They've just signed the marriage contract and Kathleen's stomach quivered as they came out of the magistrate office, she glanced at her husband, the only thing she knew about the man she had married was his name, Derek Deloux, her husband, her heart pounded as the reality of what she has just done hit her, she had sought shelter from him, what if he turned out to be worst than Dave, well, she can handle it, there was nothing like emotions attached to this marriage, it was simply marriage by name alone, she would have nothing to regret.
Derek looked at her, "regretting already? The deed has already been done, now let's go home"."Home", the word sank into Kathleen, she have no idea where home is, she had no idea about anything."Where exactly is home?" He smirked at her question, "home is where the heart lies baby"Her cheeks burned at the name he called her, "that's not the answer to my question" she fired back trying to cub her discomfort."I see my new bride is a firecracker, home is Deloux Castle" Kathleen's eyes widened at the name, The Deloux are royalties that controls multiple businesses in and out of the country, they are very influential and powerful, she recently heard that the head of the Deloux was sick and naturally, his heir would take control of the business. She glanced at the man sitting beside her in the car, he was throwing glances her way as he drives, no, there are many Delouxes, she must be mistaken, "do you mean.....are you...." Her voice trailed off, she couldn't get the question out, he might consider her silly for thinking he's from that royal blood."I am talking about the Deloux you know" her eyes popped out, " you are that Derek Deloux?" Oh, God! Now she knew she had married the devil himself.Derek jaw twitched, "I am that Derek Deloux" he confirmed and watched her from his side eye as her lips quivered,he smirked, he knew his reputation outside, he is an irresponsible, good for nothing heir of the Deloux Enterprise, a disgrace to the royal blood who is only good with the ladies, a flirt and notorious Playboy, she must be repenting of her decision to get married to such a rogue, too bad she can't undo it now, she is his bride, though, he had married her for his own selfish reason, just to spite his mother's attempt to get him married to whom she had chosen for him, right from when he was very young, his mother has this obsessive behavior to always make every decisions in his life, down to the color of clothes he wore, at first, he had found it adoring that his mother cares so much about him, but as he grew, it became choking and he started going against most of her wishes much to her annoyance, although, his mother obviously preferred his Step brother Dave to him, but there's nothing she could do about Derek being the heir apparel, he was his father's son and Dave was her son from her first marriage so it was natural that she would want her own son to inherit the property.
Dave was not in any way more responsible than him, right now, he has gone off to God knows where and returns when he feels like.Derek didn't care much about his father's wealth, in fact, he wished he could be allowed to just live his life without associating with the Deloux name, he had ladies flocking around him, he knew it was because of his background and also charming looks, ladies love badass and he was such a badass, he was expecting to see the pleasure on the face of his new bride that she had hit the Jackpot, instead, her face had gone pale when she realized whom she just got married to and the expression he saw wasn't one of pleasure at all.Kathleen must have fallen asleep for the next thing she knew was Derek shaking her shoulders and calling her name, she opened her eyes and looked about, at first confused by her environment, her eyes suddenly caught the castle in front of her with caption boldly written on it as Deloux Castle and her heart thudded, had she just gotten married to the prince and heir of the Deloux? Derek came down from the side of his car and hurried to her side, he opened her car door and she came down to see maids hurrying outside to spread red carpet for the prince and her to walked on, he quickly waved them aside and Kath breath a visible sigh of relief, she walked with Derek to the door and they met a petite woman standing there gazing at her in confusion.
"Derek, you're home," the woman said as a way of greeting but the tone of her voice sounded forced to Kathleen's ears, the woman glanced at Kath, "who's she?"Derek put his arms around Kathleen and smiled, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, Kathleen stood stiff as he does the introduction."Sweetheart, meet my mother," he told her gesturing to the woman who was looking at him as if he has suddenly grown a horn"Mom, this is Kathleen, my wife".Chapter 8"Your wife?" His mother's tone was that of surprise as she blinked, "but.....but....""But what mom?" Derek interrupted"I thought..." His mother stuttered and once again Derek cuts her off, "that's the problem with you mom, you're always thinking, I'm sorry I didn't inform you about her but right now my wife needs to rest""Oh! Sure" his mother left the entrance so they could both go in, her voice wasn't sounding happy and the expression on her face was that of anger, she narrowed her eyes on Kathleen as she went in."Your room has been prepared for you" his mother informed him"Thanks, Mom, right now I want to see Dad, where is he?"He's in his room" his mother replied him and he raised a brow, "I thought he's supposed to be in the hospital, why is he home?""Well, I am trying to avoid too much publicity, the doctor is coming here to administer treatment, I think it's better that way""Alright then, I'll see him shortly" he tu
He entered his father's room and saw him lying on the bed with his eyes closed, he looked aged and worn and for a moment he felt guilty about abandoning him, his father was his only family related to him by blood, his mother had died years back and his father had remarried, although, Derek wasn't cool with the marriage because he felt his father had made the wrong choice as he had married his late mother's best friend, he had made his misgivings known to his father but his father had gone ahead to marry her, he had no choice than to accept the marriage but that was the first step that created a gap in father and son relationship, his father had made many mistakes but he was still his father, he wondered why his father was so obsessed about him taking over the family's business, afterall, he has a Step brother, his step mother's son from her previous marriage.Dave was so much interested in the family's business but his dad had never given him the chance, that alone had ma
