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“Do you know who I’m marrying? Frederic won’t say.” Straight to the point.
He gulps loudly before scraping his hand over his full scruff. He starts nodding his head unconsciously. The longer he stays quiet, the more I start to fear that my predictions are true. That I am indeed marrying someone horrible, maybe even cruel. My heart slows down, and a heaviness grows in the pit of my stomach.
“Chester?”
“Yeah, princess, I know who you’re marrying,” he whispers before clearing his throat. His eyes tell a story of pity and even a bit of fear. They are not as optimistic or as vibrant as before, which scares me beyond words. To the point that I cover my mouth with my hand.
“Oh god,” I let out. “Who is he?” I can’t look away from Chester’s face, and for once, I truly wish wewerediscussing me masturbating to his steamy morning activities. Anything is better than learning that I’m marrying a man so terrible that the very idea silenced Chester.
“His name is Thomas Meyer. He’s on my company’s board. A week ago, he mentioned that he’s engaged to an Evangeline Clairwater.” His tone is serious, lacking the fire he usually uses when he speaks to me.
“What’s he like?” I ask, with little hope for a positive answer, because of the dread so clearly portrayed on his face. He takes a step closer to me, bridging the distance between us.
I feel the warmth coming from his sweaty body. He raises his hand to my face, but before he touches my hair, he drops it again.
“Uhm… he’s…”
“Horrible,” I add, hearing my voice lower. Chester’s tongue runs over his teeth before he nods his head. My nightmare flashes in front of my eyes, and my heart drops to the bottom of my stomach. Time seems to slow down as I stare at him not contradicting my description.
His silence only makes it worse. It means I’ll be marrying someone possibly cruel. I already gave up my freedom, and now I’m getting punished even more by being forced to marry someone bad. I breathe in through my nose to keep the tears at bay, and my nose starts to run as my eyes grow wet. A lonely tear descends from my eye before I wipe it away quickly.
Chester swallows loudly while staring my way. Once again, he raises his hand to my face but changes his mind at the last second. My body screams for him to reach out because my heart is crumbling to pieces, and I need someone to stick it back together.
“You have to do something about it, princess. You can’t let it happen,” he vehemently says.
“I’ve tried everything. Frederic won’t budge.”
“He’s a fucking arsehole. Always has been,” Chester grits out loudly.
My body grows cold instantly, and slowly, more tears leave my eyes as my chin trembles.
This time, Chester finally wipes away one of my tears before he drops his warm hand on my freezing cold cheek. Just that little bit of comfort mends my broken heart, but it’ll never be enough.
Chester’s thumb caresses my cheek, and I stare into his soulful blue-greyish eyes. They are pure and bright, but the longer I see concern, the more I remember my neighbour has pushed me into this situation as well.
“Why did you screw over Frederic?”I whisper, hearing the crack in my voice. I would have been free if Frederic hadn’t signed away half of our capital to Chester’s company.
Chester’s eyes grow wide, and his eyebrows squish together. He blinks repeatedly before his mouth opens, but nothing comes out. He drops his hand from my cheek, and it turns cold straight away.
“What?” he asks, perplexed. “You think I screwed over your brother?” He accentuates every word.
“That’s why I need to get married. We’re so deep in debt,” I confess. I want nothing more than for Chester to explain why, but instead, he laughs out of disbelief before shaking his head.
“I should have known you would believe every fucking lie your brother tells you. It honestly doesn’t surprise me. I just hoped you would see through all those fucked-up lies he feeds the world.” Chester pulls away from me, taking a few steps back, and any show of concern leaves with him. Now he sounds just like the first time I met him: angry and irritated.
“I know how bad Frederic is. Believe me I do, but we lost so much money because he invested almost everything in your company, only to lose it all later on because of you.”
“Fucking hell.” He starts to laugh this time before walking up to his front door. “Yeah, I’m not having this conversation.” My mouth falls open as the last few strings of hope are severed.
Chester grabs his key from a small pocket in his track pants. He opens his door. I’m losing the only person who can tell me more about what happened. Maybe the information can help me come up with another solution, help me come to terms with my situation.
I thought Chester would understand after our last conversation. We’re not friends or lovers, but he cares about me, and maybe it’s because he can’t stand my brother that he felt the need to help me out. I want him to be on my side by explaining what made Frederic so desperate and angry.
As he pushes open the door, my heart is left in pieces. It’s a good thing. It means I’ll have none to give to anyone ever again. Before he walks inside, he spins around quickly, and a little spark of hope ignites deep within.
“You know what, I was actually changing my mind about you because of our flirty and quite funny conversation in Apollo, and you getting off while staring at me. But now, Evangeline, I just see a woman with no spine or mind of her own. Snap out of it and understand that your brother is the villain in your story. Not me.” He says these things with that same fire in his eyes he had when we spoke at the party.
Chester walks over the threshold and slowly starts to close the door.
