2019, March 4th
It seemed it had been pouring summer rain for months. In truth, the downpour had begun only yesterday. It was only yesterday that Lady Zoey Arden's world had come together at last. Only yesterday he looked upon her as though nothing and no one could take him from her and regardless of all the terrible things happening in the world, she could not help being happy. She was a different person. He had opened up her heart and not just for himself, but for everyone around her.
She would mend fences with her father, if only for the sake of the wedding. Her new life had given Zoey something she had never had before. Two somethings, actually. A brother and a best friend. Bart held her hand while she stumbled through every situation, good or bad, since she reached Caines. She wanted to be useful to him. Zoey knew that this marriage would finally remove the burden of the Arden claim to the throne from Bart's shoulders.
Knowing this made Zoey all the happier that things had worked out for her and Aaron, because marriage was a sacred thing. This union had the power to change many people's lives, but would define hers and Aaron's.
Laughing to herself, Zoey thought that she would even contrive to be less sullen to the Duchess, who for the present must remain the Duchess, as she could not yet spare her the kindness of endearment.
Lying on her bed, getting ready to call her mother, how was she to know that her life was about to change again? As she stood over the red roses Aaron had given her yesterday, Zoey smiled her last happy smile for a while.
Bart burst in, shut the laptop and grabbed her phone.
"Hey!" she complained. "I was just about to call my mom."
His eyes gave way to something. Something she had yet to see in them. Those ever busy, ever problem-solving eyes. Zoey didn't know what it was, but she didn't like it. It unsettled her.
"Pack for a few days. I have to get you out of here."
He was stern and his tone, though always somewhat imposing, was more than that. It was urgent, maybe even desperate. She grabbed at his sleeve.
"What is it? What's wrong Bart?"
"Now Zo!" he yelled, marching over to her window to close the curtains.
She jumped up and did as she was told. As she started packing, Duke Arden's footsteps could be heard thundering up the stairs and marching in the hallway leading to the door of her room.
"What is this!" Duke Arden boomed.
He shoved his tablet into Zoey's hands, livid. She looked down at the headline.
Heated Elevator Kiss Between Prince Aaron and His Intended.
She was dumbstruck, scrolling down frantically. They had been careful not to be spotted whenever they were together. This couldn't be. Her mind was racing. How could she have been so negligent? This was sure to stir up quite a bit of trouble. No wonder her brother and father were enraged. She had embarrassed them.
And then she saw it and her heart, her brain, everything stopped and suddenly she understood. When next she knew, she felt his thumbs on her cheeks and heard the whoosh of a sigh leave his body.
"We have to go, Zo," Bart said, more gently this time.
"Go? After causing such an uproar you would have her run off somewhere? She must issue a public apology for making such a spectacle—"
"She must do nothing," Bart interrupted.
Bart spoke firmly, in a tone he did not usually reserve for his father.
But then, his father did not know what he thought he knew and Bart, himself being enraged, had only enough patience to be swift, as he always was.
He needed to give her time. She would want some time and she would not get it here. He hardly knew how they would spin this one, but he wanted to give his sister time.
Because he knew her. It was all over for them, and he would not let her be persuaded otherwise. Not twice. Not when he had gone against his instincts the first time and allowed himself and her to be swayed.
Zoey heard them going back and forth about what to do, but she couldn't move. Had he really done this? On the night of their engagement?
She knew there wasn't time for this, but all she could do was fall apart. Again and again, it hit her what he had done, and she wished she could go back to being blissfully unaware.
"We're leaving. Forgive me, father," Bart said in parting, having finished the packing.
"I cannot understand you. This isn't like you at all. They are to be wed. It's the 21st century. Certainly, it may cause some embarrassment, but the people will understand. You are being too protective."
"If you do think so, then you must really not understand. She will be safe; this I promise you."
Bart took Zoey's hand and led her through the hallways she had at last become accustomed to. Down the staircase that seemed endless and past his mother, who had no doubt come to the same conclusion his father had. There was no time. He would reveal it to them later, or someone surely would, but right now, they must go.