Chapter tenKathleen woke up the next morning, Derek hadn't come back the previous night, she wondered where he had spent the night leaving her all alone, she knew that their marriage was impulsive but he had promised to treat her as a wife, in the eyes of everyone, they were a new couple and so supposed to be spending time with each other but on their wedding night, her husband had gone missing, a knock sounded on the door, finally, he must be here but why was he knocking, she hollered that he was free to come in, the door creaked opened and a maid walked it, Kathleen frowned where was her husband? He had no obligation to her anyway but it would have felt better if he was at least with her on their marriage night, " breakfast is ready ma'am" the maid informed her, head bowed and Kathleen grimaced, she wasn't used to this kind of treatment, "please raise your head" she quickly instruct the maid who nervously raised her head but still refused to look at Kathleen in the eye
Chapter elevenKathleen was just coming out of the shower, her body still wet and droplets of water falling from her hair. She was in the process of drying it when Derek walked suddenly walked in, she shrieked, losing her balance, in a flash, he caught her before she hit the floor, her side eyes stared into his and her mouth parted in shock, Derek was drawn to her, his bride was indeed very beautiful, she quickly moved away from his hold, "how dare you startle me like that"Derek raised his brow trying to hide his sudden attraction to her, "should I remind you that this is also my room?""Oh, you definitely need to remind me because I've been the only one staying here since we got married" she snapped and he smirked, moving closer to her, too close for her comfort, his blue eyes danced,"I see my wife misses me" he put his hand on her cheek but she slapped it away, "in your dreams"She moved away from his closeness before he would notice how his nearne
Derek was pissed, he was pissed with himself and also his wife, she had tried to talk to him and like a bull, he had gone charging out of the house, he was pissed at her for making him feel something for her, she had made him feel what he thought was dead to him, in just a matter of days, she was trying to resurrect it, he was damn attracted to her and he needed to stay away from her, he hadn't slept at home again that night, after his meeting yesterday, he had gone straight to his favorite club and had drunk a lot, he had managed to go to one of their family's house extension and had crashed there, he woke up this morning with a pounding headache and was preparing coffee when his phone rang, it was Jake, he picked up at the second ring."Yes, Jake, what is it?""Er....em...Sir, I...." He frowned into the receiver, what was he stammering about?"Speak up Jake, what is it?""Sir, er...have you seen the morning papers?"He frowned, he hadn't gone out tha
Chapter thirteenDerek frowned, so she was the lady arranged for him by his mom, his eyes traveled down her frame, not bad, good looking but what was she doing here? No doubt his mother must be behind this, he wondered what she was up to, "what are you doing here?" He demanded and she gestured inside, "can we talk inside? Or do you want more press confrontation". Derek eyed her for a moment before paving way for her to enter the house." so, we are inside, can you now tell me why you're here?"She sat down and crossed her legs slowly and seductively, her gaze inviting, Derek's eyes followed the movement."Can I get something to drink at least?" Derek felt impatience with her but kept his cool as he brought out a glass and a bottle of wine, he made attempt to pour out the drink but she stopped him, "won't you drink with me, it the least you can do for ditching me"Derek made no reply as he simply went to get another glass for himself, she had already op
Chapter fourteenKathleen paid the cab and ran inside, her heart pounding as cry threatened to erupt, she had run away from an abusive relationship only to see herself getting hurt in another, maybe she was cursed to everlasting sadness and a life filled pain, no one loved her, even her dad doesn't, her mom who would have been there having chosen a man over her, her friend betrayed her with her fiance, she felt as if she was condemned to a life without love, it's her destiny and she had to accept the fact, she needed to clear her head, she needed space to think upon her life and get rid of the pain, she changed into a summer dress, she needed to take a walk, maybe visit the beach or something, she doesn't care, she just needed to get away for a while."Where the heck are you going to be dressed like that?" Marcella's voice stopped her as she was about to step out of the house, she frowned and stared at her cloth, it was a simple gown, she doesn't feel like wearing those ex
Derek entered the room to see Kathleen already set for bed, she didn't say anything to him when he entered and he wondered what was going through her mind, he quickly took a shower and climbed the king-sized bed, she was lying with her back to him and he laid down, facing the other side so that they were lying back to back. This was the first time he was sleeping at home since their marriage, he knew he had hurt her with his action, but she shouldn't expect anything from him, this marriage was a sham from the beginning and he was starting to think he had made a huge mistake in agreeing to marry her, he wasn't fit to be a husband to someone, he would just end up hurting her, perhaps he should tell her he can't do this anymore, he turned to his side, facing her back, she looked so soft and he fought the urge to run his hands down her smooth skin, he wondered what must have prompted her to flee on her wedding day and getting married to a total stranger for protection, no, she had come