"What's wrong with you? Why do you keep on mentioning that name Mr. Lucian?" Now my face had contoured in anger. I was infuriated, hoping that the sheer force of my rage would make him get away from me.
But Lucian only stood straight, his face poised and stern. His eyes shot around the lobby, first landing on Kathy, the receptionist, then on the security guard leaning at the door. I watched as both of them visibly cowered, their shoulders slumping as they scurried away, switching to the other side of the hospital building as if they had just seen a ghost.
I swallowed hard, looking up, then down, not knowing how to walk away from this beautiful devil that kept me glued here. The air felt thick, heavy with a silent command I didn't understand. He had cleared the room without saying a word, and now it was just the two of us, standing in the stark white light of the hospital lobby. The anger still burned inside me, but a thread of fear, cold and sharp, was weaving itself through my veins.
Lucian moved towards me with a face that was calm and innocent. He held my hand gently. His touch was cold, which made my breath rasp. It was the same coldness I had felt from Mira earlier, but from him, it felt different. It was like touching ice, but knowing that fire was buried just beneath the surface. He was a man made of contradictions.
"What's your name, beautiful?" he asked, his voice a low, melodic rumble. I could sense he was finding it difficult to ask that question. It was as if every part of him wanted to call me Kiara, and he was fighting against an unseen force to use the right words. I couldn't stand it.
I withdrew my hand from him as I said with my stern face, "My name is Natalie, Natalie Rivers….. like I said before….. and please, Lucian, stay away from me, please." I said it almost like I was begging because I was seeing myself feeling things I was not supposed to feel. My heart was still a frantic drum in my chest. A part of me, the part I hated, wanted to let him hold my hand again. It wanted to feel that cold, dangerous touch. The urge was so strong, it was nauseating.
I turned to leave, but he said immediately, "Wait."
Wait? Lucian, you must be sick. I'm leaving for good. You can't trap me here with your sick spell.
But he didn't try to stop me with his hands. He stopped me with words. "Natalie, be my fiancée for just a few months, you will be paid hugely," he said with a rush, as if the words were an afterthought he had just formed.
I turned around, with a sarcastic laugh escaping my lips. The anger I had been trying to suppress flared back to life, hotter than ever. "What do you take me for... a street girl that couldn't afford to pay for rent that sleeps in a van?" I asked. The words were laced with venom, even though I kind of wanted to believe I was a street girl because of how he had his way on me just a few minutes back.
The shame was an ugly, bitter taste in my mouth. I had been weak. I had been a fool. And now this man, this Lucian, was offering me a job as his pretend girlfriend? The audacity was staggering.
Just as the thought was crossing my mind, I heard the sharp click of heels on the marble floor. It was Mira. She had been hiding somewhere, waiting, watching. She stepped in front of me, her beautiful face were a mask of pure fury. It seems she heard what Lucian said as she turned to him, her teeth gritted.
"Lucian! What are you planning to do?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous. She then looked at me, her gaze sweeping over me in a way that belittled me, as if I were nothing more than a bug she wanted to step on. I only rolled my eyes from her.
Mira is pushing me so hard. Only if she knew how deep I hated her, especially how she yanked my hair earlier and how she had just now insulted me with her look. My anger shifted. It wasn't just about Lucian anymore. It was about her, too. I was tired of being the girl who didn't fight back. I was tired of being the quiet one. Something inside me snapped.
My eyes returned to her as I smirked. Mira, for humiliating me when I did nothing to deserve it... for treating me like I'm nothing... you've just made a very big mistake. My thoughts continued as I stepped in front of her, my eyes moving past her and landing squarely on Lucian. I looked him in the eyes, ignoring the way my heart hammered, ignoring the way my body remembered his touch.
"I accept, Mr. Lucian... I will be your fiancée."