strangers to lovers

CHAPTER-SIXTEEN:

Having been in a situation like that with Luke's mother, I could no longer sit still. It was impossible to remain still after the incident with his mother. During those days, I walked up and down the balcony steps a dozen times, checked my phone 100 times, roamed the kitchen, and pressed my face against the living room's glass wall. It was all I was looking forward to when I received the text message from Luke that said that I should leave his house and return his money. Even though he had warned me not to come near his mother, I just lied and said that we had s*x there. Suddenly, I cried and stopped in my tracks, "Augh!" When I heard Dylan shout, "Ella, you need to sit down. Luke's probably coming here in a moment." Dylan jumped up from his couch and threw me a concerned look as he looked at me horrified. There's a good chance he's doing a background check, so I could be sued for defamation. She would be able to figure out who I was if he was going to do a search on

her. "I doubt it-" "Do you think she's going to put a tail on me?". Wow! I just told her my full name and had a f*******: account! I can't believe it! I can't believe it!He stood up and approached me, climbed the stairs and came close to where I was. I pushed myself against the railings and backed up a bit. As I muttered, low enough so that Dylan could not hear me, he asked, "So she thinks I'm not good enough for Luke?" He held my forearm. "You're fine." "I guess she thinks the same thing." I sighed. No matter how

hard I tried to pretend to be someone I wasn't, if anyone saw Luke and me side by side, they would know what the difference was. Stop thinking and clam down," I said. "I am the essence of calm." "Unless I break the contract between Bennett and me and

he's gonna kill me or worse, take his money back." Dylan's eyebrows creased. A terrified squeak escaped my lips as the front door opened. "How is that worse-" Maybe it's Luke's mother again? My foot slipped on the wood and I fell for about three seconds

before strong arms wrapped around my waist. I twisted to escape Dylan's grip, but just lost my balance. At the top step of the stairs, I looked up at it with my head about two inches from it. Through my upside-down vision, Luke stood there, looking completely confused. He asked, "What do you two do...?Taking hold of his arm and spinning for a moment, I straightened out my back. I was sorry, I said, "Luke." He said, "I'm sorry. It's fine if you wish to terminate the contract." I paused, "I can't help it." I paused as he repeated, jaw tense, "What are you both doing?" I couldn't help but say, "Help what?" "Fool around with my best friend while I was working?" he said. "What?"" he said, gesturing toward us. Dylan grinned a bit and said, "Luk, I had no idea you and his girlfriend were so close." Bennett's suspicious expression continued to haunt him as he continued to ask, "What's wrong with you?" "Don't you want to?" "Why would I want to?" "Your mother..." I answered him, and I nodded to him. "Did she come here while I was gone?" I nodded. "When? What happened? What did she wear?" I nodded. "What happened to me?" he asked.He will mention my outfit. That is inevitable, so I replied, closing his eyes. "What happened?" Dylan said, and I had no choice but to respond to him. I didn't hear his question until he asked, "Did she figure out all the details? I told her Ella was a friend of our family from Paris, and I set you up with her." "Did she believe me?" "I'm not sure." "She also didn't try to get Ella out, if that counts for something." I asked, "Why would she come here directly?". He groaned and said, "It's because I'm wearing my shirt." He groaned again and said, "That's because there's no clean clothes that I can wear." "I don't have any clean clothes," I replied. Are you remembering?" As Dylan coughed into his hand, I swear that it sounded like a laugh. He glanced over me slowly and cleared his throat. You're going to have to meet her again eventually, because she's already met you once already. Eventually, you're going to need to see her again, and I don't want to delay it. It's inevitable that you'll have to speak to her again, so I guess he's not expecting me to be able to speak French. I assumed that he was not expecting me to speak French when he didn't seem offended by my answer, because he didn't seem to be offended by

my answer. His response was, "Well, I figured that out, so that's what happened." Dylan explained, "I'm the one to blame for that." In response to the question, "Did anything else happen?" My cheeks warmed up as I smiled innocently at him, "Well, um." His ears turned pink and he opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him just as he was about to speak, cutting him off. As soon as I said that, I cut him off before he could continue. Her tone was a little off, so I had to interrupt her. She was basically telling me not to be a slut, so I had to say something back. "We're both adults, so what's the point?" I bit my tongue, realizing I was being too loud. "The truth is, we do not have a s*x life." There are some rules in place (according to this policy) saying she cannot interfere with our s*x life at all." Dylan laughed, so I shot him a dirty look. "It wasn't Ella's fault," he said. "Her provocative words were in your defense." I scuffed Awkward. My feet sat on the ground as I muttered the lie that you told her would be forgotten. "Well, we could work on it." I said. We should get Ella a proper wardrobe and teach her a few simple French sentences. We will just have to find a way to keep her busy for a couple of days. Frowning, he thought, "Maybe we can create a fake degree if we find out which colleges are the best." He pressed his lips together, "Yeah, yeah." He gazed into the distance, "I'm sure." I will change my whole life, just to be able to spend the rest of my days with you." "Well, she needs a haircut maybe too. Good thing your car wasn't here." "What's wrong? What's wrong?" I asked. "I guess I should have known I couldn't date you." My lip was bitten so I wouldn't be able to retort, so I didn't have to retort. "I guess I should have known that none of my efforts would have been enough." Luke began and trailed off because yeah. Yeah, it was. It was clear I had to lie to his mother, but it hurt to hear exactly what had to change. I was wondering if I looked so trashy to them. Did they really think me to be useless? Luke apologized, but I had no idea what to say. Instead of getting a round of applause, I didn't know what to say. " As I was getting ready to leave, Luke shot me a dirty look, obviously embarrassed, and I never thought he would act considerate without someone. "I'm generally considerate," I replied. If you don't like it, I can understand if you do not want to move forward with our contract." "I am

