Chapter 26 — Love Confession

Diana pushed Ivan away after they heard Rain holler. Trying to maintain her posture, Diana cleared her throat. "Rain, we can explain a—" Before she could complete her sentence, Rain's hand flew towards Diana's cheek.

"Rain!" Before she could slap Diana, Ivan held Rain's hand strongly, leaving an instant bruise. "How dare you?"

"How dare I? You are asking me this, Ivan? You?!" She let out a humorless chuckle. "This bitch kissed you!"

Guilt instantly engulfed Diana. She bit her lip tightly, trying to control back the tears that were lodging in her eyes. Her silence made sure that Rain was right.

"It was me, okay?" Ivan said loudly and clearly. "I kissed Diana. It wasn't her."

Rain's head snapped to his direction. "Why would you do this, Ivan? Despite knowing that we are in a relationship, you fucking cheated on me!"

He replied sternly, "I would've explained it to you, but you crossed the line when you tried to slap Diana."

Rain stomped her foot in anger. She was angry that Ivan kissed Diana, and that he was taking her side. She saw that Diana was standing still, not uttering a word. "We will talk about this later, Ivan. I wanna talk to Diana first. Alone."

Sensing the tension, fear rose in Ivan at the thought of leaving Diana alone with Rain. He knew that Diana wouldn't do anything if Rain tried to hurt her. She would rather accept her punishment. "No!" he hollered.

Rain glanced at Diana and said bitterly, "Why don't you tell my boyfriend—whom you recently kissed—to give us some girl time?"

Ivan walked towards Diana and took her hand in his. He looked with fear towards Diana. He mumbled, "Please don't. I don't want to leave you."

A tear slid out of Diana's eyes, seeing him beg. She closed her eyes and exhaled a deep breath. "Ivan, give us some time to talk." As he was about to open his mouth, she murmured, "Please."

He let out a frustrated sigh. He could never deny her requests, no matter the situation. He always listened to Diana when no one could make him understand something. He would share his problems with her, and she would always make him understand nicely. Without wasting another second, he stormed off the room.

Ivan texted his younger brother on Instagram.

Ivan_Cands: Please stay near my room. Rain saw me and Diana kissing and she's talking to her now.

Instantly, Jasper replied 'Okay.' Feeling a little bit relieved, Ivan walked towards the balcony. After all, it was the only place he used when he needed some time to think.

***

There was a tense atmosphere before Rain asked Diana, "Why? Why did you do this?"

"Rain, I—I am sorry." She knew that she had nothing to explain here. Rain saw them kissing, so there was really nothing to explain or use as an excuse.

"I trusted you, Diana. I fucking trusted you!" Rain stomped her foot again. "I thought you would never cross the friendship line, especially since you knew he had a girlfriend. But look! You proved me wrong. You are like other girls who woo rich boys and make them cheat. You are a man-stealer and a gold-digger!"

Diana let her tears out, hearing the harsh words coming out of Rain's mouth. She wanted to tell her that none of what Rain just said was true. She had never been a gold-digger, let alone a man-stealer. However, she knew that she did wrong. She made Ivan cheat on Rain. She was the other woman in their relationship. So, trying to be a polite woman, she digested Rain's rude words.

Rain continued, "See? You have nothing to say! It proves your standard, Diana Stevens."

She thought that Diana proved her point by staying quiet, but she didn't know that it was something a good and polite person would do. Ruyeli taught Diana to never talk back to someone because royalty never did that. In reality, Rain was more than proving her stature.

"You won't leave anymore, will you? You're going to stay here and marry Ivan in order to be the queen. What a clever move!" she spat out.

Diana wiped her tears. After she brushed the last drops with the back of her hand, she said sternly, "You don't have to worry about anything, Rain. I promised you that I would leave and stay away forever. I never broke my promises. I will leave him."

Rain was getting more pissed at seeing Diana's behavior. She wasn't apologizing or fighting back, it was annoying Rain. She just wants to be perfect! She thought.

