Chapter 68: Estefan

ESTEFAN'S POV

Stopping in front of Rhea's parents, I glanced up to see Leah glaring down at us. I turned to Rhea, caressing her hair as I kissed her forehead. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Leah's hand tightening on the rail with her face red in anger.

I walked out of the house with a satisfied smile on my face. There was an unbelievable joy in my heart whenever I saw her angry, jealous, and miserable, it was even more satisfying to know that she had no idea why she was going through all those problems. It didn't matter if she ended up finding out the truth because I already got what I wanted and nothing could reverse it.

Getting into my car, I drove to Empire fashion house where the board of directors and Mr Darlington stood at the reception to receive me. After receiving handshakes from every one of them, we went into the conference room where we concluded with the signing of the contract.

As we exited the conference room and walked toward the elevator, I noticed a dark-haired girl walking toward us with a huge smile on her face.

She stopped in front of us. "Mr Darlington, I was on my way to see you. I want to thank you for reconsidering your decision and signing me as your model."

She must be Mackenzie Chesterfield. To think that I didn't even know what she looked like and I recommended her to Empire. The only information I had and needed about her was that she was Leah's greatest competitor.

"It's nothing." Mr Darlington smiled back at her before turning to me. "Your Highness, I'm sure you already know Miss Chesterfield."

"Yes, it's good to finally meet you." I nodded even though I didn't know her because it wouldn't make sense for me not to know her when I insisted that they sign her, so It was better I keep that information to myself.

"It's nice to meet you too, Your Highness." She bowed.

"You should thank his highness because he was the one who insisted we sign you here," Mr Darlington said to her.

"Really?" Her blue eyes widened in surprise before she bowed to me again. "Thank you so much, Your Highness. I promise not to disappoint you."

"Good." I nodded at her.

"And also, congratulations on your wedding. You are lucky to have such a lovely wife. Please do send my greetings to her." She beamed.

It was clear that she was saying that out of her hatred for Leah. Mackenzie was ready to be on the good side of anybody on Leah's hate list, and at that moment, Rhea was at the top of that list.

"Sure, I will." I made my way into the elevator and went down to the first floor.

Exiting the building, I got into my car and drove to the Knight Mansion as fast as I could to pick up Rhea. It had only been four hours and I was already missing her annoying presence. It got to a point that I regretted not bringing her with me but then I remembered that I couldn't even if I wanted to.

There was nothing special in missing someone, right? People miss each other all the time, so I wasn't behaving unusually.

As I got out of my car in front of the Knight's main entrance, I suddenly felt giddy in my stomach, anticipating the smile that would spread on Rhea's face when she saw me walk in. On getting to the living room where they all sat, to say I was shocked at what I saw was an understatement.

A bandage was wrapped around Rhea's head with a blood stain on the right side. She stood up to face with fear in her eyes.

I took three strides to get to her, placing my hand gently on her head. "What happened?" I turned to her parents. "I was only gone for four hours, how did this happen?"

"It's nothing, I was just being clumsy as usual and fell from the stairs." It was obvious she was lying as she couldn't even meet my eyes as she spoke.

"I know you to be many things and clumsy is not one of them." I scanned her arms and legs for bruises but they were none in sight. "If you fell from the stairs, how come only your head is injured?"

Her eyes widened when she realised her lie has been caught but she quickly masks it with a chuckle. "I'm sorry, did I say I fell from the stairs? I must have bumped my head so hard that I can't even think straight anymore." She placed her hand on the other side of her head. "I didn't look at where I was going, so I hit my head on the wall."

The fact that she was lying was making me angrier by the minute. Someone must have done that to her and she was trying to protect that person from me. She was right to want to protect that bastard because when I figure out who it was, I would make them visit hell and return.

"Rhea, I'm going to ask you one last time, what happened?" I stared coldly into her eyes as she began to fiddle with her fingers.

Her mom came behind her to hold her shoulder while her dad stepped in front of me. "The truth is Rhea has gone to talk to Leah in her room and the next few minutes, her mother found her bleeding on the passage, saying that Leah threw a mug at her head."

"Leah did what?" My voice boomed in the entire, making them jump back in fear. "Where is she?"

"She's upstairs," her father said with his voice barely above a whisper.

Anger burned through my system as I made my way toward the stairs. Leah didn't just hurt anyone, she hurt a member of the Spanish royalty which was a big offence.

"Estefan, stop." Rhea rushed to block my path. "Please just let it go." She gave me a pleading look.

"Let it go?" My eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Look at you. You are injured and in pain, and you expect to let it go."

"I'm fine, trust me." She held my hand. "The doctor already came to check up on me and she said I just need to take painkillers for the pain, that's all. So please just let it be."

"Rhea..." I started but she cut me off.

"Please don't make this matter worse."

"Your sister made it worse by hurting you," I raised my voice at her.

"And I said I'm fine. Besides, it was a mistake, she didn't mean to hurt me, so just drop it."

Should I refer to her behaviour as being too kindhearted or gullible? Her sister hurt out of anger and jealousy, and she was still trying to protect her. If she insisted I let the matter go, I would only anger her by punishing Leah against her will.

"Fine, I'll let it go if that's what you want."

She smiled at me before turning to her parents. "We'll take our leave now."

"Okay, dear." Her mom stepped forward to hug her. "Don't forget to take your medications."

"Yes, Mom." She pulled away and I took my hand in hers.

"I'm sorry about this," her dad said with an apologetic look and I nodded at him before turning to leave.

Rhea was quiet throughout the ride back to the hotel and I could tell something was eating her up inside. As we stepped into our suite, she made her way toward the bedroom but I stopped her.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I already told you, I'm fine." She moved to go inside the bedroom but I stood in front of her.

"I'm not talking about that." I placed my hands on her cheeks boring my eyes into hers. "Are you okay?"

Tears dropped from her eyes one after the other. "No," her voice cracked.

I pulled her into my chest as she began the sob.

"Why does she hate me so much? What did I do to deserve all this?" she said amidst her sobs.

"You did nothing wrong." I rubbed her back. "It's all my fault, I'm sorry."

Seeing her in that state broke my heart into a million pieces and it didn't help that I was the reason she was going through that pain.

'What have you done, Estefan? She wasn't supposed to get hurt.' I thought to myself.