Chapter 5: Mrs Unmarried

Dante's Pov 

I was sleeping and yet awake in my mind. I was being thrown into a pool full of water and strong hands were pushing my head deep into the water so that no matter how I fought to the surface, I sank deeper and choked on a large amount of water whenever I tried to scream. 

I was stronger than that, and I was struggling, but I still felt so weak and destabilized, maybe drugged so that my body felt limbless. Suddenly, the hand slipped, and I seized the opportunity to swiftly jerk off and surface before those merciless hands captured me again. 

I coughed and sprang up with a start to see two pairs of green eyes staring at me, almost popping out of their sockets from fear. Phyna, Larissa’s thirteen-year-old daughter, stood beside my bed, hugging her favourite teddy bear to her chest. Both hands protectively wrapped around it as if she was protecting it from a ghost she saw.

One of my haunting nightmares since I woke up or sleep paralysis, whatever that was, felt surreal.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked worriedly, wiping perspiration from my forehead with my duvet as I jumped off the bed.

She nodded, taking a step forward, then seemed to think against it and reluctantly backed away. “You're really awake. Grandma has started to glow. She asked me to summon you to the dining room. We are having dinner.” Phyna said, watching warily as I came to squat down in front of her.

“You've grown taller and look at those cheeks!” I squeezed her cheeks and she giggled and felt more relaxed when I hugged her. “What have you been eating?”

“You're about to find out.” She let me lift her up and take her downstairs to the dining room; her arms curled around my neck while she still held firmly to her furry friend. “I am a grown-up now, so you don't have to carry me around like a baby anymore.” She said when I put her down in a dining seat beside her mother.

“She still hasn't changed at all.” My mother smiled at her while I took the only empty chair beside Azalea.

She sat stiff in her chair and her eyes were fixed on the plate of lobster rolls in front of her. I looked around the table to find Morris and his girlfriend, Danielle, sitting across from us. She acknowledged me with a nod and the woman beside me started picking on her lobster rolls. I hate it when people play with food like that. Was there anything about her that I liked anyway?

“Could you assist me with my rolls, Larissa?” Phyna’s unapologetic voice broke the silence in the room and she was already looking at me with her mouth forming a perfect O as she realized her mistake.

“You seem to have forgotten some honours in my absence, Phy.” I reprimanded and she muttered an apology to no one in particular.

“So everyone gets to call her Larrisa and I don't? Doesn't make much sense to me.” She dug into the sandwich in front of her since her mother ignored her silliness by not passing her lobster rolls.

“She's your perfect match.” Emma laughed and drew everyone's attention to herself when she cleared her throat twice. “The hospital assigned you a doctor and that is why you see Danielle here.” 

“Yes and I am sorry if it would inconvenience anyone, but I will be frequenting the house from now until the end of your treatment. I can assure you a quick recovery from now henceforth.” Dani completed cheerfully.

“Sounds like a deal.” I shrugged and ate quietly, while aware of the woman sitting beside me. 

When I couldn't stand her unwelcoming figure, I excused myself from the table and went back into my room. I was about to lock my door behind me when she suddenly appeared in the doorway and asked to have a word with me. 

“What is it now? I have only a few seconds to spare.” I pointed out, my face narrowing in annoyance.

“That's enough.” She entered and I closed the door before she started talking in the lowest of voices. “I am sorry to say this, but I just think you should be careful and aware of Morris and his girlfriend's plot against you. I…I…overheard him speaking to her over the phone and the day I arrived here, he was…”

“What are you driving at exactly? What are you insinuating? That my cousin brother, who has been taking care of me for the period that I was in bed and had kept my businesses running, has bad intentions towards me?”

“No, yes… I…I…” her voice broke off, and she flinched when I forcibly threw the door open so that she could walk away when she had time.

“If there is anyone I should be wary of, it'd be you! For your information, we are a closely related family and I don't trust you one bit! Not even enough to share my room with you. You're not all that and I didn't let you take charge of the company to prove that I believed in your capability or my mother's threat because they are false. I only did that because I know she loves these charity organizations that she runs and she won't hesitate to give everything away since she still has access to my assets and the key to my safes! So don't pride yourself so high and leave!” I grunted, my patience wore thin as her eyes welled up in tears. That is it, so freaking frail and dumb! How am I supposed to be with such a person?

She turned and quickly escaped from the heat of my gaze. I shut the door with force and walked to my bathroom to cool off pouring water on my face. What is wrong with me? Why am I so riled up by her presence alone? She is just some woman trying to talk her way into my heart so that she'll be granted access to step across boundaries and steal everything that I have built right from scratch and I am not about to let that happen!

What nerves! Morris has never done anything to be doubted in the family and she just appears from nowhere to claim he is planning some evil with his girlfriend! He probably put in good words on my behalf to have her extracted from work and posted in charge of my health and well-being because he cares. If there's anyone who needs to be dragged off my property, it would definitely be her! No wonder her family ditched her.