The vase fell because it startled her, so I lowered my head to help her, “I apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I just wanted to talk to you since—”
“What happened, Leia? What’s with the noise?” someone shouted from the first floor.
“I accidentally broke the vase, Kendyll,” she shouted. As far as I know, she’s Leia.
“Wait! I’ll help you,” she replied and after a few minutes, a beautiful woman appeared out of nowhere while wearing a maid’s uniform. Leia and Kendyll feel like they came from a well-known family, but I’m not sure although they are familiar.
When Kendyll noticed my presence, her face showed shock as if she didn’t expect me to be there. I had been locking myself in my room, trying to finish the novel. However, ever since I received that text message, negative thoughts blurred everything, and I couldn’t even create a scenario in my mind. I tried listening to songs and instrumentals, but I ended up having writer’s block and I can’t even feel satisfied after reading the chapter that it forced me to write.
I know that there’s missing, and that is the emotion. Everything feels rushed, so I can’t proceed to the next chapter if I’m not satisfied with the chapter that I made. Although I’m trying my best, I know that it’s not enough. I feel frustrated and my mind is aching trying to make a scenario in my mind, but I just can’t.
The woman named Kendyll lowers her head and says, “Ma’am Rose, please excuse us. We’re just going to clean this mess.”
But even if she’s just asking nicely, I feel like she doesn’t want me to be there, so I have no choice but to shake my head in disappointment because I can’t even imagine that this life would be hard. Although I got what I wanted, the money, why do I feel empty? Even if writing is my passion and career, everything seems worthless.
Just like what life I have now, being a substitute bride. I may get the power that I wanted, but what if Rose Vergara appears again out of nowhere to steal my life? It sounds possible, but it is just a what-if. I’m not sure if this will happen, but hopefully, it’s not because I don’t know what I should do.
I shook my head and tried to convince myself that it was impossible. For now, I just need to survive having writer’s block because this will not help me to be distracted in everything, especially since all the maids are trying to avoid me as if I have a serious disease. Like, what the?! I just wanted to be friends with them, but they are trying to excuse themselves simply.
Hello?! I’m not going to eat you all or execute you. You all have to chill!
The maid delivered the strawberry shake that I requested and instead of talking to her, I just smiled a little and reached for the shake. What’s the use of greeting them if they are going to ignore me? I don’t need to waste my energy and effort on that although, I kind of wanted to be friends with them, but if they don’t want to, then it’s not my fault!
While walking into the hallway, enormous portraits of unknown people appeared. It also indicates their name, birthday, and even their last day on earth, so I suppose that this is the ancestors of the Mercedes clan, where my groom’s bloodlines are.
All of them have beautiful genes, so no wonder that my groom is handsome, but his attitude is kinda off. But looking at his portrait makes me enchanted by his appearance. Starting from his lips, eyes, nose, and sharp jaw. He’s also wearing a prince outfit here where there are a lot of accessories on his shoulders, chest, and on his wrist.
“Tsk! As far as I remember, the hallway is kinda wide, but why does everything feel tight?” a familiar voice said, which made my heart beat faster. He’s here? No! I’m not dreaming, right? I heard his voice but I’m pretty sure that the maid informed me that he’s not going to stay here since he’ll be staying in his condo because I’m here, so who is the person who speaks? Why does it seem like it is freaking familiar?
“Can you get out of my way?” he said using his arrogant voice, so I looked at the person who kept on talking, and there, I saw the man in the portrait that I was looking at. His forehead creased as if he was getting mad. His eyes were so intense as if he was observing my soul.
I wanted to move and enter my room, but how could I if this man was so captivating and my body was stunned? I can’t move everything, which feels like I’m glued to this floor. “Are you a fool? You can’t understand my command? Damn! I can’t believe that my grandfather chose a stupid woman like you,” he shouted and pushed my shoulder, enough for me to fall to the ground.
The strawberry shake that I was holding spilled on my shirt, which I didn’t expect him to do. I know that he’s mad at me but doing this to me is too much, but I need to calm myself because I’m using Rose’s name and I can’t taint her name because of this.
“Serves you right!” he said before leaving me dumbfounded. I let out a sarcastic laugh after realizing what had just happened.
Isn’t it easy to say please if he’s asking something? The way he treats me is like trash which I can’t understand. If he’s angry, then at least throw harsh words at me rather than hurting me physically. Did he forget that I’m a woman? It’s unacceptable to treat me like this.
Fitz didn’t even dare to slap me. He was just careful even if he’s mad, but this guy? I can’t believe that he pushed me! Not minding that I may hurt myself from the glass! “Patience, Annalise,” I whispered and closed my eyes.
