"So, care to explain why you're here?" She asked, looking at Caden.
They went to her residence in Golden Oak. Her mother owned the fourth floor when they were young, while the top floor, which her dad previously owned, now belonged to Lucas.
"Is there another reason why I'm here? Isn't it obvious that I came for you?" He answered.
After hearing nothing from him for years, she couldn't believe that he would show up in front of her like someone who had authority over her.
"What do you want from me?" She asked.
They were seated on the couch, and he was sitting across from her. She saw him frown, and somehow his face had a dark expression.
"Why do you have to ask? I came to get you."
"What? After twelve years, you'll come here to get me? Are you kidding me?" She exclaimed.
"Why would I joke about that? Look, I'm sorry for not contacting you for a long time. But that doesn't change anything; you are still my fiancé." He answered.
She thought she would be happy to see him, but why did it feel like something was missing? She had been waiting for him for a long time and couldn't forget the promises they made when they were kids. But why did it seem like he was so different from the kid back then? She thought.
"I want to break up with you. Let's call off the engagement." She said in a firm tone.
He didn't say a word and was glaring at her. His silver eyes were like daggers piercing through her heart.
When they were kids, he would always follow her wherever she was. He would always tell her that someday they would get married. He was the first boy she fell in love with.
A day after their engagement, they returned home. Before they parted ways, she remembered the sweetness of their first kiss. She didn't expect that he would actually kiss her at the age of six.
No one expected it. They were at the airport saying their goodbyes. She was crying and was so upset when he suddenly pulled and kissed her on the lips. Her mother scolded him because of that.
She was happy when they continued to communicate with each other. It was hard for her to be away from him. She felt like their connection was deeper than she could have imagined. He was already carved in her heart.
But when her grades started to fall, they got grounded and weren't allowed to contact each other by phone. She received emails from him every day. He would always ask what her day was and tell her stories about his life in the palace.
She was satisfied with just that. She held on to his promise that he would never change, but his emails became fewer and fewer until he stopped contacting her one day.
She was deeply hurt. He didn't know that she cried whenever she checked her emails, only to get disappointed that she hadn't received one from him.
She had a lot of suitors, but she rejected all of them, telling them that she was already engaged to someone else. Most of them didn't believe her. Rumors started circulating on campus that she had a make-believe boyfriend and that she was lying.
She wasn't allowed to tell the whole world that she was engaged to the crown prince of Flousia at the age of six. She couldn't even give them his name.
She begged her parents and Caden's parents to allow her to at least tell her friends about Caden. They agreed. She thought she would be satisfied with that, but it just hurt her even more.
They would ask her about him, but she could only tell them what kind of boy he was when they were little. She realized that she didn't know anything about her so-called fiancé.
Samantha would tell her that she shouldn't be feeling sad about it. She was the only daughter of Luke and Alora Wilson, the wealthiest and the most powerful clan in the country and abroad so men should cower on her feet.
She couldn't understand why he didn't contact her for two years. They said he was busy, but she knew her parents were lying to her.
On the day she turned eighteen, she was expecting that he would suddenly show up at her party dressed in his royal robe and would kneel in front of her to ask for her hand in marriage.
But it didn't happen. She heard her Aunt Nina talking to someone on the phone, saying something about another girl who was always with Caden.
Her heart was crushed on that day. She had been waiting for someone who had already forgotten her. After that, she didn't ask about him and just lived her life like normal.
Looking at him now, she didn't know what she would feel towards him. He showed up telling her that he came for her without even giving her an explanation.
She had enough. She would ask their parents to call off the engagement so she could move on and look for a better boyfriend.
"What did you say? You want to break up with me? Why? Because of that guy from last night? How long have you been cheating on me?" Caden asked in gritted teeth.
She was surprised when he said those words. Cheating? He's accusing her of cheating? The nerve of him. She thought.
"Yes. It's because of him. His name is Ace. I've been dating him for some time now, and I was just waiting for the right time to tell our parents that I wanted to break the engagement. It was just a stupid agreement between our parents anyway." She wasn't sure how she managed to say that to him without trembling.
She was about to say more when he suddenly grabbed her shoulders, pulling her to stand up.
"What did you just say? Do you think you could get away from me that easily? Dream on, Alira! I didn't get this far just to be dumped by someone like you!" He said with a dark expression.