Entrapped

Chapter 16.

Tiara walked slowly yet gracefully around the large corridor, her heels softly clicking against the floor that the sound of it made her at ease as it had almost been two months since she had worn heels. She was immensely happy when she was informed that Xavier would be taking her out for the dress shopping and a satisfied smile instantly adorned her lips as her plan seemed to work in perfect direction although the pace was slow but she had no complain because it was her ulterior motive to ruin him slowly just like a poison that would finish him limb by limb.

She climbed down the stairs keeping her expression neutral and her head held high, she slowly made her way to where he was standing and looked down. She could feel his eyes lingering on her moving figure and stood before him, fidgeting with her fingers in nervousness.

Xavier kept looking at her since the moment the sound of her heels fell on his ears, the way she walked with grace made his heart flutter. He noticed that she was dressed up which again was a sight he was seeing after years. She was wearing a light green coloured dress that was very similar to her eye colour. The dress was in contrast to her pure white skin, it was a simple dress with a sweetheart neckline and one inched thick strap that left her collar bones on display. The dress hugged her tightly around the waist and then went flowy till above her knees. Her blonde hairs were in perfect waves and were pinned behind her ear to prevent them from disturbing her.

To him, she looked beautiful, way too beautiful to be true. Her existence in his life had always been similar to the moon that guided spirits in the utter darkness, her mere existence prevented his soul from dissolving in the underworld he was born in. It was like she had this ability to pull him to her and it would always be a mystery to Xavier as to why his heart chose her.

“Shall we leave?” It was Tiara who decided to pull him out of the trance he seemed to lost into and Xavier mistook her that action as eagerness which instantly settled a fear in his heart that she might try to escape today.

“Sure.” He nodded, getting more anxious than ever, it was not like Tiara could actually escape but if she did try then it would all be clear that she was just trying to gain his trust by giving her consent for the wedding with him so that she could escape when the time comes. He was afraid that she might have been planning to deceive him all along.

He led her outside and she followed him quietly, opening the door of the car for her. He gestured her to get in, which she did without any second thought. He circled around the other side of the car and slipped in beside her and ordered his driver to start the journey.

Tiara turned her head towards the window once the car hit the road and kept gazing outside of the window, the trees that were trying to chase them but were ending up left behind reminded her of her own self. She tried to run after her dreams four years ago and yet here she was, serving the fate she was supposed to serve anyway.

“Do you have any designer in mind?” Xavier tried to get rid of the suffocating silence that was surrounding them as he wanted to hear her voice and also to check if she was really interested in the marriage or was just simply plotting against him.

Tiara slowly turned to face him and gave him a small smile, “I don’t really know about the designer,” she answered his question that made him disappointed as he thought that it was just her plan then but her next words shocked him completely.

“but I would like a fishtailed dress with a long train.” She smiled widely at him and looked at him expectantly and when he did not reply and kept looking at her without blinking, she asked him to seek his approval, “you would not mind, right?”

“of course not,” he nodded at her, passing her a tight smile, he couldn’t understand what game she was playing with him. Her behaviour was confusing him and his silly heart was already fluttering with the mixed signals she was giving him.

The heavy silence fell upon them which was calming for both of them, they both needed it to pull themselves together and their journey to their destination went on for another half an hour with no words spoken.

The busy roads of Spain were filled with rush, laughter and hustle and they soon stopped outside a boutique, getting out of the car they were led inside and Tiara noticed that there were no bodyguards that were following them but did not pay much heed to it.

They entered the marvelous boutique which looked like a small palace from outside and from inside it was like they were in a chamber of some princess who owns numerous beautiful dresses that were shown on display and rest were hanging beautifully on the hangers.

The owner of the boutique quickly came to service them personally once he was informed that Xavier Black had personally come with his fiancé. Xavier was well known for his legal business all over the country, he was one of the richest heirs and the Blacks were quite influential and held great power all over the whole Spain.

“Morning Mr. Black,” he smiled professionally at Xavier as he greeted the powerful man and then turned his attention to the lady beside him, “Madam,” he bowed his head down a little while addressing Tiara as he did not know her name or how else to address her.

“Tiara, I am Tiara Smit-“ she stopped, not completing her sentence as she realized she was no longer Smith. Her husband was dead and she had become a widow. She felt herself getting emotional at the thought of her dead husband but she composed herself, not letting her emotion take control over her and ruin her plan.

“You can just call me Mrs. Black.” She let out a smile and looked at Xavier who had his jaw clenched and face emotionless when she almost introduced herself as Mason’s wife. He was not mad at her, he understood that she might need time to get over that guy but it was her persistent request to marry him soon that bothered him because as he had said before he was ready to give her time and wait for her.

