. His tender words, and his hot touch. They reminded me of the pleasure I used to own. Jared reignited a feeling I thought I'd buried too deep, and before I knew it, I found myself lost too deep into the night. 

I let out a deep breath and looked at the silent boy beside me. His gaze was lowered, the wedding certificate held tightly within his thin fingers. 

He looked dazed. Seemingly unable to comprehend how fast things went. 

I never intended to confuse him either. I just had no choice___

To continue waiting for Nate without arousing people's suspicion, I needed a substitute, and Jared perfectly fit that role...

My jaw tightened. I drove silently down the lane to the new apartment I recently got. Mainly for the purpose of using it as our 'matrimonial home.'

Right then, my phone rang. 

The sound snapped me out of my thoughts, and Jared also stirred. 

His dark green eyes held mine for a moment, and he looked away. Lips pursed slightly. 

My eyes lowered, settling on my phone, and my eyes twitched when I saw the caller... Dad. 

I hesitated for seconds before answering the call. "Dad." I called. 

"Sterly, where are you? Drake told me you got married today!" My dad's deep and excited voice boomed through the phone's speaker. He always sounded too happy... like a man who'd never taste the sweetness of silence. 

My brows creased, and annoyance brewed in my chest. "That damn Drake." I cursed calmly. 

"Stinky boy. He's your older brother." My dad warned. 

I rolled my eyes. "Like he ever acted like one." I mumbled. 

My dad chuckled. A sound came through the phone, and without doubt, I knew it was my mother demanding the phone from him. 

"Wait, you can call him." I heard my father say. Seemingly to my mother. "Son, are you coming over?" He asked warmly. The deceit in his tone was obvious. 

It was funny the way he often treated me like I was ten. Like he could cajole me to do things. 

I stopped being a kid a long time ago... but sadly, no one ever told my dad this. No, no one ever told my family this.

"I'm not." I firmly replied and raised a finger, intending to end the call. 

He seemed to have expected my reaction, "Wait!" He shouted. "You really won't come? We need to see your partner!" His voice grew agitated. 

My lips curled. "No." I replied and ended the call. 

I glanced at Jared, whose eyes lingered on my phone's screen with a puzzled expression on his face. Awkwardness washed over me. 

He must have thought I was childish... right?

"That's my dad." I decided to explain. "He's always like this. Don't mind him." I added. 

Jared raised his eyes, and his lips parted: "You ended the call on your dad..." His expression screamed: wrong!

My lips twitched. "He doesn't mind." I mumbled. I had no other way to explain, and considering how socially awkward I was, I knew explaining would only complicate things. 

"Oh." I heard him exclaim. 

The car plunged into silence. 

I drove without a glance to the side, and by the time we got home, my mind had settled. 

However, my home wasn't. 

Standing at the gate were my mum and dad... with Drake and Linda wagging their non-existent tails behind them as they stared at my car with eagle eyes. 

For the second time in a few hours, I wished the car would vanish with me in it.