I Bought the exiled king (by Natalie Winter) novel Chapter 27

Valencia

If only I knew how hard it would be to track him again.

It was as if lan was a figment of my imagination.

Director Marshall had scurried away to the headquarters and Mrs Briggs was out on a sick leave for almost two weeks.

The two people who had seen lan were out of my reach.

And surprisingly, none of my office colleagues had seen him.

I should have asked for a way to contact him, his friends, his home….something.

Because it felt like lan was a ghost, with no trace of him anywhere.

For the next few days, I was in some sort of a daze, where only my body was doing things in a mechanical fashion- getting up, showing up at work and going back home.

There was lan and our little meeting playing in the back of my head 24/7. I kept waiting and waiting for him that night, hoping he would show up at my door.

But only the walls stared back at me.

Thankfully, it was the weekend again, and I had Sophia to talk to because I was going mad all by myself, wondering what was going on.

So Saturday morning saw me recounting the details of my trial/enquiry and my exchange with lan that she did not listen to patiently.

“Oh my Goddess, did he say that?” she interrupted when I told her about his choice of words about me, but the next second she was swooning when I told her about the heated kiss.

For some reason, she made me narrate that kiss more than twice.

I felt my head would burst open, so I ordered a coffee as we sat by a table of our regular cafe and after almost an hour of silence, Sophia suddenly slammed her hand on the table.

“I think this lan of yours is in some cult that kidnaps young girls and offers them to a demon.”

“What?” Tasked her incredulously.

“Yeah, he lured you in a honey trap, went back to get his buddies get ready for the ritual and came back to check on you. He is going to sacrifice you at some demonic altar.”

“What rubbish?” I snapped at her as the waitress arrived with a steaming mug of coffee.

I held it with both palms and was glad for the warmth because Sophia was making me wonder if telling her everything had been a smart move or not.

She picked up the last bit of fries from her plate and ordered another before looking at me.

“I mean, think about it. Only you have seen him, he has no name, no contact details. The internet has absolutely nothing on him. He must be some sort of a demon.”

I only gave her a look, and she chuckled.

“Albeit a hot one.”

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Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Valencia

If only I knew how hard it would be to track him again.

It was as if lan was a figment of my imagination.

Director Marshall had scurried away to the headquarters and Mrs Briggs was out on a sick leave for almost two weeks.

The two people who had seen lan were out of my

reach.

And surprisingly, none of my office colleagues had seen him.

I should have asked for a way to contact him, his friends, his home….something.

Because it felt like lan was a ghost, with no trace of him anywhere.

For the next few days, I was in some sort of a daze only my body was doing things in a mechanical fashion- getting up, showing up at work and going back home.

There was lan and our little meeting playing in the back of my head 24/7. I kept waiting and waiting for him that night, hoping he would show up at my

door.

But only the walls stared back at me.

Thankfully, it was the weekend again, and I had Sophia to talk to because I was going mad all by myself, wondering what was going on.

So Saturday morning saw me recounting the details of my trial/enquiry and my exchange with lan that she did not listen to patiently.

“Oh my Goddess, did he say that?” she interrupted when I told her about his choice of words about me, but the next second she was swooning when I told her about the heated kiss.

For some reason, she made me narrate that kiss more than twice.

I felt my head would burst open, so I ordered a coffee as we sat by a table of our regular cafe and after almost an hour of silence, Sophia suddenly slammed her hand on the table.

“I think this lan of yours is in some cult that kidnaps young girls and offers them to a demon.”

“What?” Tasked her incredulously.

“Yeah, he lured you in a honey trap, went back to get his buddies get ready for the ritual and came back to check on you. He is going to sacrifice you at some demonic altar.”

“What rubbish?” I snapped at her as the waitress arrived with a steaming mug of coffee.

I held it with both palms and was glad for the warmth because Sophia was making me wonder if telling her everything had been a smart move or not.

She picked up the last bit of fries from her plate and ordered another before looking at me.

“I mean, think about it. Only you have seen him, he has no name, no contact details. The internet has absolutely nothing on him. He must be some sort of a demon.”

I only gave her a look, and she chuckled.

“Albeit a hot one.”

12:59 Sat 24 AU 1 JD

Chapter 27

“Shut up, Soph” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the rich creamy coffee as she replied

“I mean, you have discarded every other theory of mine. He is either some Mafia leader or a demonic culfist. There is no in between

She said with confidence, and I replied tiredly.

“Did you find anything about the Black Shore?”

She shook her head.

“Another made up name like your made up lan.”

I sighed.

“I have his picture. The one I showed back at the bar when we went to enquire about him?”

Sophia gladly began munching on her second dish of fries while theorizing.

“That also feels unreal to me. I mean, think about it. Who looks that gorgeous? No living being is that handsome.”

She had tried searching his picture everywhere too, but the results came up empty.

“I am telling you, he is just a call boy or some drug lord who fancied you and then felt sorry for leaving you high and dry, so swooped in at the last moment to save you out of guilt and disappeared again. He is not real, Val.”

Sophia tried convincing me.

But I knew he was real. That touch and voice were real.

The way he had made me feel was real.

Though I still didn’t have anything on him except his name and my memories of him.

I finished my coffee but sat in my chair wondering what to do next when i heard my best friend’s voice again.

“Come on, Valencia. You take on tough clients and your stupid boss without letting it affect you. Why are you letting Mr Liar make you feel miserable? It’s good that he left, and I would suggest that you forget him already.”

Part of me was beginning to wonder if he was not something my imaginative mind had conjured.

I still remembered how I had run home to hug him after Mrs Briggs had tortured me the entire day, how I had asked him to cuddle with me and he had done that.

It was not just the sex and the orgasm but the feeling of being wanted and heard that he had given me.

Was that all some sick joke for him?

Why had he done that?

“He is out there trying to trap some new girl while you sit here moping for him” Sophia’s disappointed voice reached my ears.

I tried to imagine him right now going about his day, preparing to fool some other girl who was just needy and vulnerable, who he could toy and play with before he got bored and looked for another target.

I just didn’t know what to do anymore.

Thankfully, Sophia didn’t leave me for a second that day and did everything she could to distract me. We went shopping, then to an arcade to play games, and he also kept trying to tell me interesting gossip about her classmates.

Chapter 27

“Hey, wait a minute. I completely forgot why I had given you a call in the first place this morning”

She said as we strolled through the mall doing window shopping.

I didn’t pay any attention to her words, so she came to stand in front of me and blocked my exit.

“Girl, are you listening to me? I have the perfect way to cure your sadness and fever dream.”

“Stop saying that,” I whined and began walking faster, but she stopped me again, throwing her hands on both sides to block my way.

“What?”