“I hope you wouldn’t mind him addressing me with your last name, Xavier as I would be your wife in the next two weeks anyway.” She was behaving normally like they were a real couple who were getting married out of love.

“I am sure he wouldn’t, Mrs. Black.” The boutique owner who was in his early forties smiled at the beautiful girl and led them further inside where there were all mirrors instead of walls as if they were in a chamber made with mirrors.

“Do you have any specific preference, Mrs. Black?” and Xavier just stood behind silently observing her keenly with his grey orbs which were filled with confusion as he saw her actually looking through the dresses with great interest.

“Is she really interested in getting married to me?” he wondered in his mind as it was hard for him to believe that she had actually come around to that idea, it wasn’t even more than two weeks since her attempt of suicide.

 “I would like this one.” Her happy voice brought him out of his thoughts and he saw her surrounded by workers and the owner with a few dresses in their hand.

“Xavier,” she called him and looked at him through the mirror as he was standing behind her with a good distance between them, “I am going to the trial room. you wait for me here, okay?” Xavier nodded at her and saw her retreating figure, going away from him and his heart was shuddering in fear as he anticipated the worst from her.

Once she was out of his sight he pulled out his phone from his pocket and called Luca who was in charge of the security, “be ready,” he said as soon as Luca answered his phone and let out a heavy sigh, “I think she might try to escape as it’s a perfect opportunity.” He said with a heavy heart hoping she would not.

Xavier had been testing Tiara lately to comprehend what was actually going on in that pretty mind of hers. He had stopped locking the room of her door ever since she had put her wish forward to marry him but was surprised to see that she had not even for once tried stepping out of the room. Xavier concluded that she was being cautious and was already aware that she could not escape from the Black mansion, so today he had set an ultimate trap for her to unveil her true intentions which he had already assumed was to run away.

He had taken her out for the dress shopping as it could be the best opportunity for her to run away if she really wanted that and the fact that he deliberately made it obvious to her that he had not brought his men to cover them up should work as a bait to tempt her to show her true intentions.

He kept standing where he stood and waited for the next fifteen minutes, every minute seemed to make him more and more anxious as he dreaded what could come next, he dreaded that there might be another deception that could be waiting for him.

He slowly walked up to the trial rooms and stopped right in front of the one where the workers that were assisting her stood, outside that locked door. He slowly raised his hand up while preparing his heart to feel another painful blow of lie and betrayal but before he could knock the door got opened and Tiara stood before him with a small smile on her face.

 “w-what are you doing here?” she asked, startled from his sudden presence and that wary look on his face.

Xavier felt like someone had poured bucket after bucket of relief that washed away all the insecurities and the doubt he was having minutes away when he found her inside even after presenting a perfect opportunity in front of her. He knew that the windows of the Trials room were made of pure glass and he deliberately made sure it was not locked so that she could put her plan in action but she did not and it made him feel that he could trust her.

“I just came to check on you.” Xavier let out his first genuine and carefree smile at her after ages, the happiness he felt at that moment was clearly seen glimmering in his eyes.

“I must have taken a long time since I got lost in the beauty of the dress.” She exclaimed nodding at him and showed her pearly teeth to him, “it was perfect!” The pitch of her tone was quite high due to the satisfaction and relief she had as she had found the perfect dress.

“bring it out, I would also like to look at the dress she has chosen.” He said to one of the workers who tried to step in, to fulfil Xavier’s demand but stopped when Tiara interfered.

“no, Xavier!” she opposed right away not letting that worker go in, “you cannot see the dress yet, it’s a surprise so can’t you wait, please?” she did not wish to have him see the dress just yet as she had planned to take him off guard on their wedding day after all that would be the day she would really enforce her plan to ruin him.

Tiara was no fool, she knew that Xavier had been testing her out by making it obvious that he had forgotten to lock her up. She knew Xavier did not trust her yet that she would really marry him and would try to escape but she could not blame him for being anxious because if it was not for her revenge, she would have never agreed to marry him.

She had decided to avenge Mason’s death in a way no one had ever thought before, she would ruin him in a way where he would curse himself for loving her, where he would want to resent her but she won’t give him any reason to. She was going to entrap him the same way he had done to her, she would make him feel trapped in a bond he wanted to tie with his own will, she would hold him captive in a cage that would be made by the very same wedding vow he would willingly give to her out of love. She was going to use his love for her as a weapon that could ruin him emotionally. She would make him want to pull out his own heart so that he could be free from the torment his love would bring to him.