The Entanglement

Episode 2

“Cecila Milan and Luka Constance, married?!

The Unprecedented Union of America’s Most Influential Families On the 30th of October.

It was discovered that Cecila Milian, daughter of the Late Governor Max Milian, and Luka Constance, Heir of the Constance Oil Conglomerate, became newlyweds.

Their ceremony was surprisingly small, with only a few members of their nuclear families.

This came as a shock to us, with these two being one of the most influential couples to come, and yet they opted for a small private ceremony over a festival of a celebration.

Unwilling to make any comments on their relationship when presented with an interview, we can only wish the two lovebirds the best for the rest of their marriage and their honeymoon.”

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Cecila folded the newspaper and set it aside.

Even though she had not taken the article to heart, it still left her with much to think about.

In truth, she was glad for the little ceremony they had over an extravagant one.

She could hardly stomach the thought of having to walk down an aisle in a white dress by herself, no matter how good Luka looked in a suit.

Her eyes fell on the other side of the bed, where her husband should have been. Instead, the neatly laid bed was filled with nothing.

Luka had refused to sleep in the same room as her. He was very adamant about interacting with her as little as physically possible.

This also applied to being scarcely present at home, which made their honeymoon lodge feel very empty.

The silence she found herself in was almost unbearable.

The room she found herself in felt like it was steadily growing smaller. Her chest felt tight, making it hard for her to breathe.

Unable to bear it any longer, she walked over to the veranda and pushed the glass doors open.

A gust of wind blew over her face. She felt a bit of relief as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

After she exhaled, she heard a bit of commotion occurring beneath her. She opened her eyes and saw a few feet from the lodge; there were two men arguing.

The first was a member of the lodge’s security, who had his hand on the other man’s chest.

Cecila could not make out what he was saying, but he was denying the other man access. She squinted her eyes to get a better look at the person trying to get in.

Her heart sank at the sight of a familiar set of hazel eyes. Cecila tried to go back into her room and hide, but it was too late.

Malcolm had caught a glimpse of her and began to wave enthusiastically at her.

He turned back to the security officer and seemed to say something like, “She knows me.”

The security guard turned back to look at her with a frown on his face and a raised eyebrow.

Cecila let out a deep sigh before nodding in confirmation. The security officer nodded back in response before opening the gates for Malcolm.

Cecila rushed out of her room and into her wardrobe.

She had been lying about in a bathrobe all day and had already embarrassed herself .

She swapped her bathrobe for a long, flowing sundress with a floral pattern. Before she could take a brush to her hair, Malcolm knocked on the front door.

With her heart in her mouth, Cecila threw the brush aside and rushed to get to the door.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” She panted.

“Funny, I could say the same about you.” Malcolm smiled. “Mind if I come in?”

Cecila stepped backwards to let Malcolm in.

Once the door closed, the brown-haired man tried to embrace her, but she stretched her hand out to stop him.

“You can’t just touch me like that. “I’m a married woman,”

“You’re still going on with this?” Malcolm asked rhetorically.

“We both know that neither of you loves each other, so why are you so committed to this?”

“I don’t expect you to understand why,” Cecila spat.

“You’ve never had to do anything for anyone other than yourself,”

Malcolm’s face darkened, and Cecila immediately regretted what she said.

“This isn’t about me this time,” he said quietly.

“It’s about us; it’s about you. It hurts to see you have to give us up for the sake of the family. I know you love your mother, but occasionally, you have to think about yourself first.”

Cecila bit her inner lip. She could feel Malcolm’s words tugging on her heartstrings.

How could she not?

There was no way she could have gotten over her longest love so quickly, even if what she did was for someone she loved more and for longer.

However, it was not her determination to continue in her marriage or her love for her mother who kept her from believing in Malcolm, but the lingering suspicion that there was more to this than he was letting on.

“Look,” she said as she shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter what we had before or what you think we still have now. We’re over, and you need to move on. Now get out of my house before I call security.”

“Cecilia, please—” Malcolm’s words came to a halt at the opening of the door.

Standing at the other side of the entrance was none other than Luka Constance.

His blue eyes went from Malcolm to his wife and back a few times before he stepped into the house, closing the door gently behind him.

“L-Luka,” Cecila stuttered. “I can explain.”

“There’s no need to explain anything,” the dark-haired man said.

“You two can carry on with whatever it is you are doing. I need to take a shower,”

Luka walked past Malcolm as he made his way towards the stairs, his blue eyes meeting his hazel.

Without a word, he went up the stairs and into his room, closing the door as gently as ever.

The sudden fear that had gripped Malcolm’s heart immediately dissipated now that a confrontation had been avoided.

Not skipping a beat, he turned his head to Cecila to continue his appeal.

“See?” he began. “He doesn’t even care enough to be bothered that I’m here!”

“Get out,” Cecila said quietly. She took out her phone and dialed a number.

“Security, please help my ‘guest’ excuse himself off the premises.”

“Are you serious? You want me gone when it’s him who isn’t here with you? Don’t be ridiculous!”

“You’re the one being ridiculous, Malcolm,” she replied.

“When will you learn that this isn’t about you? You’re no longer a part of my life, and frankly, I’m glad it’s that way.”

The front door opened for the third time today with a pair of security officers standing at the ready.

With no delay, they made their way towards Malcolm and forced him out of the house.

“Let go of me!” he yelled. He looked pleadingly at Cecila, his desperation more evident than ever.

“Cecila, please! Don’t let them do this to us!”

Malcolm continued to make his pleas, but all were in vain. Cecila had nothing but deaf ears for whatever else he had to say.

Her thoughts were racing on how to resolve whatever problems this little incident might have caused.

She paced about the living room thinking about what she could possibly do or say.

Her inner lip was bitten so badly she could taste blood on her tongue.

With no other alternative she could think of, Cecila made her way to their bedroom.

The door creaked open as she stepped into the room.

She could hear the stifled sound of a shower coming from the bathroom as she drew closer to the center of the room.

Unwittingly, she found herself pacing around the room as she went over what she wanted to say to Luka.

“It wasn’t what you thought it was… He was just a friend… You’ll never see him around here again…”

she whispered as she walked.

A train of thought came to a halt as a ringtone went off. She reached into her pocket to pick up the call but discovered it was not coming from her phone.

On the far side of the mattress, an iPhone went off, displaying an unidentified number was calling.

Cecila walked over to the phone and stared at it for a few seconds before willing herself to pick up the call.

“Luka,” a sultry female voice said from the other side.

“I miss you, baby. Won’t you come play with me again?

“It’s been too long.”

“Who is this?” Cecila asked, her eyebrows raised at the audacity of the caller.

The line went silent for a few seconds before the voice spoke again.

“Oh. It’s you,” it said.

The sultry tone had been replaced with a harsher, colder one. The call was cut immediately after.

The door to the bathroom clicked before swinging wide open. Luka stood midway with a towel wrapped around his chiseled abdomen.

Water dripped slowly from the contours of his muscles as he dried his head and his face.

Cecila would have been taken aback at the sight if it weren’t for the call she had just received.

“Who was that?”