Chapter 4

I could not believe my eyes. My heart was thumping in my chest and my palms became sweaty as I stared into the face of the love of my life that had dumped me via a stupid rashly-written note. 

Deep inside, I felt joy and wanted to run to him so I could give him a bear hug but I had to keep my composure. I needed to know whether that note was just a prank or if it was actually a real thing; if he had written it for the sole purpose of kicking me out of his life. 

“Sammy?” I walked closer to him. His eyes confirmed that it was him. It was my Samuel. I could never forget those eyes. 

He was out of words. A look of incredible shock sat on his face. He blinked rapidly for a few seconds as if he wanted to make sure that he was not hallucinating. “Heather, what are you doing here? Ho-how are you even here?” 

I scoffed and shook her head slowly. Before speaking, I quickly took out the note that he had written me and shoved it into his chest. “You don’t get to ask the questions here. I do. Now explain this.” 

He tentatively took the note from me and opened the scrunched-up paper. He, of course, recognized his handwriting. He wet his lips and swallowed. Then he looked up from the scribbled writing and stared into my eyes. “Babe, you don’t understand,” He began. 

“Ding! Ding! Ding! You got it right! I don’t f*cking understand.” I folded my arms on my chest as I lashed out at him. “We had one of the most amazing nights together. And today is literally our anniversary. Did you think that this was the perfect time to dump me?”

“No, no.” His voice was breathy and he seemed sad. He tried to reach out to me but I flinched away. He tugged at his hair and then cursed under his breath. “I never meant to hurt you. I really did not.” 

I rocked her jaw. “To be honest, a part of me still believes that all this is just a huge prank. But you’re here in freaking London! So it must be true. You left me. After all that we have been through.” My voice broke. “Two f*cking years,” I scoffed the words out.

“And yeah, maybe you did not mean to hurt me. But you did. What did you think would happen after breaking up with someone that loved you for no reason and fleeing the country?” I continued. “Like, wow. You’ve really shown me your true colors.” A tear escaped my eye.

Sterling cleared his throat as a way to gain everyone’s attention. “Um, so, okay, I’m glad that you two are doing a good job at communicating but I need Samuel to leave,” His line of sight fell on Samuel. He had a straight face. “You don’t belong here.” 

Samuel scoffed. “Do you seriously expect me to leave? Do you think I’m still that ten-year-old that you used to push around?” He took a step closer to his brother bravely. 

“You have no place here. You left. You forsook your responsibilities. You left it all because you wanted to be ‘free’.” Sterling said the last word in an annoyed tone. “You built a nice life for yourself with this beautiful girl, from what I understand.” He gestured at me. “What’s confusing me is why you suddenly decided to leave that to come back home.”

“And I don’t know if your brain is just fried, but you should know that I never pushed you around. It was actually the other way around. You did the ordering. You were the one that was controlling and toxic,” He added.

Samuel doubled back and then chuckled. “I guess that was how it was, huh? Well, whether I was the one that pushed you around or not, it does not matter. What matters is that I’m back to get assume myself as the rightful heir of the Williams fortune.” 

I watched the exchange between the two men. I could not believe that all that Sterling explained was true. Their arguing proved to me that Samuel was indeed a stone-cold liar.

He had lied to me about who he was. He told me that he was poor and had nothing when in fact he belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the world. That made me feel sick to my stomach. 

The perfect image of Samuel that I had built in my mind was crumpling to the ground with no mercy. I did not know whether I should have been mad at myself for being so stupid and naive or be mad at him.

“Wait, so you built a life with me just to dash it all to the floor like a hot potato when you got ready to come back to your rich little life?” I joined the conversation again as I fired the words at Samuel. 

“Heather…” Samuel sighed. “You don’t get it.” 

“Why? Because I’m a female? If I don’t get it, make me get it.” 

He scoffed in disbelief. “What?! No! This has nothing to do with you, let alone you being a female.” He breathed out a short sigh. “Look…” He touched my shoulder gently and I let him. 

“I love you. I may have lied to you about who I really was, but my feelings for you are real. That I promise you and swear on my life.” Samuel continued. 

“If what you are saying is true, then you would have at least explained it all to me before leaving, instead of leaving a pathetic note.” I savored his touch even though he was only holding one of my shoulders.

“I–” He stuttered. 

“Excuse me?” Sterling inserted himself into the conversation once more. “Heather is going to be my wife by tomorrow. And as for you, my dear brother, you have to leave or I would have you removed.” 

“Removed?” He chuckled. 

“Yes. Removed. As I said, you abandoned your place as the heir.” 

