Chapter 65 Not Unlovable
Back then, Luke was eight and to gain his attention, to spend some moments with him, he faked to not know about his test and came to him for help.
“William,”
“What? What do you want?”
The one everyone complimented for his soft-spoken behaviour was extremely rude to his own step-siblings.
“Will you help me, please?”
“Why? Talk to your mother. Don’t bother me,” He rolled his eyes, not allowing him to enter his room too.
He smiled innocently, “She is not here, please. If I failed Mama will be angry,”
“Huff, fine, come,” He growled.
Not liking his presence one bit, hating to teach him because William knew if Luke complained, he would get a terrible scolding.
So unfavorably he was teaching him rudely, hitting his head when he failed to solve a problem.
… Having no idea he was doing this on purpose just to create a few memories with him.
“Are you an idiot or what? Can you not solve this little thing?”
“Sorry,” He chuckled sincerely.
He couldn’t care less about the scolding, he was happy that he had two moments with him, eyes twinkling brightly.
“You know what? I don’t have the energy to teach you, get lost and don’t bother me,”
“What?” His expressions changed, “No, no, I am sorry, I will try-”
“I said get lost,”
Till today, William couldn’t comprehend his position in Luke’s heart.
In his words, he kept his relationship a secret, he doubted Arabella, always followed his words.
And even in a hypothetical situation, if William did not permit him to marry Arabella- he wouldn’t have.
‘He never understood nor tried to know, everyone knew his love but my dedication was always blind and I will still love him as much as I did before going to Auntie Liyah,’
Tears brimmed in his eyes when he came to the present, recalling old blurry moments where he meant nothing to him.
Yet William had always been his ideal, he loved him too much and the way he treated him because of Arabella had been gobbling him up.
He yelled, he hit the man he loved more than anyone in his life, he could never forgive himself for it.
“But as long as your parents were alive…? What about then?”
Dragging him out of his thoughts, Peach shook his hand a little, waiting for a reply.
“Nothing,” He faked a chuckle, “As long as our parents were alive too, he adored us,”
“It felt like I am the most powerful man, nothing can hurt me, I can do anything I want.”
He grinned, wiping the stinging tear which pricked in the corner, enunciating wholeheartedly.
“I had my brother with me after all…”
“And that is the question now, Luke, if he loved you so much why did he agree to marry Arabella? If she loved you, why did she marry him?”
“I will leave the truth to you, Peach, return my answer only.”
“Okay…”
“Anyways, I should return it. Thanks for listening,”
“If I won’t listen to my future husband then who else?” She teased him.
Resting her one leg over the other elegantly with a tempting wink, earning a chuckle from the man.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,”
Smiling, he paid the bill because- ‘Peach insisted they are on a ‘date’ she brought him here forcefully and he must act like a gentleman,’
And he knew she got her demands fulfilled one way or another.
He turned to leave, walking past her but holding his wrist, her smirk eventually faded, pondering if her words could make space in his heart.
“Luke,”
“Hmm?”
Staring intensely at the heartbroken man. Her eyes sank into his which he deliberately ignored.
Like always.
“You can call me whenever you need me,”
Tilting her head to get a perfect glimpse of his handsome face, she forced a smile with her voice breaking hopelessly.
“I am not unlovable,”
To the words she spoke to convince herself. Being the only person well-aware of her true nature, he curled his lip in an eye-catching smile.
“Why not leave the answer to that to time? Because my dear Peach,”
Turning to her eventually, her eyes narrowed and held her face in his palm, adorning a blush on her cheeks.
He abruptly brought their faces extremely closer, the link hastened her breaths, turning oblivious of her surroundings.
But, before she could find acceptance or pressed his hand further into her skin for comfort.
“I know what a vile woman resides behind this beautiful face,”
He reminded her about her true nature, murdering her two-milliseconds of solace, pulling away from her and walking away with an undeniable truth.
“People like you only love themselves after all,”
MEANWHILE,
At the apartment, Arabella was constantly searching for the pendant she lost.
Becoming frightened of William’s reaction and dejected for losing something he cherished from his late mother.
Shakily ruining the whole room, she was checking all drawers, leaving them be.
William came out of the shower in his casual clothes, towel over his head, not bothering to soak his hair, blinking at the sight of the room.
“What happened? What are you looking for? Or is it another tantrum to piss me off?” He asked casually.
“The pendant you gave me, William,”
“Hmm. What about it?”
“I-I can’t find it anywhere,”
“What?”
She panicked, checking the last drawer too before stopping at the man who was blankly staring at her.
“I-I wore it at the party, it was with me, did it drop at the party? Call Jed, he must have known,”
He cut her off coldly, “It’s alright,”
“What?”
“It’s alright,”
Shrugging his shoulders, he hung the towel back and began to close the drawers she left open, rearranging them monotonously.
With her jaw dropping, she stared at the man who held no reaction whereas she perceived his tantrum for losing his precious.
“You have kept my things so immaculately. How can you be so calm when I have lost your mother’s precious pendant?”
“That pendant was the reminder of how things were, how I used to be.”
Lowering his gaze shamefully when he recalled his remorseful childhood, not loving a single memory of it.
Constricting his chest yet concealing it perfectly, he smiled beautifully.
“And maybe I just want to let go of it,”
“But it was your precious, I can't just lose it, we have to find it. You don’t want it, fine. I want it back, William,” She reasoned desperately.
He was surprised, finding dismal in those gray eyes caused him to halt all his work and appear before her.
“Arabella…”
Taking a deep breath, he held her shoulders in a firm grip,“I have been noticing some things which might sound unbelievable,”
She gulped, “What?”
Closing their gap, hovering over her, her dry lips parted when his hot breath formed goosebumps all over her neck, causing her to arch her back a little.
“You know I have been noticing you haven’t broken the room yet,”
Connecting their gaze, he placed a gentle kiss on her neck.
Her body flinched, tensing her shoulder to which he brushed those lips up, stopping at her jawline.
“Not a single thing of your collection, the dresses I kept, the jewelry, heck no a single scratch on your picture too,”
Averting her gaze anxiously, a soft voice escaped but not a proper reply, she was unsure what could justify her actions.
“Not even the scent, each time we enter this room, it smells like you, feels like you.”
Murmuring, he rested his head against her, leading his hands down to hers, entwining their fingers gracefully, fallen into the pits of questioning.
“Are you enjoying it? Do you like me being obsessed with you?”
And his grip tightened, growling, “Or do you ‘want’ me to be obsessed with you?”