(Elsewhere in Caines)
He knew the whole of it without need of confirmation. James Beaumont was such a sort of man. Though he could hardly predict how people would behave, he was not often surprised by them. With eyes so green they put forests to shame, jet black hair as soft as silk, a body that seemed made to look good in anything and a chiselled face curved and sharp in all the right places, such that it was difficult not to stare, James Beaumont was more than handsome.
It was then no wonder Duke Beaumont was well liked despite himself not liking many people and making no effort to hide his dislike.
James could afford this luxury, as corporations from around the world knocked on his door in want of doing some or other business with Copia. Famed for being a separate entity from the crown, Copia's people wanted for nothing. What they could not make themselves, they imported. That was the extent to which Copia had allowed anything past its borders in the last five years.
Now 26, James had not long been a duke when His Grace's mother, Lady Cassandra Beaumont, became rather adamant that he marry. To her delight, he had at last agreed.
He had at last allowed himself to be confident that he might now have Lady Emily Maine as his wife and they (even with her father needing much persuasion) had at last, after seven years of friendship, gotten engaged.
And this, he had convinced himself, was his due. This much he might expect from life. He was now titled, her family's equal, and his rival had proposed to another woman. He thought this meant that they were in the clear. That he might at last love whomever he wanted. He was wrong.
As James stared at the monitor, looking at the title millions had read by now, scrutinising the photograph every noble in Terres Somnia had no doubt gawked at hours earlier when the news broke, James Beaumont felt his heart break one more time. It was a familiar thing; he almost didn't feel it anymore. Or maybe he deceived himself into thinking so. He did not know. He knew only what he saw. He would know her anywhere. Caught in a compromising, passionate, crude kiss with her arms wrapped around the engaged Prince Aaron. It was nighttime, his body and dishevelled clothes covered hers and the lighting in the elevator was somehow poor. This was the probable reason that the writer of the article had assumed that Emily was Aaron's fiancée, Lady Zoey Arden. Both women being blonde and it having been a masquerade ball, it wasn’t such a stretch. Besides, who could’ve imagined that they would do something so stupid in public at his engagement party? He understood all too well what would hap
2018, December 4th "Are you people out of your bloody minds!" Zoey knew that she was yelling, but she couldn't help it. "I just met the lot of you two days ago, one day really," she sucked in a deep, much needed breath, "and now you want me to marry some dude I have never even met?" His Grace raised his hand in dismissal of Zoey and said, "Silence! You are of the House of Arden and you will accept the prince's hand. There will be no discussion on the matter." Duke Arden, however, was not accustomed to Zoey's temper. "The hell I will! You know what? How about you keep your money and I keep my hand and we just call it even? Cool? Dandy." She stormed off, well aware that she was bound to get lost in the mansion and not caring at all. "Why that little... You come back here this instant!" Duchess Arden shrieked. "She seems to have the right idea," Bart shrugged, fishing his keys out of his pocket and tossing them up into the air. "She shouldn't be having any ideas at all, and nei
2018, December 4th Aaron put his thumb and his index finger up to his chin and feigned concern. His question gave her some pause. It was quite the conundrum she found herself faced with. It was only a matter of time before she was found, whether she gave herself up or not. Zoey searched her angry brain for the way out, because she had to find the way out. She was not going to be married off, used as some sort of bargaining chip. No, they would have to find another way. She would have to too. Perhaps a part-time job or selling off all her mother's bags and shoes. Yes, another way. Normal, everyday people did this stuff all the time and Zoey had never been raised in a fancy mansion so as to make her feel or think of herself as but every day. He could see the gears moving in her head as she contemplated what to do, her hand still on the doorknob, with only his body preventing the door from swinging right open. He had done this many times, come for some girl or another in the depth of t
