/Eliana's POV/
I'm now at Mondelo, a beautiful beach that is a few miles away from my workplace. It's the most beautiful place that I have ever witnessed in my life. Almost all of my good memories are related to this place.
My clothes weren't appropriate for a beach trip but it didn't prevent me from enjoying everything this beach could offer. My legs were resting inside the not-so-cold water. I felt alive as the sea wave wet the end of my skirt. I wore my sunglasses and put on some sunscreen too. I can't afford to be burnt by the sun. I opened a few buttons on my shirt since I was sweating a lot. Besides that, I'm relieved. It was like this place took all my problems and drowned them deep in the sea.
'It is because of him, right?' Edoardo's words echoed in my ears. I didn't want to give it too much attention, so I lay on the mat and closed my eyes, remembering the day he came into my life.
***Flashback***
/25.06.2013/
"I swear, I didn't bully him, Mom!" I shouted through the phone, earning a few glares from the people who were enjoying their time.
"Ellie, you broke his leg!" she sounded so done.
"It was his fault! He made fun of Mia!" I tried to explain to make my point. But it wasn't enough.
"That doesn't mean you can break his leg!"
"Mom, let's talk about it later," I sighed as I said that.
"Fine, don't be late!" she was obviously done with me. I mean this is her fifth getting a call from the principal this week. But it's not my fault. He made fun of my only best friend. I could have chopped his balls off, but I didn't. Anyways, I shouldn't let this bitch ruin my day. I already got suspended for a week thanks to him.
With all those thoughts in my mind, I went to the nearest boat traveling to the other side of the sea. It was a completely unnecessary waste of money, but it was my way to release some stress. So I hopped in, and the boat started moving. A few moments later, I was getting hungry, so I went to buy some snacks from the old man who always sits at the corner of the boat. However, before I could reach him, someone pushed me to the sea. I screamed at the top of my lungs, but people were just gathered, and not anyone dared to save me. The moment I landed on the water, everything changed. I was lacking air, and I felt like someone was covering my mouth, which made it even worse. Despite that, I tried my best to get out of there. I moved my hands aggressively in an attempt to swim, even though that didn't help. Suddenly, I felt two strong arms around my waist, pulling me out of the water. The person made me feel safe like an angel sent from heaven. I don't know who it was, but I can definitely tell that it was a professional swimmer. After a few minutes of swimming, I lay in a solid place. I was coughing so hard to take out all the water that was inside my lungs. The person patted my back, calming me down.
"Why did you do it?" was the first question I heard when I'm finally breathing normally.
"What?" I looked up at the person confused. The person who saved my life was a handsome young man. He had brown curly hair that was sticking onto his face due to the water, his face was wet and he was on his one knee in front of me.
"You are young. I'm sure there are other ways to solve your problems," his eyes never left mine as he said that. I must say he has beautiful eyes along with his thick, perfectly shaped, and wet lashes and brows.
"What problems?" I was genuinely confused.
"Why are you trying to take your life?" He sighed as he spoke.
"What?!" I slightly shouted.
"Do you think suicide is the solution?" he held my shoulders gently.
"I wasn't trying to kill myself!" I yanked his hands off of my shoulders "I just tripped!" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Sorry, I thought—"
"You thought wrong!" I stood up brushing off the water on me. He copied my actions, but unfortunately, in a mocking way.
"You have beautiful eyes," he said, locking eye contact with me.
"I know," I forced a smile as I walked away. However, my pride didn't stay with me for a long time. I slipped on the floor and fell. I heard him chuckle a bit, so I turned to glare at him. He pressed his lips to prevent his smile and carried me like a bride.
"You're too pretty to fall again," his eyes were glued to the way. I mimicked his words and let him carry me to the restaurant on the boat.
After carefully putting me on the chair, he went to bring a towel from the receptionist Luckily, they already had them so he didn't have to go around much. But it didn't stop him from bragging about it.
"You are welcome!" he flashed a smile before throwing the towel on my head. "I knew you had no intentions of thanking me even though I practically risked my life to save you," I shut my eyes close as I sucked all the curses in. "God, I even carried you! A small thanks won't kill you,"
"Thank you!" I said, gritting my teeth. It isn't hard to say it when you're not obligated.
"See, you didn't die!" he clapped as if I did something amazing. "By the way, your phone is damaged," he took a phone out of his pocket and gave it to me. I was looking at him suspiciously.
"I left it here!" saying as he walked to the receptionist. I then called Mom and she picked up immediately.
