Chapter 24: Mantras and Manipulation

Grrrrrr

Elara stretched a hand blindly and shot off the alarm on her bedside table. She tumbled in her bed grateful for the peace.

As if on cue,the alarm on her phone blared to life.

That did it!

Elara grabbed her phone and silenced it, almost punching a hole into its screen.

Only when the chaos calmed down,did Elara get a good look at her state in the mirror on the adjacent side of her room.

Her floppy bunny head band had somehow left her head and found its way to her neck like a choker.

Her hair was like a bird's nest, scattered in all directions. And the dark circles around her eyes were capable of painting a wall black.

An audible gasp escaped her lips.

She wasn't able to sleep all night and just kept tossing and turning.

Picking up her phone once more,her fingers hovered slightly over the screen before she moved to WeChat.

Still no reply.

‘Why won't he say anything?’

The thought subconsciously floated through her mind,but she waved it off with a shake of her head.

Patting her cheek she scolded herself.

“Wake up! Elara. You're not going to waste this second chance on someone so trivial.”

With renewed vigor,she jumped off her bed chanting a mantra to herself.

‘No more men, just me. No more men, just me. No mor–’

The notification ping of her phone cut off her mantra.

She ran and grabbed her phone, only to see it was a notification from the class group.

She rolled her eyes in disappointment.

‘I’m hopeless.’

_____

The room was dark,save for the warm streak of sunlight let in through a little gap in the curtain. Damian lay in deep reflection with one hand under his head and the other holding a cigarette.

Beside him, Selene stirred awake blinking against the thin curl of smoke drifting toward her.

“Damian,” she called softly. Inching closer to him and almost lying on his chest.

Damian cast her a side glance.

His gaze was empty and filled with disinterest but she tried to keep her smile without faltering.

“Don't you have school today?” His voice had that morning edge to it.

Selene's smile quickly turned awkward.

Of course,how could she forget she was still a student.

“I- I'm taking a sick leave today.” She stuttered.

Damian scoffed, turning his gaze away from her and taking another puff of his cigarette.

His mind was on Elara,the girl beside him was just to feed his needs as a man.

Selene searched her mind for what to say.

She thought that after giving him more of her, he'd finally belong to her. But he seemed to be more stubborn than she thought.

She swallowed and secretly tugged the duvet down a little,to reveal more of her plump chest.

“Dami-”

“Sele-”

They spoke at the same time.

Damian raised a brow at her.

“You first” she said meekly.

Damian sat up,the duvet dropping from his chest to cover his torso. Taking one final puff of the cigarette,he extinguished it on the ashtray by the bedside.

Selene waited patiently for him to speak, equally sitting up,the duvet weakly held under her across her chest.

“Did you really see everything you told me? Or did you lie to ruin your sister?”

Selene felt her heart drop.

With Damian's intense gaze on her,she tried to remain calm.

Turns out he wasn't so easy to play.

“Brother Damian,” she shifted closer to him, putting on a pitiful expression.

“Why would I ever lie? Everything I said is true. Don't you remember the guards saying Cassian indeed brought her home on the night of the gala?”

Damian clenched his jaw in anger.

“How could she?”

Selene secretly smiled in satisfaction.

“How could she go out with another man,when she's betrothed to me!?”

Selene's smile almost cracked.

How could he even bring himself to say such words when he was under the duvet with her?

She quickly regained her expression and pressed closer to him, hugging his bare arm with her chest pressed against him.

“Brother Damian,I know you care about her. She might just be deceived by that evil man.”

She paused and slowly kissed his neck.

“I'll tell you about their every move and together we'll bring back your fiancee.”

Damian felt lust building up.

“And you won't feel jealous?”

‘Of course I will’ but Selene didn't say this out loud.

“Why will I? I want you both to be happy, that's why I'm doing all this.”

She traced a finger down his chest,her nail leaving a faint white line against his tan skin. She knew exactly which buttons to press; she was feeding his ego while poisoning his mind.

“But for now,let me take good care of you.”

Then like a puppet,Damian was pushed down to the bed with a single pinky of a small woman.