AUTHOR’S NOTE You’ve reached the end of a very personal, very layered chapter. We saw walls being built and broken, secrets being hinted at, and Lucien finally acting like a human being (for a hot second at least). Now, reader... yes, you, if you can feel your heart doing that “ouch but also awww” thing, don’t just sit there like a silent ghost. DROP A COMMENT. Tell me what broke you. What made you mad? What made you scream, “JUST KISS ALREADY”? Because if I keep serving emotional devastation and you keep reading without saying a word, I might just send Cassian back into the picture and make things worse. Love, Your emotionally unhinged but passionate author
NIRELLEI stop the livestream and watch Lucien walk away. I can't wrap my mind around the reason he stops me when this is for his good. I want him to know that I am not here to use him or endanger him and that I can fight if the need arises. Maybe he is angry at me, disappointed that I had done all of this, and this even hurts more than thinking that he was angry. At least he could lash out like Theo, and I would understand, but all I got was silence and walking away.It had been a little over three days since he walked out of my room in disappointment, and I had been avoiding him the best I could, the same way Theo had been giving me the stink eye every time we passed by each other in the passage. I had thought I was fitting into the house, and now all of a sudden, I was an outcast.The image is disappearing from the internet, and fewer people are talking about it now. Cassian does not seem to react as he first did, and it tells me that Lucien must have been working behind the scenes
NIRELLELucien takes me to my room and leaves immediately. I am assuming that he wants to go and take care of whatever was happening. I could not help but feel guilt raid my heart. They had been so good to me that they did not deserve any of this, so why did I do this to them? It's not like I would have known what Cassian wanted to do, but then I should have known that a manipulator like him won't sit back."Don't check the posts or the comments," Lucien had said before he hurried out of the room. I know he was trying to protect me, but I just had to see what the people were saying. As my eyes trail down the comments lined on my screen, I am led to believe that this was a deliberate effort from Cassian because there is no way that everyone thinks he is the best fit for me.'I think the beautiful Nirelle is a better fit for Cassian; he is handsome and a kindhearted doctor, unlike Lucien, who we can't see.' I read that comment over and over again and wondered if things would have been di
NIRELLE"We have to leave now." Theo does not wait for me to sit back once I am back from the dance floor with Cassian. Cassian had been too adamant, almost causing a scene when I refused to dance with him. Just to make sure a rumour does not break out, and he does not know I had already seen through all of his lies. I had smiled like a doll and then agreed to go to the dance floor with him."What is happening?" I asked, trying to get an answer from him, but he is not his usual self, and I know better than to question him. "I guess we can go," I say, taking up my bag and allowing him to lead the way out.Cassian comes after us. "Leaving already?" He had a smirk on his face, and I can tell now that Theo was not just leaving for the sake of it. Cassian had done something."I am sure you very well know the reason for it," Theo throws at him in a spiteful tone."What do you mean?" Cassian is trying to feign ignorance, and I can see the spite flash in his eyes. He looks satisfied with whate
NAME IN THE HEADLINESNIRELLEI have Mara help me get ready; I wanted people to talk to. I wanted to hear the media call me Mrs. Vexley and say that I was Mr. Lucien Vexley's wife. I still could not wrap my mind around why that was my goal, but Mara got the goal. I was looking like a superstar, the kind that you'd see in magazines and think that they were created for that moment."You look very beautiful, Mrs. Vexley. I am sure Mr. Vexley would be pleased to see you like this," she says, and I want her words to be true. Would Lucien see me and think I looked beautiful enough? Would he say it to me?"Thank you, Mara; it's only possible because of you," I say, trying to catch my breath at how snatched the dress was. It felt so tight as if I wouldn't be able to breathe, but Mara had told me that this was what the young ladies wore now, and I wanted everyone to think I was the lady befitting to be Lucien's wife. He needed someone sophisticated enough to stand beside him, and I had to be th
NIRELLEThe feeling of his lips on mine is not like Enoch's rough and unpleasant lips. These are warm and different, and I don't know if it is in a good way, but I do not pull away. I am not sure what my reaction is supposed to be, but I let my hands dangle by my side uselessly as his hand holds onto my waist so tightly. I do not kiss back because I am more startled than angry at him at this point.This was the first time I had someone touch me, and it did not feel weird; it did not make my skin crawl the way I was used to. He finally pulls away his head, hovering over mine and making me aware of how tall he is in that moment. I search his eyes, and I can tell he had not planned this, even though I can't say what could have prompted him to do this in this moment. I feel his chest rise and fall so rapidly that it is almost in tune with mine."Nirelle," he calls my name so gently that it feels earned. I have to say something; I am now beating myself up in my mind, but I can't bear to eve
LUCIENI look to my side to see Nirelle dozing off. She looks so delicate, and even now, when her head is bobbing back and forth, my heart is telling me that I need to help her so her neck does not hurt, but my mind is screaming and stopping me from inching any closer to her. I have no idea what was going to happen if I got close, but I was not willing to find out. I swallow and try to make fear go away. I am a full-grown man, and I can control myself fully. I inch closer to her and catch her head before it can go down to the floor.She lay in my hand so comfortably as if it were a bed. I looked at her and how she had changed from the days she came here. She was not afraid of anything, stepped into the place, and was more worried about our intimacy than me being a monster. She was broke but tried her best not to show it. Her phone vibrates on the table in front of us, and my eyes catch the name that pops up: Cassian Wolfe.My jaws feel clenched at the sight of that man. I wish he had n