Chapter 9
“Hmm, now is not the time for that, Leah,” my stepmother hissed.
Still putting on her fake smile for Xavier's parents.
My sharp eyes went to her, and I could only bite on my lips, staying quiet.
After all, I could not afford to anger her.
Not when my mother’s life lay in her hands.
Her stern gaze fixed on me, as she wrapped her hands around me. Her sharp nails dug into my skin.
“Let’s leave things at that, children.
You have all the time to show your concern for each other when you get married,” my stepmother said, ending with a laugh so loud it was obvious that it was fake.
I flinched in pain when her nails tore through my skin, as blood trailed down.
“No mother,” Xavier spoke up abruptly. “I have to make sure my future wife is settled,” he sighed.
My eyes narrowed wondering what game he was
playing at now. And what exactly brought this change in his heart.
If it were to be in the past, he wouldn’t care if I caught him cheating. He would have been glad rather, because then—he could do it openly.
It wasn’t like I had any say in what he did.
Not when he had nothing to lose if this marriage broke off. But as for me, my whole life depended on it.
So what was he playing at now; why is he acting all nice and concerned when he never bothered to do it in
the past?
Was there something I was missing?
Or did something happen that I had no idea about?
“I cannot let my future wife carry on, thinking I had lied to her, so please let me sort this out right now, Mother,” he muttered.
“Leah, yes I did make you believe I forgot our anniversary by sending you no gifts or message,” he breathed.
“And yes, I also did not show up at work all day yesterday.
But before you say or think that I did it for one reason or the other, just listen to me.
I did everything intentionally.
I was busy preparing something special for you, to show my love,” he said, putting on a bright smile.
He twisted, bending down to his seat to retrieve what looked like a jewelry box.
“I realized that we had known each other for years, being close friends for over a decade before we turned lovers.
But then…I never truly showed you how I felt.
Our wedding might have been fixed since you were four—and foolish of me.
I never came to realize that I had never given you something as a token of affection until now.
And now, we are finally getting married, Leah.
You are finally going to become my wife and we will be one.
Just like it was always meant to be—exactly as it had been written in our stars.”
I stared at Xavier, my mind reeling with how good at acting he was.
He sounded so affectionate, so genuine and honest that it almost made me wonder if I had imagined him cheating.
I stood rigid as he walked towards where I stood, with a bright smile etched on his face.
“So my darling future wife.
Take this, as a token and promise of love from your husband,” He said, opening the box.
A sparkling diamond necklace lay inside, reflecting beauty, and dripping with wealth.
“I would have gotten you a ring.
But we are getting engaged next weekend, so I settled for a necklace,” He muttered proudly.
Unclasping the heavy diamond necklace from the box, he moved, wrapping it around my neck.
The money chain sat heavily, dropping down to settle beneath my cleavage, which still marred with hickeys from my activities of last night.
Although the clothes I wore covered it.
“This is where I was yesterday, Leah, love. I was selecting a neck piece to show my love to you,” Xavier’s words burned through my chest.
I did not know whether to cry or laugh, as tears burned at the back of my eyes.
Claps and cheers erupted round the room, from Xavier’s parents, and my step mother.
She looked at Xavier, giving him a wide grin.
Then her gaze slithered to look at the diamond sitting on my neck, and her eyes gleamed with maliciousness.
Past Leah would have been overjoyed by his actions. Xavier looked at me, with somewhat confusion on his face.
I was so sure he had expected me to fall on his arms by now, crying while professing my love for him.
But this new Leah—the same Leah that saw her fiancé having sex with her step sister.
The same Leah that crossed all lines by giving her virginity to a stranger last night stood frozen and speechless.
Xavier never bothered to give me any gifts in the past. So why now?
My eyes snapped to Thomas Kingsley, as rage soared in my heart, remembering the countless times this man had told me I was unworthy for his son.
A shame, it was always his son that had been unworthy for me.
But my brows creased in confusion as I watched him pat on Xavier’s back proudly with a toothy grin.
No…no…this all felt like I had been transported to a different dimension.
One where everybody was suddenly good to me.
But then, something caught my eyes.
And that was all the confirmation I needed to know that this was an act.
I watched her, standing at the far end of the room as her gaze widened in shock.
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