2019, March 4th As Zoey digested that for the second time in her life a proposal of marriage had come to her under the most unusual of circumstances, James' phone rang. The screen lit up to reveal the name Emily. After the ringing stopped, Zoey happened to look at the screen again. He had 53 unread messages and 71 missed calls. "Shouldn't you call her back?" "She's the woman in the photo with Aaron," James answered coolly. His face morphed into a look of disgust. Emily, sweet Emily. She would never be sweet Emily again. Not to him. "I see," Zoey answered, looking down at her feet. Of course. She was hot again with anger and embarrassment. "She's your girlfriend, right?" "Fiancée." James held up a hand, made a fist, and bit into it. "Former fiancée," he said, correcting himself. He turned to her then and could practically see her neurons unravelling. They weren’t in love. This was a business agreement. Hell, for him, it was a straight up revenge ploy. But James knew better
2018, December 4th "Fuck!" Aaron screamed in agony. It was only for a brief moment. Just a little jab. He would be okay. Zoey justified her actions to herself as she lifted the heel of her 6-inch stiletto off of his shoe just as Jesse was slamming the brakes on the car. Jesse whipped his head back, panicked. "Are you okay, Your Highness?!" "Fine," Aaron grunted through his teeth. Zoey was out of the car before Aaron could recover, but his grimace soon turned into a smile as he watched Zoey's younger brother Bart take his sister's hand and try to lead her off like she was a naughty schoolgirl. Zoey, however, was done taking orders. She marched her way right up to the gates. The guards bowed. "Open it up," she demanded. The guards looked sheepishly at Bart, who was standing behind her. "I, Lady Zoey Arden, demand that you open the gates right now!" No one could have been more surprised at her words than Zoey herself, but both Bart and Aaron were watching her now, stunned. "My L
2018, December 4th Zoey opened her eyes as an umbrella suddenly came into view above her head. Then, seeing who was holding it, she groaned. "Dude, seriously, just go away," she sighed. "Not marrying you, not marrying anyone. I haven't even spent a minute alone with the person I actually came to see." Zoey was tired, and the words were coming out of her mouth more freely than usual. "And who might that be? Should I be jealous?" Aaron smirked. He liked looking at her. Despite the many concerns he had, looking at her made him feel light somehow, made him feel like the version of himself that most people thought he was. Zoey got up and started walking again. "I have a life, you know? I'm starting my PhD soon. I have a mom. I have-" Here she fell short. What else did she have? This thought had just started making her feel depressed, and she was on her way back down again when she felt something being pressed into her hand. It was the handle of the umbrella. When next she knew, she
2019, March 4th Zoey was tossing and turning in her bed. Bart had finally retired to his own room for the night, leaving Zoey alone to watch the clock count down. In 20 minutes, James' deadline would be up. She went through her phone, which Bart had returned to her after much debate and warning, and groaned. The missed calls from Aaron were racking up. Her inbox was full. Zoey's mom had called and left a few messages, too. How would she tell her mom what had happened? But that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, she had bigger fish to fry. She texted her mom to let her know that she was okay and that she would call in the morning. 15 minutes left. It would take at least 10 to get to the place where she had met the duke, the prince, earlier that night. It was bizarre. Less so that Duke Beaumont turned out to be a prince. More so that Zoey would have married Aaron at the end of the month without even knowing he had a brother. Did she even know him at all? What else would fall throug
2019, March 4th "Sorry I'm such a mess. I didn't really think it through when I left," she said, biting her lip. He wanted to laugh at her, at the very different thoughts they had about her appearance, but swallowed a chuckle. "You look lovely, Lady Zoey," he flattered boldly. She frowned in disbelief, then quickly corrected herself and pasted a smile on her face. This time, he did laugh. It was a short one, but he couldn't stop it slipping out. Her eyes warmed to the sound of his laughing and she smiled, for real this time. Oh his heart, oh that smile. Something had changed. The feeling of familiarity was now more than just a feeling. He dared not hope, but he could swear that she had lowered her guard and he his own. They had, in a moment, become comfortable. "Good evening, Your Grace. Would the lady like something to drink?" the waiter interrupted. "A glass of red wine, please," she smiled pleasantly. "No," he said instantly. "Weren't you the one that wanted to have a drink?