Alora
One year ago
He stretched his hand out in my direction. I looked at him but only briefly. He knew I would never take his hand, still he smiled with a confidence I wished I could smack out of his face. Despite the fact that I wasn't in any position to decline his offer, my hands stayed glued to my side, not wanting to take his own even if it meant I would live in this slump the rest of my life.
Christian flashed me another of his famous smiles. Somehow he thought it had the same effect on me that it did on those girls. Those stupid rich spoiled brats from his world.
Funny how that was also my world until a few years ago.
"Alora…"
The way he called my name, so sultry, so sexy, so devious of him. When I wanted him to say my name the way he did now, he'd refused. Hatred was all I got from him even on a happy day.
But how gullible could I be? He simply said my name. And yet, that had done more to convince me than all the words he'd spoken the last few minutes.
"Don't you want your revenge?"
He smirked. As if he knew what I wanted the most. He did though. I wanted revenge on the people that claimed they loved me but threw me away like I was some disposable pot. I have had nights where I laid awake thinking, dreaming that one day I would be strong enough, powerful enough to make them pay.
My family. Not my biological family, but the ones who'd raised me for eighteen years, I wanted them to regret it. Eighteen years I'd been their beloved daughter and the second they discovered that an unfortunate accident in the hospital caused myself and another baby to be switched, they sent me packing and decided to forget about me.
Leah who now lived where I used to had made it her life's mission to destroy me, and she did… Why she did it was still a mystery to me till this day.
Of course I wanted my revenge, but not enough to take his hand.
My parents had hurt me, but I could forgive them for it. Maybe. I could at the very least understand their plight. But not Christian. He'd hurt me more. When the truth about my biological parents came out, he was the worst of them all. The way he'd looked at me that day, like I was the scum of the earth, every time I close my eyes I still remember it. Till the day I die, I'll never be able to forget it.
'…I've always known you don't belong here. Took them long enough to figure it out…'
The cold stare as he said those words to me, I felt the chill all over my body. He hated me. I knew he did, but finally experiencing just how much, it wrecked me. Fact was, if I had been the real daughter of the Callisto's, he would never have said those words to me.
He would never have hurt me the way he did.
"Who knows, maybe one day you'll surpass me, and one day have your revenge on me too."
I raised my head, meeting his glistening blue eyes. I'd been sitting on the ground of the Michelin star restaurant for only a few minutes, my anger greater than the embarrassment I should have felt with everyone staring at me. All through our dinner he'd talked and I'd listened, not willing to give him the satisfaction of hearing my voice. But even that was a task I couldn't accomplish. He'd pushed all my buttons the way he knew how to, after all, he knew me best. I'd been so angry that as I got up to leave I'd tripped myself on the legs of the table.
"What?" I'd heard him the first time, but I wanted to hear it again.
"Let me help you take your revenge on everyone that hurt you. Myself included."
I stared at him. Christian wasn't just rich, he was the sole heir to the Gulf Empire; A billion dollar company. He was a billionaire with a stern character. As hard as the paparazzi had tried to put him in a bad light in the eyes of the public, they'd failed because Christian, unlike the billionaire's from his world, wasn't promiscuous. He didn't dilly dally. That's one of the reasons why I was so hopelessly in love with him. And why I thought I'd won the lottery when at twelve I was told that I was betrothed to him.
"I hate you." I spat venomously.
"Then take my hand and let me help you get your revenge."
How cruel could he be to joke about something so serious. This was my life that had been ruined. The Callisto's had ruined my life. He had ruined my life.
I wiped my eyes when I felt the tear drops on my cheeks. Dusting dirt from the mini maroon dress I wore and with what little dignity I had left, I stood up. My life was seriously beginning to seem like a joke. So much so that he thought he could play with it with his ridiculous proposal.
"Lora…"
"Not another word." I warned, my finger raised to his face as I gathered my things from the table. When my chain purse was finally on my shoulder, I faced him. He was so much taller than I was so I had to angle my head up so my brown could look into his blue as I said what I'd been unable to the day he broke me.
"You were cruel, no, you are cruel. And I hate you. Every fiber in my body hates you. I would rather die than take your hand. Find someone else to do your bidding, because I will never be your wife."
My voice was stern, and as much as I tried to make it low, I could hear myself almost shouting. Luckily, the few tables around us were empty. I suspected Christian had made it that way. maybe he'd expected my outburst at his proposal.
"I don't want someone else. I want—"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence."
My inside still felt butterflies when he spoke. I hated that. I should have been over this crush. Four years ago his final words to me was that I belonged in the slumps. He comes back, no apology rendered for hurting me, no explanation for being cold. And he goes straight to proposing that I play along in his game.
"Marry you? I would rather slit my wrist."