Chapter 72 - Destiny

Few Months Earlier (October 2017)

"I'm not going to hurt you in any way, my Queen, I promise," he whispered, looking into my eyes, before he started leaning in.

I stood still, shivers creeping down my spine, and turned my face to the side, my eyes tightly shut. He could not kiss me like this, against my will. This was so, so, wrong, yet the way my heart was reacting, it felt like the most correct thing in the world. When his lips did not touch my skin, I slowly opened my eyes, to find him leaning his head forehead against the wall, on the spot right beside my head. His face was still extremely close to mine, and I blinked, my breath hitching.

"I missed you so much, my Butterfly," he said softly, and instantly I felt my insides melt. I wanted to tell him I missed him too, that I had spent every moment wishing that he would come find me, but of course I could not do that. I had to remain strong, I had to remember how much I had suffered because of him. Because he grew obsessed with me. Because he did not even love me as much as he claimed to. I was just a toy for him.

I tried to get my wrists free, resuming my struggles.

"Aliza?" He asked softly.

"Let me go, Shadrach," I begged him.

"Do you really not feel anything for me?" He asked softly, now bringing his face in front of mine, staring into my eyes.

I shook my head, while maintaining a blank expression on my face.

"So you hate me?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied.

He smiled, once again leaning in, this time close to my ear.

"We can work with that," he whispered huskily, sending a shiver through my body, and making me turned on. I gulped, once again making my struggles more violent.

"Let me go!" I snapped, glaring daggers at him.

"Whatever you say, Butterfly," he smiled, and let go of my wrists, stepping away from me. "But just wait a second," he said, and turned around, walking to the bed. I frowned, confused as to what he wanted, but he returned with my 'dupatta' in his hand.

"Wh-what are you gonna do with that?" I asked, fear coursing through me. He had tried to tie me up with it, so naturally, I felt frightened.

"Nothing," he shook his head. "I'm just returning it to you." I extended my hand for it, but of course, nothing could be that simple. "I'll give it to you if you answer one question of mine."

"Shadrach I don't have time for your games," I replied.

"Okay. Your call. I'm not giving this back to you," he shrugged.

"Are we seriously doing this right now?" I asked, annoyed.

"Yep."

"Fine, continue!" I replied, and turned around.

"Just one question, please," he said, and I stopped. I sighed.

"Fine. What is it?"

"If I had showed up to Paris, to get you, would you have come with me willingly?" He asked, and my mouth parted in shock.

"You... You know where I was this whole time?" I asked in disbelief.

What the fuck?

"Of course I knew," he rolled his eyes. "I didn't know at first, but I found out a year later. Saw your brother with his girl. He was telling her you're in Paris."

"That ass," I muttered, not knowing what else to say.

"Now, answer my question. Would you have come back with me willingly?" He asked.

I became silent. I was confused, honestly. The situation when I had ran away was too complicated. I really liked him but I hated him. I never wanted to see him again yet he was the only one I wanted to be with. I didn't want anything to do with him but I wanted to do everything with him.

"Tell me, Aliza," he pushed, and I looked at him.

"I don't think so," I replied honestly. I knew I would not.

"That's all," he shrugged, and handed me my 'dupatta' back.

"Why did you ask me that?" I questioned.

"Just a thought," he shrugged.

"Anyway, bye," I said, and turned around to face the door. I reached up, once again trying to get the lock, but I could barely brush the tips of my fingers against it. Suddenly I felt his presence right behind me, so close his body was almost touching mine. I froze, confused as to what he was doing. He reached up, and I quickly withdrew my hand, the rest of my body completely still. He unlocked the door for me, before resting his hand on the door, above my head. He placed his other hand on the door too, this time on my other side, close to my waist.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, stepping forward and completely jamming myself to the door.

"I don't know," he whispered softly, his breath fanning my shoulder, giving rise to goosebumps all over my skin. "I guess I just wanna make sure you're really here."

"Well, I'm not," I replied, turning around and instantly regretting it. Shit. Too close. "I-I'm not here for you. And you're never seeing me again. I'll stay out of your way, you stay out of mine."

"Hmm," he smirked. "Time will tell."

I gulped and looked away from him, not in a mood to reply. He finally stepped away from me, and I instantly opened the door and rushed out. The air outside felt so relieving, and I took a deep breath, running my hand through my hair. Well, I knew I was screwed. He shouldn't have seen me. It was obvious he was still the old him, and he was not going to leave me alone that easily. Even if he did not give a single shit about me. Or did he? I wouldn't have returned home with him willingly, I was sure of that. Was that why he didn't show up to get me? Was he really just respecting my decisions?

No, no. He wasn't that considerate. He could never be. He was an asshole was played me. That was it.

I continued through the corridor and rushed downstairs, breathing a sigh of relief when he was not following me. I knew I needed to get out of there. I was walking towards the exit, when suddenly everyone began to clap. I froze, confused.

"Finally!" Someone said on the mic, and I frowned, turning around to see what was happening. "Our guest of honour, also known as the freaking groom, is finally here!" Everyone began to cheer and clap, hooting. "Everyone, please welcome, Mr. Maxon Shadrach Bradley!"

A gasp escaped my lips, and my mouth widened in shock as soon as I heard his name. I looked to the stairs, and found him standing at the top. Tears instantly filled my eyes, and I felt my heart sink. He was getting married. He was getting married to someone else, and yet he was romancing with me in the damned bedroom. His gaze set on me, and I wiped my tears away, abruptly turning around to leave.

