CHAPTER4: SUSPICION
1306 Words
The door opened and Marielle trembled and put down her phone instantly. It was Callum.
“ Are you okay?” He asked, looking around as if in search of something.
She slid her phone into her bag, “ mm” she nodded, “ was talking to my mother's doctor” she said and lowered her gaze.
Callum's eyes flashed with pity. “ It's being handled. You don't need to worry” he said and she pressed a smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
If this was a movie and viewers were to rate her acting skill, there was no need as she had broken the rating scale.
She walked out of the room, pressing her bag against her skin. She had told Maxwell to reschedule the meeting. The excuse being, she had a hangover.
The loud noise from earlier had died down. No more camera flashes. The reporters had all left. Probably got enough news to talk about.
She remembered the reporter who had asked her if she was a maid. Her hands curled again. A maid? What part of her looked like a maid? She was a born queen. A queen who was going to reclaim her throne.
Her gaze fell on Lucian. He was looking at her, the same way a predator stared at a prey. His gaze was intense, almost like he was trying to see through her.
For a split second, she felt like she was the hunted and not the hunter.
“ Breakfast?” He asked and she smiled. An edgy awkward smile.
“ Mm” she nodded and he outstretched his hands. Her eyes widened. Weren't they reporters gone? Why was he still acting?
She calmly walked towards him and held onto his hands. “ Thank you” she mumbled.
He stared ahead, “ no need. We need to spend a long time together” he said, opening the car door for her like a gentleman.
Her brows gathered, her fragile mask almost slipping. She looked around in search of any reporter but there was none. “ Why?”
He paused in his movement. Fixed his gaze on her. His features were immaculate, nothing different from perfection. The morning sun did him good as it made him appear godly.
He grabbed her waist and yanked her towards him. Her body hit his chest, broad and hard. The masculine scent of his cologne invaded her nostrils, it smelt.. expensive.
Any woman at this point will probably have her pulse spike or heart race but …she felt nothing–only confusion.
“ Wasn't this what you wanted? To get close to me?” He whispered as he leaned closer to her neck.
Her body should have tingled, but instead her heart rate dropped. Shock. Get close to him? She never gave him that impression. So…what did he mean?
“ What….” She trailed
“ Shush now. Play along” he dropped, his voice was like an order.
Her brain buzzed, play along to what?
He broke the hug. “ Behind me. A few feet away. A shadow behind the car door, the Lexus. It's a paparazzi” he dropped.
Her eyes widened. She calmly looked, making sure not to alarm the person. She saw it. Almost unnoticeable.
She was stunned, someone as keen as her missed it, yet he caught it quickly.
She returned her gaze to him and found him staring at her intensely. Her heart skipped a beat. What was he looking at?
“ How ..how did you know?”
“ Same as business. Find the enemy and eliminate. Be keen enough to point out blind spots so as not to be taken by surprise” he said, his chest vibrating with each word. “ And also, point out a double faced shareholder” he said, staring at her. No smile. Just an expressionless face.
She smiled stiffly. Weird. Then calmly entered the car. He did the same and the car sped along the highway.
Thought ran in her head as she tried to piece things together. The way he looked at her, the way he distanced himself with calculation. It was like a predator admiring his prey having a little bit of freedom before devouring it.
She clenched her bag and stiffly passed him a glance. His eyes were shut, a calm, nonchalant look on his face.
She withdrew her gaze. She needed to speed up her plan. She needed to make him love her and she needed to start quickly. The faster he fell for her, the easier it would be to achieve her goal.
The car arrived at a high end restaurant. It was one of his company's extensions. Something totally out of his line of business. A restaurant screaming luxury. Every breath, every step into it was screaming high quality techs.
She had read the review from this restaurant once. The workers didn't have trouble doing anything as technology made it easy.
They alighted the car and proceeded into the restaurant. Inside, she ordered for a less spicy food while Lucian did the exact opposite. She thought CEO’s cared about their health more than anything.
“ Spicy meal?” She asked. “Hm” he hummed, calmly eating his food.
He ate with relish and for a split second, she wondered if it was spicy. She dipped a spoon into his and he stopped eating.
She scooped a bit of the peppered hot pot and swallowed. The next second, her face burned red.
“ Urgh, urgh, urgh” she coughed. She dreaded spicy food. Everything about it made her bitter. But …how could he eat something so spicy while maintaining a neutral expression?
His lips curved, not amusement. It was mockery. Her ears went red and her entire body burned with unease. God! She could kill someone now! Did he do it intentionally ? She screamed internally.
He handed her a glass of chilled juice and she gulped it down.
“ Don't eat if you can't handle it” he said, stared at the soup and leaned backwards. He didn't reach out to continue eating.
“ And don't touch my meal next time” he added, words sounding more like a threat.
She flashed a nervous smile and nodded. He was going to experience worse than that, she said internally.
Callum entered the next second and leaned closer, he said something that made Lucian’s lips curve into something dark.
“ Expected” he dropped, glanced at Marielle. “ I need to go,” he said and her eyes widened.
“ Didn't you say we need to spend the entire day together?” She asked.
“ Mm” he hummed, “ return for now” he added and with just that, he turned to leave.
With just two steps, Marielle reached for his hand. “ I think someone is watching,” she whispered, leaning closer to him. His brow furrowed, her breath inching towards him.
“ Drive safe husband” she whispered and leaned backwards, a smile on her face. His gaze lingered on her a bit. Then he nodded, glanced at Callum.
“ Get her to safety” he ordered and left.
He entered the car, “ the office” he told the driver and the engine started.
He didn't turn his gaze to the restaurant even when he could feel her intense gaze. She was nothing ordinary, her gaze was nothing like a fragile maid. He wasn't stupid.
He slipped his phone and opened his gallery. Two pictures were compressed together. The two pictures of the people whose actions were questionable and didn't escape his keen eyes.
One was a man, the popular Daniel Cole and the other was a woman, his contracted wife– Marielle Jackson.
His Jaws tightened, his gaze cold as he stared at the both of them. Then, he smirked.
- Writer