generally considerate." I replied.. "I don't like my mother." She shows me women who are comparable to her in terms of their looks and that is where my problems come from. My kind side overrode my impulse to tell Luke good riddance and to give him a high-five, even though there was a part of me that wanted to do so. As Luke faced these conditions, it was not surprising that he did not wish to be compelled into a relationship with anyone he had been forced to choose by his mother. His mother seemed to think that she was the Queen of England. Apparently, she believed that she was the Queen of England. She even accusated me of stealing Luke's stuff and attacking my appearance. She thought that I was gonna get scared of her? Was I really going to be scared of her? I wasn't scared by her. Luke looked relieved when I answered, "I will still help you." I added. "Thank you, Ella." My pulse started to rise as I said, "I am going to make you feel good about me. She doesn't think I am good enough." She didn't think that I was good enough. The boy was a bit surprised. After he had finished saying this, he suddenly turned to me, hummed, and said, "Your mom is really intimidating. So I guess I will have to be intimidating too." Dylan nodded, squared his shoulders, and asked, "You want me to make you good enough for me?"" I looked at him. "Yes." As I stared at him, I realized that Dylan and Luke were both boys... I'm going to need to get a girl for this... I turned to him, looking at him. My gaze was fixed on him as he stared at me, his eyebrows crinkling. As I smiled innocently at Luke, I remembered that Dylan and Luke were also boys. He said, "I'll get ready, but I'll be okay with you." One hour later, after Luke had parked at the Coffee House, Donna had sat on a bench as well. When she didn't move to get into his sleek car, her eyes widened and she began to stare at it for a moment before I rolled down the window and beckoned her in. My favorite part of Donna was how she never made anyone feel awkward. "This is like the Princess Diaries," she whispered as I opened the door for her. "No, it isn't even close," I rolled my eyes at her. She smiled at him as Dylan turned to face her from the front seat. "Hello Donna," he said. "Oh, it's you!" I said. There was a shop in the past, and Dylan was from that shop. "Hi Luke, nice to see you again!" Even if you only met her for the first time, it felt as if you had been best friends for a few years. Seeing her through the rearview mirror, Luke said, "Hello." He squinted a bit, and made a noncommittal sound. "I suppose you will be adequate," I replied. I ignored him immediately. "You don't need to worry about anything, Luke." She grinned back at him. "The two of you seem closer to each other.

"Where are we going?" I said, "To the Woodbury Common outlets." Dylan told me to go to stores that would appeal to Luke's mother as well as myself," he said. "Her tastes are a little more upscale," I drew back, probably making myself look like I had a double chin. However, I believe that there is something for both of us, apart from buying something like Coach," he said, shrugging his shoulders. It seems there is something better than Coach. I am sure we will find something that meets my needs." I said, "I am sure we will find something that meets our needs." "We don't want to buy stuff I'll never wear." I replied, "I am certain we will find something that meets our needs." In my opinion, it is a good idea to push what Mrs. Connor said down her throat, but I do not want to buy clothes that I will never wear either." "I also need to get some everyday clothes." I won't be wearing Prada every single day," I replied, pointing at Luke. "You could still replace what you had with better outfits," he replied. Then Donna tilted her head over in a loving way, and Dylan nudged him in the leg with a dirty look on his face as Donna tilted her head lovingly at me. There was something wrong with you. "I knew something was wrong," he replied. I swallowed. "Why did you bother coming at all? You looked like you would rather be somewhere else the whole time." I lowered my eyebrows as I heard him drop his voice considerably. "It was not surprising he would figure that out." I apologized for what felt like the hundredth time for making

you feel worthless. "Did she call you worthless?" I asked. I apologized for making you feel worthless. "I am sorry," I said, I am a little embarrassed by your question. I should have picked someone else for this job. Your stupid ego is causing me a lot of difficulty. I am not able to function properly. It would have been better if I hadn't pinned it on you like that." This moment made me regret everything that had transpired. When we first faced off earlier, I was too headstrong for myself and I should have acted more calmly. Now I'm making it appear as though I'm making Luke feel like he's at fault for what happened. He grabbed hold of my wrist and pulled me closer to him. I was just a few inches away from him when his hand slid down my arm. "You asked me earlier if I could make you good enough for you," he replied. My breath stopped for a moment. It felt as if his hand was too warm. His cologne smelled too good. His hand felt too close. "It's me who is forcing you to act like someone else you're not." I slowly lowered my eyelids again, meeting his gaze once more, as he sternly said, "Ella, compassion and loyalty are more valuable than money." As far as I am concerned, compassion and loyalty are more important than wealth. "Luke..." I let go of his arm and said, "Get your hands on what you're going to buy." "I'll pay for them." "Luke," I replied. You don't need to worry about the contract anymore. I'll assist you in finding your new place right away. I'm going to assist you right away. His words caught me so off guard that I had already left the room by the time I realized what he had said, so I walked out of the room before I realized what he had said. Would Luke be willing to terminate the contract if he wanted to?