Chapter 12

Scarlet's POV.

“Raymond, you confessed your feelings, and I am grateful for that, but I won't be able to return your feelings. You like me, but I don't. You love me, but I don't. Maybe your love and like for us is just temporary. Once you get used to me, you might no longer have those feelings.” What am I saying to him? He loves and likes me, and I am pushing him away.

But I don't think I have another choice. All the men I have met in my life were horrible; none of them kept my trust. They betrayed me. So now that I refuse to trust them back, I won't trust any man.

“It's okay. You don't have feelings for me. It's not your fault. It's not your problem. But know one thing. My love for you will never fade. I like you, I love you, and it's concrete. Right now, you don't want to return my feelings. I understand. But I won't stop loving you. Know this. You are in my heart, and no one can deny that, not even you. We are newlyweds; there is no strong bond between us yet, but we are going to spend the rest of our lives together, and I will make sure you fall for me.” Raymond declared.

I don't know where he got so much courage. The look in his eyes was crystal clear. Would he be this confident going ahead? I don't know.

We waited till the rain stopped, and once we got the signal from the slightly clear sky, we ran down from the mountain. Our once-dry clothes and bodies became dry due to the countless teardrops that fell from the leaves and the grass that coated us dirtily with the muddy water.

“It seems like the rain will resume soon. We should leave before it keeps us here. The road here is in a bad situation already. We don't know what we might go through if we waited till the rain stopped.” I said, hinting to him that I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“I have been here countless times in all the seasons, but none of the situations you mentioned ever happened. Relax! Nothing will go wrong.” He assured me.

But the more he assures and tries to explain, the worse feeling I was getting. What is this feeling?

“You are maybe right, but we don't know what might happen next. So it's better we leave as quickly as possible.” I still tried to hurry him back to the mansion.

It took us more than two hours to reach here, and now that the weather has worsened, it might take us more than three hours to go back. And if the weather gets even worse, we might have to spend the night somewhere, and that's what I don't wish to happen.

Despite my countless reminders, he finally decided to drive the car back.

We didn't pay much attention to the weather, but today marks the third day since the rainy season started. He took us to a rural area, a location full of trees and mountains, so it's normal for the rain to start anytime.

The road became slippery, and the daylight soon turned into a dark mist. The smell of fresh soil coated the air, though it felt nice, but this feeling in my chest was scaring me.

“Scar, you look uncomfortable. Is something the matter?” Raymond asked after he shifted his attention from the road for a moment.

I shook my head. “Forget what I said earlier. Drive slowly and carefully; we don't have to hurry.”

I am nervous and scared right now; the more I try to hurry, the higher the chances of making a mistake. The road is wet and slippery. It is hard to see anything outside. Everything is dull and dark.

“We will return safely. Calm your heart and trust me. You can, right?” He rubbed my head with one hand and kept his other hand on the stirring wheel.

I am trying to stop myself from trusting him and putting my life before him. But he just keeps invading my heart and personal space. How do I tell him that I am being swayed by his gentle and kind gesture?

We had just passed half the road when I felt a wave of jolt. The car bumped into something and made an urgent stop. “What happened? Why did you stop the car?” I asked as my hand unconsciously touched my chest.

“There's a huge branch in the middle of the road; we can't go ahead.” Raymond said.

We were late. The night has already arrived, and now we are trapped in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing as far as we could see—no hotel, no restaurant, no shelter, nothing at all. And it's raining heavily outside. We have no umbrella, and the car isn't in a condition to move further; the road is blocked.

The bad feeling I was having earlier proves itself true. We are really trapped, and there seems to be no way out.

“No one comes this way, so the road was never built officially, and now that the road has been blocked, we need to make a detour. It will take us 8 hours to reach home if we hurry now. What do you say?” Raymond put another solution before me.

I don't disagree with him, but there's no way I want him to put us both in danger.

“The road is blocked. It''s okay. We will take the detour, but we need to find a place to stay overnight. There's no way I am letting you drive in such weather.”

“Fine, I will find a place for us to stay for the night.” He agreed with me.

He drove back to the mountains and then took another road. While he drove, I kept my eyes outside, looking for a place to stay overnight.

“Ray, slow down. Look over there; there's a small cabinet by the roadside.” My eyes fell on the cabinet built by the roadside.

Raymond parked the car by the roadside at some distance from the cabinet. And then we rushed to the cabinet. It was old-looking and shabby, and even the door was torn apart.

Spider has built their home inside, and the dust has turned into a thick layer by sitting on the same place again and again. Although old and on the verge of falling apart, the cabinet had one fine quilt wrapped in plastic paper beneath the narrow bed. We took it out, cleaned the bed, which had no bedding over it, and now the biggest question stood before me.

“There's not that much space here; the bed is too small too. It won't be enough for us both. What should we do now?” I asked, my eyes fixed on the bed.

“You sleep on the bed; I will sleep on the ground.” He said it without any hesitation.

“No! You don't have to sleep on the ground; the bed is small, but not that big to not fit us both. Get on the bed; we will sleep there.” My conscience didn't allow me to let him sleep on the floor.

He didn't refuse, and he landed himself immediately on the bed. There was no light or electricity connection in the cabinet, and our phones only had a limited battery. So we couldn't use the phone until it was extremely important.

Although surrounded by four walls and a roof over it, the cabinet was way too cold and filled with an icy breeze. We pulled each other close and wore the quilt over our bodies. I was tired, sleep filled my eyes, and I didn't wish to stay awake any further.

As I felt my heavy eyelids falling down, a hot and weird sensation pulled away my desire to sleep earlier. His hands wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me close to him. And he put his other hand beneath my head.

I tried getting away from him. “Stop it. The bed is too small; you might fall if you keep moving. It's raining outside, and I am feeling cold. So stay like this; you keep me warm.” He said that his groggy voice sounded pleasing to the ears.

It's only now that I realize he's built differently; his body is large, and I am nothing in front of him; his body almost towers over mine, making me feel so small that I felt like digging a hole and hiding in it.

We stayed like that for a long time; I didn't move an inch and let him sleep peacefully.

When I looked at the time on the phone, it was already past midnight, and the rain was still pouring hard. To my surprise, the water actually made its way inside; a thin layer on the ground was filled with rainwater.

I was just about to set my phone aside and sleep, but then my phone rang, and it was Trista, my stepsister on the other side.

I picked up the phone. “Say, why did you call me so late at night?”

“Where are you right now? We need to meet each other.” She didn't make any requests but rather informed me that he would come here to see me.

“I know why you want to see me, but know this: we are not seeing each other again. As I said before, I don't want to see any of your faces. We have broken all ties, so why do you want to see me?” I asked.

“I saw the news on TV this morning. And now I can't leave him alone.”

“What about that jerk, then? What will you do to him?”

“Do I have to do anything to him? Well, it doesn't matter what happens to him, because now I have a new target, fresh from the oven.”

“He's my husband. Don't you dare come close to him.,” I threaten.