It must have been her exhaustion or that the bed she was lying on felt like being on cloud nine because when she did wake up, he was long gone.
She sat up, looking around the room, trying to spot any signs of him but got none.
Her mind projected all the flashbacks of the last night. How miserably she had failed one task she was so determined to get it over with.
She had played all her cards and yet that man remained unmoved. It made her wonder how much harder she must try to get him to where she wanted him to be.
With Blake going crazy and her mind not being able to take all of it, she felt almost close to regretting having agreed to accept the deal.
And by then looking at her reflection in the mirror, she could not even recognize herself.
Who was the woman staring at her?
Was it her? Or what Ryan Del Cardoso wanted her to be?
"Ma'am?"
She was pulled out of her reverie as she turned around to look at the female voice calling her, stepping by the edge of the door.
"Sir is waiting for you."
That was enough to make her move from her position. She nodded at the young woman and gave one last look at herself, she strode forward.
The gown was too heavy for her taste. She could barely walk in those high stilettos and if she could keep up with his pace?
She was going to find out soon.
When she stepped out of the room and reached the staircase, she found him waiting for her, with his back facing her, she could not see how he looked.
And as if on a cue, he turned around. Their eyes interlocked for a brief second. He was the first one to break it and signaled her to come down.
She looked away and stepped forward, climbing down the stairs, being as careful as she could be.
It was not easy with his gaze all over her frame as she moved towards him. She did not think it was any right to stop right in front of him so she chose to walk past him.
But he held her by her arm, making her halt on her steps. She tilted her neck to see him and his face was right in front of hers.
It was as if she could feel his breath fanning all over her face. The closest they had been after that night staying over at his condo...a week ago.
"Something is missing."
She did not understand. Her eyebrows raised questionably. His hand went on to hold her wrist and took her palm on his.
Very swiftly he pulled out a ring, a heart-cut diamond, embedded in rubies, from his coat pockets, and even before she could react, he put it on her ring finger.
"I had doubts...that it would not fit."
She looked up at him, from the ring on her finger. His eyes were on the ring, almost proud of himself for getting it right.
"But when has Ryan Del Cardoso been ever wrong?"
He smirked at her. The most narcissistic man she had ever encountered in her life and that surely would be him.
"Right?"
Was she to say yes?
"Let's go now."
And even before she could come to make a decision, he had already pulled her with him towards the exit.
A week after that night, when he was gone even before she could tell, there was not much she could do either.
The question of ever going back and staying the night with him never arose. She had asked Blake for more time once again.
Even though he was furious, there was nothing he could do either. Replacing her with another was out of the question too because his brother had made her his official girlfriend.
So it had to be her or no one else. And he was betting it all on Alister. His strongest card was to expose her and kill the ones she loved.
And like a doll, her strings being in control of someone else, her free will long been taken away from her, she felt trapped in one of her games.
As the street lights receded backward the Mercedes moved forward, she could not help but admire the ring on her finger.
She looked at him and internally had to give him credit for having a nice taste. Unaware of her stares, he was occupied talking away on his phone.
It had always been the same ever since he got her to tag along with him. They barely had any conversations other than a few momentary ones, here and there.
Almost as if he was not letting her know him just yet. Of course, he was a complicated man. By then it was very clear to her that it would take some time...maybe more.
He got over his call and the sudden noise made her look away. The transition from the quiet streets to being the center of attention...their vehicle moving forward through the red carpet and crowds of people surrounding it.
She was still trying to get used to that part, facing the crowd. And she would be in awe of how he would do it so gracefully.
He got out first and she did not bother knowing he would be the one to get her out and she was about to hold onto his hand.
"The other hand."
He told her. She understood that he wanted the one with the ring he had put on so she pulled her right hand back and held onto him with her left.
He accepted and helped her out of the Mercedes. The shuttering noise of the cameras flooded her ears, them calling out to look at the ring and asking about it, did not go unheard by her.
They moved forward, with her hand on his. The ring did not fail to catch the eyes of any passerby.
Did he purposefully ask her for the other hand with the ring to show off?
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