***O.T.P***
"Hello, Mom it's me,"
"Ellie—" someone cut her off.
"Princess, where are you?" it was Papà.
"What is it?" I slightly rolled my eyes. He isn't this concerned if he didn't want something.
"I wanted you to go to my friend's club with, Isa," just like I thought.
"Why?"
"His son just came from a mission. I wanted you to get to know him,"
"Why would I do that?"
"Princess this—"
"Let me talk to her," I heard Isa say through the phone. "Ellie, you should meet him, please," she said so innocently like it didn't have any other request behind.
"I swear, you will definitely sell me one day,"
"Thank you, Ellie," she said before hanging. She wouldn't wait for my response usually so I guess it's okay. Just then I saw the guy coming toward me.
"You're welcome!" he snatched his phone from my hand.
"Could you at least give me a second to thank?" I asked, irritated by his rudeness.
"I'm busy," with that he turned his face and left without even looking back.
***Time skip***
I regret it. I regret coming here. How can a person be so cruel? I thought she would try to comfort me or at least, she would want to kill him. But, here she is, laughing her ass off at my situation.
"That's enough, Isabelle. It has been fifteen minutes already," I covered my face as I threw my head on her couch.
"I. . . I never thought your day would be ruined like that," she wiped the tears from her eyes. "You fell in front of him!" saying that, she burst into laughter again.
"You know what? I'm not going to that stupid club!" I crossed my arms and raised a brow, staring at her with a knowing smile.
"How can he be so rude to you? You know, I blame the floor," she turned away after changing her expression to a serious one.
"I seriously can't believe how quickly you change your mind," I fake amused. She blew me a kiss and went to her room. I followed her behind since I need to change too.
"Why don't you want to meet this guy, though?" she took plenty of clothes out of her closet.
"I don't like him," I replied, sitting down at the edge of her bed.
"You don't even know him!" she narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she looked at me through the mirror.
"That's what I said!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Papà wants me to marry him!" her eyes widened at my words. She quickly sat beside me and just looked at me, trying to find more explanation. "He is the son of Papa's oldest friend. And they want to upgrade their friendship into a marriage relationship. He is the youngest child that his friend has and he found me suitable for his son," her jaw was on the floor. I lifted her chin with my finger trying to reconnect her parted mouth.
"He didn't say anything like that,"
"Yeah, he promised that he won't force me,"
"He promised or you were stubborn?" she didn't seem to believe what I'm saying.
"Both," she slightly hit me. "Now, let's get ready! It's already 7 am,"
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, I'm wearing this," I showed her a black one-piece skirt.
"Sure, do you want me to do your hair and makeup?"
"I'll do it," I said before proceeding to change my cloth.
After we changed and did a little makeup, we finalized our look with Gucci perfume. I threw my hair into a high ponytail and let it cover my back. I had long hair so wearing a backless dress was never a problem to me. Isabelle wore a purple mini-skirt along with black heels. She left her curly red hair open and she had put on a little makeup.
We are now inside the club that Papà told us to go. All the colorful lights, the loud music, and the number of people that are dancing on the floor made me uncomfortable. Isabelle found her friends and went with them. I didn't want her to babysit me even though she insisted to do so. I was getting bored so I went to the bartender and ordered orange juice.
"I didn't expect you to order an orange juice," a raspy, deep voice said from beside. It was a tall man. He was wearing a suit with three opened buttons, he had a tattoo on the left side of his neck, and a smirk was plastered on his beard-surrounded lips.
"Who are you to expect anything from me?" I raised a brow. I was shouting since the music is too loud to have a conversation like a normal person. He didn't reply. Instead, he slowly approached me and leaned into my ears.
"Your future husband," he said making me look at him with an open mouth.
"So, you are the guy my Papà was talking about," I checked him out from head to toe. He was not bad, but something didn't make me like him.
"It is me," he nodded.
"Let's get to business. I don't want to marry you. So get that inside your head!"
"That was straightforward" he put his hands inside his pocket. "I'm glad that the feeling is mutual,"
"Good," I smiled at him. He stared at me for a moment before speaking.
"Do you mind being a good friend?" he extended his hands. I gladly share his hand.
"Eliana Cassidy,"
"Edoardo Bianchi,"
***Flashback End***
A notification from my phone brought me back to the present day. I looked at it and it was Anna, reminding me about the ball I'm going to host tomorrow. I clicked on my messages to see if Edoardo had left some, but there was nothing. I felt a little disappointed but shrugged it off since I need to focus on the ball. It's a big event that both my partners and enemies expect from me.