The King’s Chosen Bride

It was 8 pm on a breezy Friday night in early January. Most young ladies were out having fun in different clubs, parties, and gatherings across the country. But Catherine Jones lay on her bed with her 4-year-old orange tabby cat, Zowie sleeping in her arms. She just finished munching on a jumbo-sized pizza for dinner and was covered neck down with a purple blanket. She was currently reading one of her favorite crime novels by James Hardly Chase while also blasting pop music from her speakers. Catherine was the exact definition of an introvert, the kind of girl who preferred her own company to that of others. Her gay bestie, Steven has been calling her nonstop but she purposely ignored him.“Sorry Steven hope you’ll understand”, she said, exhaling deeply. After all, she knew exactly why he was calling. He was surely going to persuade her to join him in attending the opening of the brand-new upper-class club in Melbourne called ‘Rockville. Most of the rich, famous, and powerful young masters and young ladies would be in attendance to have fun, meet new people and loosen up. Steven knew very well that Catherine was the extremely reserved type of girl. Unlike others, she hates the idea of clubbing to the core. The noise mixed with the strong smell of weed and alcohol gave her migraines for days, yet he always tries to make her go with him, hoping that she’ll meet someone new and start up a budding new romance. She knew he was just looking out for her as always, being the amazing friend and person he was, but Catherine just wasn’t interested. She quickly texted him saying she had caught a cold so she couldn’t make it. It’s been nearly 8 months since her last failed relationship which lasted for about 2 and a half years, yet the scars in her heart were still fresh as if was inflicted just a few days ago. She almost lost her mind and mostly cried all night in her bathroom when the heartbreak happened. She was almost 19 years old when she started dating her ex, Tristan Presley, who was 22 at the time. He was one of the young masters of the Presley Family, who are currently the 7th most powerful family in Australia. Their friendship went way back to when she was about 14. And they officially started dating 5 years later after meeting again at a get-together event for Melbourne-raised youngsters. So what exactly caused their breakup? Apparently, she caught him red-handed sleeping with her ever-sinister and malicious stepsister, Evelyn Jones. Ever since they were little girls, Catherine knows Evelyn has been obsessed with taking everything she loved and cherished away from her. It has lasted for as long as she could ever remember. Right from when they were both wearing diapers to their era of playing with Barbie dolls and so on. Evelyn was absolutely nothing compared to her, and that was one of the reasons for her jealousy and insecurities toward Catherine. She would rather live her life trying to upset Catherine and make her miserable. As for Tristan, he wasn’t exactly her first great love, since she had dated someone briefly at the start of her college days at New York University, USA. But then she loved and adored him like she would a first love. She gave him her all and poured her blood, sweat, and tears to make their love work for years even though it was kind of a very long-distance type of relationship. It shattered her into a million pieces when he broke her trust and treated the matter of his cheating with her stepsister as if it was ‘nothing’. He didn’t even run after her when she caught them in the act. He also didn’t even bother to explain at all at that crucial moment. He just stood there staring at her, all sweaty with his tool still hard and pulsating, as if waiting for her to leave so he could get back to having a good time pumping her that b***h, Evelyn. Speaking of the devil, Evelyn, who was unclad and wrapped herself with the white sheets had just about a wicked smirk on her face. She was grinning from ear to ear as if she’d just won the Miss Universe pageantry. It was a clear indication that she was very intentional with what she wanted to achieve and she was probably the one who sent Catherine the text of their romp location so she could catch them in the act, hence there was no need for her to pretend or be remorseful. Catherine didn’t cry, yell or scream at them, she knew she didn’t need to demand an explanation either because it was a total waste of time. She would never give that vicious Evelyn the satisfaction of seeing her crying like that so she just glared at them for a few seconds, turned around, and walked away slamming the goddamn door behind her. Only God knows if they probably continued whatever disgusting thing they were doing back there as if she didn’t matter. Fast forward, eight months later now, and they are currently engaged. Catherine hated the both of them with every fiber of her being, their karma would surely come knocking at their doorstep soon enough, she thought. Just as she kept thinking about it, the song ‘Traitor’ by Olivia Rodrigo came on from her speakers as if trying to elevate her pain. She always feels teary whenever she listens to this song which reminded her of the past, and no she didn’t feel like shedding a single tear over that jerk again. She let out a sigh as she closed her book and placed it on her nightstand, then quickly proceeded to turn off her music player with the remote. Zowie shifted slightly at her movements, nuzzling her head against Catherine's arm. The warmth of her furry body brought some comfort to Catherine as she contemplated what to do. She was still so young with her whole life ahead of her. A completely stunning woman with her very long brown hair locks and beautiful brown eyes to compliment it. She had an amazing model-like slender figure, standing tall at 5ft10. Anywhere she went, she was sure to turn heads. Born with a sharp brain and amazing level of intelligence, at just 23 she had already bagged two triple major degrees from literally two of the best universities in the whole wide world and is currently about to start her Ph.D. program in Journalism at Harvard University. Which man in his right mind wouldn’t fall for her anyway? It was surely Tristan’s loss.