Chapter 150 Selfish Too
EARLIER, DURING DINNER
Back when Peach visited her under the pretense of her ‘wanting her locket’, Arabella actually managed to grasp a chance and told Peach how William tricked her into marrying him.
“I never imagined he would be so… selfish,” She breathed out, consuming a few moments to apprehend.
To believe William who was regarded as the ‘best brother’ would steal his brother’s woman was unbelievable.
“William manipulated you yet you are staying with him?”
Narrowing her eyes in disbelief, she turned to Arabella who sat with an empty gaze.
“Why? Why are you still with him? Don’t you want to go back to Luke?” Peach asked sincerely. She didn’t know yet how deep her longing was for William.
She replied coldly, “You don’t have to know.”
“Don’t forget, you promised to not tell Luke about it. He can hate me all he wants but I couldn’t let him resent his brother,” Arabella added strictly.
“So there is no chance of you going back to him?” Peach asked suspiciously.
“No. Not a single chance.”
When Arabella affirmed she had no chances of returning, a glimpse of hope evoked in her heart. Leaning back, she took a sip of her drink gracefully.
“If that’s the case. Will you let me have Luke?”
“Why? What is your relationship with him? Why are you so desperate for him?” Arabella frowned.
“It was… my nature.” She admitted, lowering her gaze for a second, their past flashing before her eyes, constricting her heart.
“I did this to us, I destroyed the future we could have built. My mistake.” Shaking her head to discard the past and focus on her future, her eyes shifted to Arabella who was listening with discontent.
“But, now, I think there might be a slight chance to regain what I lost and… you can stay in your marriage,”
“What is it?”
Peach asked hesitantly, “Can you… break Luke’s heart?”
She asked with disgust, “So that he will be heartbroken, left with nothing and come to you?”
The idea itself sounded unsavory and horrible to Arabella but if it was a path to halt Luke from reaching hers, she agreed.
“No matter how selfish it sounds. Yes.” Peach nodded, her grip tightening on the glass as a strange, unforeseen desperation filled her eyes.
“You do realize that Luke will only marry you to hurt me, that it will be a miserable marriage and you won’t be his second chance,” Arabella pressed, furrowing her brows, reminding the risk-factors of the path she was hopelessly demanding.
“In fact, you will be his distraction, Peach,”
“I accept.” She accepted almost immediately,
Realizing her reaction, she tugged her hair behind her ear, clearing her throat to regain her flawless frontage,
“I have lost him once, Arabella, I cannot… lose him again. Not at least by your hands. Maybe we will bloom eventually.”
“Are you sure? He might not be able to love you,” Arabella asked once again, sensing William is returning and rose from her seat.
“It’s alright. I mean,” She smirked, grabbing her bag and turned to leave with the consolation she gave to herself for years.
“Love is the only painful thing in the world after all,”
‘When I knew everything, then why did it hurt terribly to know I was only a distraction…?’
Coming back to the present, back to their hotel, Peach was staring out, inclined on the seat, eyes outside the window with Luke who leaned on the wall by his shoulder.
His arms were folded, eyes locked on his bride who was impotent to spare a glance at the unaware man. Her heart burned, hesitation began to stumble on the façade she spent years building.
“Luke…” Her voice trailed off.
“Yes?”
“Is distraction enough to carry this marriage?” She exhaled, finally shifting her gaze to Luke who looked away sadly.
“I… didn’t mean my words like this.”
“We both know how you meant your words, Luke. Don’t twist them.”
Her features were hardened, voice stone-cold, demanding just one answer from the man, “Just tell me if it is enough to carry our marriage or not?”
Luke’s shoulders loosened eventually, replying in a mellow voice, “To me, this reason alone is enough to spend the rest of my life with you.”
As sweet as those words are, Peach couldn’t permit herself to sway in the delicacy of them and clutched his shirt. Striking him with their reality, the strong wall between their bond.
“And Arabella? Are you going to keep loving her after years, and years?”
“I don’t know. Nor do I want to know.” he said honestly.
Straightening her back, Peach whispered, trying to make him listen and understand, “She won’t come to you, ever.”
“I know that.” Luke held her wrist, tone softening immensely, signaling the powerlessness he held in this matter.
“Then what are you going to do-”
Growing frustrated at where things were leading, Luke stepped back, holding his side, “What is the point of talking about these things, Peach?”
“I am asking because I want to know the clear objective of our marriage!” Peach snapped, slamming her hand down.
“Mine is to redeem my mistake and win you back. To make you love me, again. What is yours?” She spoke honestly.
“I want you to distract me with this redeeming goal of yours. I will happily play along with your every fantasy.”
Luke also did the same, one his hand instinctively held her chin firmly as his other hand was above her head, staring intently at her, hitching her breaths.
“Because you are the only person who can actually make me forget about Arabella.”
‘Maybe selfishness is in you guy’s blood,’ Peach thought sourly but didn’t comment.
It was the path she had chosen in a spur of desperation though it wasn’t as dreamy as she imagined it to be. She was selfish too after all.
She simply stared, her body flinching under his influence but closing her eyes in defeat, she accepted the path she had chosen.
“... If that’s what you want, Luke,”