“Hmm,” Samuel mumbled as he took his hand from Heather’s shoulder. He paced the place slowly and when he finally came to a stop, he spoke, “Brother, according to our parents’ code, even if I am a drunk; as long as I am the firstborn, I remain heir to the fortune.” 

“Unless I get married first,” Sterling smirked. “You see, mom and dad knew what they were doing when they set up this arranged marriage. I just have to be married to Heather for four years and then…poof, I would have it all; all that I have dreamt and worked hard for.” 

“And I’m guessing that is why you returned. You knew that even though our parent’s code stood, there was a loophole. So I’m guessing that it was grandma that lured you back home?” He continued. “She always liked you more.” 

Samuel walked back to the bar and began to pour himself a drink. Sterling and I waited for his response. After pouring a very strong drink, he held the glass in his hand and gave his attention to us. “Yeah, so what if grandma was the one that told me that I was about to lose my birthright? She was only looking out for me.” A small smile lingered on his lips.

I cleared her throat. “I know I’m new to your family affairs and I am still pissed at you, but Sterling is right. You can’t treat the family’s legacy as if it’s a toy; one minute you don’t want it, and the next you do because you find out that your brother is about to take it.”

“Thank you, Heather. But my brother has failed to learn that.” Sterling looked at me. “And I am so sorry that you got caught in the crossfire and all this drama,” He apologized to me. 

I swallowed and then smiled sadly. The pain I was feeling at first was now less. I somehow got the closure that I was looking for. I now knew why the man that I fell in love with, left. 

I now knew that he still loved me and that I had done nothing wrong, but all that came at a cost. 

I did not have to torture myself thinking of things I may have done wrong that might have been the cause of Samuel leaving. I now knew the truth. 

“Sammy,” I called Samuel by the nickname I gave him. “Although you lied to me about who you are and literally left me this morning almost like it was too easy for you, I can not deny how I feel for you. My heart beats for you and I still want you in my life,” I expressed how I felt. 

There was no way that I was going to lose him again. 

I wanted to be held by him again. I wanted to feel his tender kisses on my lips again. I wanted us to continue to live the flawed but perfect life that we had built for ourselves in New York. 

As Samuel was about to open his mouth to speak, I stopped him from speaking. “We can go right back to America, get married, and you can become heir of the fortune. I can finally present you to my parents and they would approve!” I added. 

Samuel exhaled deeply and then took a big gulp of the burning liquor. “Well, I guess that could work.” He smiled. 

“No, no, no. Oh my gosh, you two are the same.” Sterling rolled his eyes. He turned to me. “First of all, you are not getting out of this arranged marriage. You are going to sign those documents tomorrow and you’re going to move in with me.” He told me as a fact. 

I chuckled dryly. “You don’t own me.” 

“Yeah, but I own your parents, which means that I own you.” A dangerous look appeared in his eyes. “And as for you.” He glanced at Samuel, and then pulled out his phone from his pocket and tapped on it a few times. “I’m getting you removed.”

“This is my property too. I’m still the heir.” Samuel argued. 

“Well, tell that to the guards who did not even know that I had a twin because you turned your back on it all.” Sterling placed the phone to his ear and when someone answered, he sent for guards right away. 

“If you have me removed, I would tell mother and father,” Samuel threatened, causing Sterling to let out a laugh. 

“You know what? Here’s my phone. Give them a call right now.” He extended his phone to Samuel. “Call them. Go ahead. Then you would find out how pissed they are at you.” 

“Wh-what?” 

“You were their prodigy and you went to New York to go and live a fairy tale. Why do you think they are making sure everything is in place for this arranged marriage? Because they want me to be the heir. They trust me. They know I won’t flee with my tail between my legs because I’m not scared of responsibilities.”

Soon, the guards arrived and Sterling pointed at Samuel. “Have that trespasser removed, please.”

“Sterling…” I begged him. “You’re his brother. Stop this.” I was still in shock and trying to process everything. It was happening so fast. I thought that I might have been dreaming and would wake up next to Samuel in New York at any minute, but it all seemed more real with each passing second. 

“I’m doing this for the good of us all,” Sterling said in a hard tone and then he turned in the other direction and walked away, leaving his brother with the two buff guards. 

“Sterling!” I called after him but it was useless, he was already gone. 

“Sir, we need you to leave or we would have to remove you forcibly,” One of the guards said to Samuel.

He scoffed rudely and then gulped down the last of his drink. “Anyone lay a hand on me and I will slit their throat.” He began to follow them nevertheless. He glanced at me before leaving. “I’m sorry,” He mouthed.