Chapter 56
The afternoon sun filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a soft glow over the bedroom, but it did little to lift tilvera’s mood
She lay sprawled on the bed, fingers swiping aimlessly through her phone screen.
Her social media, although still blowing up with notifications, wasn’t helping either.
What was the point of having her name cleared if there were no brand emails, no collaboration offers
Her two years was almost up, and if she didn’t fulfill her part of the deal, then she would be signing her life away to her father to do as he pleased with
Her chest rose and fell in a quiet sigh, the silence in the room pressing down on her like an invisible weight.
“I should get an agent,” she muttered under her breath, tossing her phone beside her on the bed and staring up at the ceiling
But no sooner had the thought taken shape than the memory of the last one she had flooding back in.
The lies, the stolen opportunities, the leaked texts to blogs, the career sabotage in the name of “image control. Her jaw clenched.
“Yeah, no,” she muttered, dragging a hand down her face. “We’re not doing that again”
She sat up, folding her legs underneath her, then groaned in frustration as she roughly ran her fingers through her hair.
One day she would go bald from the way she kept on pulling it.
“Shouldn’t the brand deals be coming in by now?” She snapped aloud, like the universe owed her a response.
“The Nathaniel thing is over. The truth is out. I should be getting interviews. Headlines. Something”
But there was only quiet and the sound of her own bitterness settling in her throat,
And speaking of bitterness…
Her mind betrayed her yet again by dritting back to the one other thing that had been irritating her in a different way Alejandro.
Her chest tightened involuntarily at the thought. The things they Had done yesterday. The kiss. The closeness. The electric moment of surrender
between them
Gone. Like it never happened.
He had already left before she woke up, and not once had he sent a message. No text. No check in. He was usually beside her, waiting for her to wake up,
but none of that happened today.
Was kissing her that bad to him that he made him have a reset?
In theory, it should have made her happy, but for some reason, it didn’t.
Instead, it made her more frustrated.
More confused and more unsettled.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she reminded herself aloud, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “He’s not interested in love, so none of it means anything to
him
So why the hell did his silence annoy her this much?
1/4
Chapter 55
She threw herself back onto the bed, groaning into a pillow. I wasn’t like she wanted a bouquet of roses or a love letter.
But maybe a simple “Good morning” wouldn’t have killed him?
Hock, she would have taken the annoying way he always made her wake up.
She was mid–eye roll, Uying to mentally erase him from her system, when her phone buzzed beside her.
Her heart did something stupid–it leapt as she hoped it was a text from him.
She sat up, snatched the phone, and blinked at the name on the screen: Alejandro,
Her fingers hovered, unsure of what to expect. Was he finally reaching out about yesterday? An apology? An explanation?
There was no logical reason to expect any of the three, but that didn’t stop her from thinking about it.
But the moment she tapped the notification and read the message, whatever stupid smile had begun to creep across her face died an immediate and painless death,
Alejandro: We have a function tonight. Get ready. You’re accompanying me as my girlfriend.
Nivera blinked as she read it again.
That was it. No “hey“, no “how are you?” No context. Just a cold command, like she was another item in his wardrobe that he needed to accessorise his
She scoffed out loud, tossing the phone back onto the bed.
“Are you serious right now?” She muttered, staring at the screen like it might apologize for him.
The tone. The gall. The straight–to–the–point coldness of it. She could feel his arrogance bleeding through the damn text.
Back
e one
to square one.
She picked the phone back up nonetheless and typed a short response.
Nivera: I don’t have anything to wear.
Short. Direct. Not that it would change anything. Arguing with hint about not wanting to go was a waste of time.
He didn’t care whether she wanted to attend or not. It was a directive, not a request.
She waited for his response, and the seconds dragged into a minute and then two before his reply came through:
Alejandro: Get ready and go outside the mansion. A driver will pick you up, and you’ll be taken to get a dress and anything else you’ll need. You’re going to be following me through a series of functions.
Nivera sighed heavily.
“Oh, that didn’t work,” she muttered to herself, dropping the phone again. Not that she thought it would, anyway!
Without wasting time, 5 she swung her legs off the bed and padded into the bathroom.
After a quick rinse, she threw on a pair of jeans and a long–sleeved black top, not bothering with makeup.
if she was going shopping for a dress, she’d be dolled up later anyway, so there was no need to waste effort now.
By the time she walked out the front door, a sleek black car was already waiting in the driveway. The driver stepped out as soon as he saw her.
Chapter 56
“Miss Elton“, he greeted with a polite nod. “We’ll be heading to the shopping mall.”
She didn’t respond but just gave a silent nod and slipped into the back seat.
Authe can began to more, her fingers itched for her phone again. She stared at it a testet, batting,
Meta: How am I supposed to pay for anything?
The response came faster this time
Alejandro: My card will be brought to you. I know you’ve lived in poverty
by after texaingt your family, but by not to let it show and ge
dresses. Don Lembarrass me.
And that was his last text before he went offline, signalling the conversation was over. Histore in texts was even more
“God, you’re so annoying,” she whispered, hugging her arms across her ched and leaning her head
The ride continued in silence until they pulled up outside the massive, upscale shopping complex
sconi gas andow
Just as they parked, another car slid into the space beside them. A woman in a sleek grey salt stepped out–lejandro’s employee,
The woman walked around and handed a small envelope through the window to the driver, who then passed it to Nivera,
Inside was Alejandro’s black Amex
Of course
Because, of course, he would own a card that probably had no limit.
who
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