"Fine," she mumbled. "The wedding is on the day after tomorrow. I want you to leave early in the morning that day. Can you do that? Or are you planning to faint to stop my wedding?"

Diana shook her head. "I won't do that. I will leave on the wedding day, early in the morning."

Rain added, "Before Ivan wakes up."

Nodding her head in agreement, Diana muttered, "Before Ivan wakes up."

Rain rubbed her hands as another question she was itching to ask came into her mind. Diana was standing in front of her. It was the perfect time to ask that question as no one else was in the room.

"Can you answer this one question honestly?" she inquired, which made Diana nod her head hesitantly. "Are you falling for Ivan?"

Diana was taken aback at that sudden question. She didn't expect that kind of question from Rain. Diana fell quiet, not knowing what she should answer.

Rain hoped that Diana would answer the exact words she wanted to hear. She wished for Diana to say 'No.'

But Diana knew it was not necessary to hide her feelings anymore. Rain saw the intimacy between her and Ivan, even the fact that they kissed. Anyway, Diana was not someone who breaks one's word, so she would leave as promised. Thus, she answered truthfully, "I am in love with Ivan."

Hearing the reply, Rain was shocked. Eyes widening at Diana, she said, "Pack your bags. Don't forget your promise." Then she strode out of the room, leaving Diana alone.

After watching Rain leave, Diana plopped on the couch and curled upon herself. She pulled up her knees to her chest. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. She started crying, pouring all the emotions she was feeling through her tears. She had to leave Ivan. Everything became wrong, and the things she cared for went down the way she never wanted to go.

Jasper, who was standing near the room, saw Rain walking out. He was about to go after her but stopped when he heard sobs. He peeked inside the room, only to find Diana crying hard. He felt very bad. It was the second time he saw her crying like this. Diana was a sister for him, and he felt hurt seeing her cry like that.

Unable to control himself, Jasper strode into the room. He sat on the couch next to Diana and placed a hand on her shoulder. Looking at the owner of the hands with her teary eyes, Diana tightly hugged Jasper and cried more. He patted her back, trying to calm her. He knew that the matter was out of hands now. He was angry at Ivan for kissing Diana before clearing everything out with Rain.

Meanwhile, Rain forgot her phone in Diana and Ivan's room. When she went back, her nose flared in anger seeing Diana hug Jasper. She didn't go inside the room and informed the maid to get her phone before sauntering into her room.

Rain was pacing in her room. Even thinking about the closeness of Diana with both Jasper and Ivan made invisible steam come out of her ears. Unknowingly, the girl who was solving Rain's problems became her biggest enemy. Rain knew that she had to remove Diana from the palace soon. Diana was the biggest hurdle in her life now.

***

"I knew I would find you here," Jasper uttered, seeing his elder brother watching the moon from the balcony. He took care of Diana, knowing that Ivan would be extremely worried about her if there was no one to look out for her.

Ivan glanced at him and sighed. "How is she?"

Jasper knew he was talking about Diana, so he replied, "She is asleep now, on the couch."

Ivan remained silent after hearing Jasper. His heart was at peace knowing that Diana was sleeping. She was going through a lot, and Ivan was afraid that Diana would stress out due to the complicated matters.

Jasper continued, "She was miserable. She cried a lot. This was the second time I saw her cry!" He was showing his anger, which he had been holding in for a long time. "Why did you even kiss her in the first place, when I clearly told you to be sure of your feelings before taking action? Why didn't you clear everything up with Rain?"

When his brother didn't answer, it raised Jasper's temper more than ever. He wanted an answer or an explanation from Ivan, but his brother was being a stubborn man and wasn't giving anything away.

Jasper further spoke, "Who the fuck do you even really love? Do you know the answer? Did you ever ask yourself? Or do you want to keep both women like some man-whore? Why are you hurting both of them at the same time? Answer me! Why a—"

Before he could further continue ranting, Ivan interrupted him as he muttered, "I love Diana."