"Aliza!" I heard someone call out to me, but it wasn't Shadrach, and so I stopped. I turned around to find Joanna's cousin walking towards me, the one who had been the reason why I went upstairs in the first place.

"Hey, you're leaving?" He asked me.

"Yes," I replied.

"I'll drop you home," he smiled at me, and immediately shook my head.

"I can go myself. Thanks for the offer," I replied.

"Come on, Aliza. I insist. It's not safe for you to go alone right now, so beautifully dressed up, at night like this," he said.

"I'm afraid Tyler is absolutely right," an all too familiar voice said, and Shadrach walked up to us, putting an arm around Tyler's shoulder. "It's not safe for you to go out alone right now. Which is why I'll drop you home."

I clenched my jaw, resisting the urge to punch him in the face.

"Woah, Bro. How can you leave your own engagement?" Tyler asked, covering up his annoyance with a laugh.

"It's not a problem when you're here," Shadrach smiled at him. "I'm sure you and Simon will take care of everything. Plus I'm sure she doesn't live too far away. I'll be back before the ceremony."

"Still, Maxon. It's not an issue, really. I'll drop her home," Tyler replied.

"How about we ask her, right?" Shadrach smiled at him, yet I could see the warning in his eyes. The anger too. He was holding back on punching Tyler in the face.

"Aliza?" Tyler asked me, both their attention on me now.

"I can go myself," I replied.

"That's the thing, you can't. Now who you wanna go with?" Shadrach asked, cutting to the chase.

I looked at Tyler. Then I looked at Shadrach. I wanted to stay as far away from Shadrach as possible, but I still trusted him more than I could trust Tyler. He could be a complete pervert, and I definitely didn't want another powerful pervert to know where I lived. So I looked at Shadrach.

"Thanks," I muttered, looking at him. A proud, victorious smile instantly spread across his lips, and he  shifted his gaze to Tyler.

"I'll be right back," he smiled at Tyler, before taking my hand and leading me out of the mansion.

"What the fuck?" I snapped, taking my hand away from his.

"What?" He asked.

"You are not dropping me home, do you understand? I chose you because I can get rid of you without an explanation. I would have to make up a story with him. So you, go back inside, and get engaged," I said, glaring at him.

"Oh about that, not happening," he shook his head.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a glint of hope in my heart. That should not have been there.

"I'm not getting engaged," he replied.

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"Not when you're finally back," he shook his head. "You really think I'd do that to you? I just told you how much you meant to me upstairs, and you think I'd go off and immediately marry someone else? This engagement means nothing to me, Butterfly."

For some reason, I felt relieved, and I felt guilty for feeling relieved.

"Then why were you getting engaged? You tell me you love me, I'm like your whole world, then you plan an engagement in my absence, when you're not even sure that I won't ever return. Then when you see me you're telling me the engagement means nothing to you? You think I'm stupid, Shadrach?" I asked, and a tear left my eye.

"Yes, Butterfly. You are stupid. It's an arranged marriage, my Queen. You're the only one who is ever going to reside in my heart, do you understand? I was doing this for my father. He wanted me to get married to Joanna, so I agreed. But guess what? Fate is on my side and you return just before my wedding. You even show up as a guest at my fucking engagement. Don't tell me you think that's just a coincidence," he replied. "I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Now that it's obvious that you are indeed my destiny."

"You don't know what you're saying Shadrach. You can't do that to Joanna. She looks happy," I replied, crossing my arms.

"Aliza," he chuckled. "I'm not a liar. She already knows about you, everything except your name. I already told her. I warned her in the very beginning that if you return, I would leave her. Even if we would have kids together. I would still leave her. And she accepted it. She agreed to the marriage nevertheless. Because it doesn't mean anything to either of us. We both are doing it under family pressure."

"And here I thought no one could pressurize the great Shadrach," I rolled my eyes. "I call bullshit. So you better go back inside, and leave me the fuck alone. Go back inside, Shadrach. I'm calling my brother to pick me up."

I took out my phone, and before he could reach for it, I instantly stepped away from him.

"Don't even try that again!" I snapped at him. "We are not doing this whole thing all over again, do you understand? Stay away from me, and go back inside! I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Alright, alright!" He raised his hands up in surrender, before his lips cracked into a smile. "You've grown feisty. I like it."

"Get the fuck-"

"Shhh," he shushed me, putting his index finger on his lips, his facial expressions showing his annoyance. "That's enough," he said softly. "Call your brother. But I'm not going back in until you sit in the car. You don't have to talk to me, you can pretend I'm not even here, but you can't force me to go back in."

"Alright. Your call. But stay the hell away from me, and stay out of Ash's view," I replied.

"Noted," he smiled. "You've turned into a wild cat, you know. But I can deal with that. After all, I know exactly the buttons I need to push in order to bring out my Butterfly."

"Your Butterfly, is not here anymore. She's dead. So just... Stop talking to me." I glared at him.

"Okay," he smirked.

I looked away from him and called Ash. I locked my phone after talking to him, feeling anger, as well as fear coursing through me. Which buttons was Shadrach talking about? I gazed at him, and he was still smirking at me, so I looked away once again. What was brewing in that twisted mind of his? I had no idea, and I didn't even want to find out.

Ash's car pulled into view, and I turned around to see where Shadrach was. Thankfully, he had already left, and I sighed in relief. I sat in Ash's car, and he took me home, my mind racing with a million questions.

No one knew what would happen next. And nothing could have prepared me for it.

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