Chapter 25 Chapter 25
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Their hands stopped mid-air. Their professional smiles grew strained.
They exchanged a look. "Assisting you out of your clothes, of course?"
"Do I look like a handicap to you!" Luna clutched her body with her arms in a protective stance. "Stay away from me! I'm very capable of taking a bath on my own!" She chased the three maids out of the bath.
Only after double-locking the bathroom door, she sighed in relief.
Getting back to the bath, she helped herself out of her nightdress. Dipping her toe into the water, she found its temperature welcoming. She climbed into the bath and sighed in relief as the warmth took away her tension.
After half an hour, she was done rinsing her body and hair with some high-end luxury toiletries that probably cost more than her family's mansion.
"The bath was really effective." Drying herself up with the towels, she found a tinge of rose on her cheeks. Her skin was glowing. The maids didn't lie.
She didn't dwell much on it.
Donning a bathrobe, she walked out of the bathroom only to blink twice at the spectacle outside.
Rosia, Lucia and Elizabeth stood in a line with a clothing rack lined with some five dresses.
"What is this about?"
"Ms Hart has to dress adequately for the appointment," Rosie replied.
As the day was unfolding, Luna felt even weirder. The protocols were just... too insane!
"Well, I would like this one." Luna pointed towards a midnight silk slip dress.
Rosie and Lucia exchanged looks. "Ms Hart, the dress has already been decided." Rosie picked out a Burgundy Velvet dress, deep vine, off shoulder, with long sleeves.
It didn't suit her.
"Who decided it, and then why are there other dresses?"
"Mr Blackwell," Lucia said. "Originally, the matter was left to your choice, but while the rack was being delivered here, he happened to pass by and ordered that he wanted to see you in this dress. We can't go against his wishes."
"Oh," So how now he wanted to dictate what she even wore?
Since they couldn't go against his wishes, how could she?
Luna obliged and changed into the expensive dress. She let Elizabeth style her hair and put on jewellery for her. Next came the strokes of makeup brushes. She was relieved they kept the makeup minimal, letting her natural look peek through layers of extravagance. "There you go, perfect!" Elizabeth praised, complimenting her masterpiece.
"It is about time," Lucia chirped. A hint of excitement betrayed her professionally controlled tune.
She donned the tailored black cape and picked up the matching clutch, and made her way outside in those ankle boots.
Right at nine, she arrived outside the main building of the estate. A Bentley Continental GT was waiting, along with Daimen dressed in a black suit, with Harlan waiting behind him holding a single, long-stemmed rose.
A look at him and Luna couldn't deny. He looked handsome.
He reeked of Power. Wealth. Control. Perfection.
All the bad things in the right way.
Her Burgundy velvet dress shimmered faintly in the soft sunlight, and the deep colour seemed to hum with tension.
Luna froze for a heartbeat, feeling exposed under the weight of all those eyes—though it was only Harlan and... him.
Daimen stepped from the driver's side, his black coat falling perfectly around him, dark eyes tracking her like a predator.
"You chose well," he said, voice low, smooth, mocking. "Burgundy suits you. Rich, deep... like you're hiding something I want to see."
'Hide something I want to see' those words were deeply suggestive. Luna felt a rush of blood to her cheeks.
"I didn't choose it," she murmured, avoiding eye contact, adjusting the dress at her hip.
Why would being flirted with by him have any effect on her? He wasn't her lover. He was the enemy. She hated him. No matter how deep, soul-sucking his eyes were. No matter how perfect his jawline was. No matter how tempting his lips—
Stop!
"No?" He stepped closer, and she felt the air shift around him, subtle heat brushing against her. Her eyes widened. He wasn't in the mood to let her off. Not so easily. "I did. Every detail. And you," He smiled, "Obeyed. Obeyed so beautifully."
His words hit a nerve. She regretted taking in everything so passively. There wouldn't have been any harm done in fighting to wear a dress that wasn't his choice.
The pout of her lips and the light of defiance in her eyes made Daimen chuckle.
Harlan extended the rose, and Daimen lifted it slightly, letting the petals catch the light.
"Take it," he murmured. His fingers brushed hers when she reached for the stem. Electric. Luna almost cursed under her breath.
The touch.
He was doing it on purpose.
"A gift for my little beauty... though you belong to me long before flowers or words."
Luna's pulse hammered, but she accepted the rose. Her hackles rose. "I know that. You don't need reminding." She looked displeased.
"The resistance in your eyes tells me otherwise." He stepped closer, reducing the space between them. Luna's legs were screaming at her to run. But she held her ground firmly. With the decreasing distance, her heart spiked. Not from fear. Not from danger. But from something she would never admit. "Look at me."
Her gaze flicked up reluctantly. Daimen smiled—slow, knowing, dangerous.
"You see, Lulu," he said, calling her by her nickname, deliberate and possessive, "I like the way your mind resists me... just enough to make it interesting. But your body... your presence..." He paused, letting his eyes travel over her form, making her shiver from the cutting gaze, "...already submits without question."
Luna glared at him. "Nothing is... submitting. Stop being delusional. It's unbecoming of you."
That cute little glare looked so enticing upon her; he wanted to kiss it away right then and there.
"You are," Daimen said softly, almost a whisper, leaning in just enough that she felt the heat of his breath against her ear. "You think about it. I see it. Every little tremor, every small heartbeat you don't notice. You're mine, whether you like it or not."
The rose trembled slightly in her hand as she tried to steady herself.