“Ma’am Rose, the makeup artist and hairstylist, will be here in a few minutes,” the maid informed me outside of my room. I let out a deep sigh and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Tonight, the announcement will be made that Rose is engaged to the Arrogant and Rude Heir of the Mercedes Clan, but in reality, Rose is Annalise Ysia Villareal, the Substitute Bride for her fiancé. “Let us all welcome Zeno Myer Mercedes with his fiance, Rose Vergara!” the host announced. All the visitors rise and clap their hands, making my hands wet and trembling. Even if I’m not Rose, I can still feel the pressure with their eyes as if they are expecting something from me because I’m his fiance. “Don’t do any stupid stunts here, woman or else. You will experience my wrath,” he whispered, which made me clench my jaw. If he doesn’t want me to be his wife, then why did he accept this arranged marriage? I can’t believe him! He can just back out if he doesn’t want to rather than get angry with me. “Why
“You’re so beautiful, Ma’am Rose! I’m sure that Mr. Zeno will fall in love with you!” the stylist said. If only they knew how rude he was, they would not tell that to me. However, since his looks are captivating, I bet that they will not believe what they see and they will eventually defend him rather than the victim. That’s how people think. Once they see how handsome and powerful they are, they will be on their side, even if they are the ones who did something bad or unforgivable. It’s kinda unfair for us, who don’t possess that kind of status, but what can we do if that is what they want? Funny, right? “You think so?” I asked, trying to enlighten the mood so people wouldn’t think something about our relationship. Since he’s the most influential entrepreneur, I can’t taint Rose’s name and my face, of course. I need to ride on their topic because they will surely be on his side once I do something off, so I should make my act more realistic so they wouldn’t sense it. “Ma’am Rose,
“Congratulations to the both of you, man! I’m so happy that you’ve finally found the right one,” someone said, and if I’m not mistaken, it’s his friend. After the wedding ceremony, we rushed to the wedding reception. Zeno was driving his car seriously and didn’t even bother to glance at me after entering the driver’s seat. His eyes were on the road and I could also see his jaw clenching since I was looking at his side profile. He still looks handsome and I understand why many women were admiring him as if he’s like the Prince Charming of their life. Who wouldn’t have thought that? His face is so handsome, he also has an athletic body and height. But you can sense his coldness with his eyes. My eyes landed on his red and pouty lips. That lip met mine when the priest announced to everyone that the groom could now kiss the bride. I admit, that kiss was sweet. It only took seconds, but he managed to brush his lower lip to mine, kissing me passionately in front of his friends, relatives,
It’s our honeymoon month, but we never communicated nor had an interaction aside from eating together. However, I can feel his stare as if he’s observing me, but I’m trying my best to ignore it since I can’t stare at him back because my heart keeps pounding fast for unknown reasons.It’s always been like this whenever he’s around. My heart keeps pounding so fast that I’m afraid that he can hear it. He’s been occupying my mind lately after the kiss that we shared at the wedding ceremony. I’ve been hearing rumors about him when Ciara, my friend, talks about how cruel he is, which is true since he loves throwing hateful words at me, but lately, he’s been quiet. He’s not making any noises when he knows that I’m here, which I think that it’s the best decision that he made.It would be easy for me to stay here and act like Rose if he didn’t create any mess or conversation with me. At least, I’m doing my duty here at his house by not minding his existence or business, but why is my heart ach
It’s been weeks since we got married, but we never talked again after that night when he was waiting for me to come home. We became strangers again but we always ate together just like before. We treat each other as a wind whenever our paths cross.But I’m the one who always avoids him because of what happened that night, where he cornered me with his arms and I don’t even know how to get out. If he hadn’t let me go, I might have been hypnotized by his eyes.“You’re spacing out, Annalise,” Ciara uttered. I mentally shook my head and blinked my eyes many times, trying to regain my senses before smiling at her, who was now chewing.We’re at her restaurant since we both decided to work here and have some conversations again about our daily lives. My bodyguards are nowhere to be found, but I know that they’re just giving me space like they used to do.I just can’t understand why they are protecting me, as if my life would be in danger. As far as I remember, I don’t have enemies, but since
I suddenly woke up when I remembered that Zeno had come to my room and fallen asleep there because he’d been wasted, but my forehead creased when I realized that I was now lying on my bed. As far as I remember, I didn’t sleep here because I placed Zeno here.I tilted my head a little and shook my head before deciding to take a bath. I glanced at the clock beside my bed and saw that it was already 7 in the morning and we were having our breakfast together.Suddenly, a scene came to my mind when Zeno had been calling my name many times. I don’t even know why he called me by my legal name, but it’s weird. I felt something kick my heart that made me happy, but I need to remember the contract and my role here.I’m the substitute bride.“Good morning,” Zeno greeted me without looking at me. My mouth parted in shock and I froze in my seat the moment I heard him greet me, which is unusual.When I came back to my senses, I smiled at him and said, “Good morning.”I don’t know if I just hallucin
It’s been a week since he treated me like his wife. He’s been caring for me and keeps on sending messages to my social media accounts. I wanted to ignore the feeling that it was starting to grow, but deep inside my heart, I couldn’t. It’s getting deeper and deeper every day because of what he’s doing and I’m afraid I can love him freely without acting like Rose.I mentally shook my head and focused on my novel. I’ve been revising the chapters because I’m not satisfied with the scenes as if it happened too fast and I’m not a fan of that. I want it to be slow-paced because I want to build it slowly.“How’s your relationship with him?” Ciara asked.We’re currently having a FaceTime because she knew that I can’t get out of my room because of my novel so we’ve been talking to our social media so we can’t miss a thing in our daily lives.“We’re good. Everything went smoothly but sometimes, he’s sweeter than usual and I can’t help but feel awkward because I’m not used to that,” I replied.“T
“Rose,” Zeno said while I was typing on my laptop.We just had our breakfast a while ago and I went straight to my room after that since a scene popped into my mind that will fit in my story. What confuses me right now is Zeno, because as far as I remember, he has a job, but why is he still here?“Yes?” I asked while my eyes were on the screen of my laptop. I heard the door close and a few steps away from me, but I ignored it and kept on typing on my keyboard.“You seemed busy,” he uttered.“I am. I’m working,” I replied nonchalantly. I’m trying my best to focus on the scene that popped into my mind. I need to detail everything so I can get the outcome that I wanted.“Later, we’ll be having our lunch in a restaurant,” he informed. “I already booked a reservation for us.”I stopped what I was doing and turned my back to him because of shock and confusion. He was just staring at me as if he already expected that I would look at him.“What? You booked a reservation?” I asked again becaus