THE SHOW

Who invited him into my plan to start with? I did the planning, which didn't require his meddling, and he was to follow. What is this now?


What do I need to change? Wait, why would I even change a thing about what my plan entails? Is he even serious? Like…

"Which one?" I blurted out.

"That part where you said that we should forget what we had in Mombasa."


What? He wants to tell everyone what we have been doing back there? All for what? So that they will know we have already met and fallen in love before now? Then what? So that everyone will right this? Will he also tell them how he fooled me?

'I am not changing a thing, Damian. And if you know what is good for you, you better not mess things up for me. My father's life is at stake here and if...


'Sshh," he says, putting a finger on my lips, shutting me up. I slapped his hand away because I didn't want temptations at this point. He smirks, but with a bittersweet smirk that leaves me with a wrinkled face: 'Do you think I am really that heartless to the point of risking your father's life? Is that the kind of man that you fell in love with?"

'I really can't tell for sure since, until moments ago, I didn't know that the man that I fell in love with would betray me in this manner, right?" I shoot.

'Deep inside, you know, Ellie, that I can't do that. Deep inside," he inches closer, speaking to my nose, 'you bear witness that my love for you is so great that I can never hurt you in any way. Deny, Ellie! Tell me to my face that you think that I am that evil, that heartless, that rotten, that... "

'What do you want?" I hissed, but it came out louder than intended. The good thing is that we are not near the door.

'Why? Afraid to admit the truth?" He asks.

'I gave you my conditions; if you have any problem with them, just spit it out to my face and stop going around the circles. We don't have time because they are waiting for us inside," I scoff.

How dare he try to take me around that circle. So that I can see and recall all the goodness in him? What about all he has done? I will just forget it because...

'Everything bonding the love that we shared stays," excuse, what? 'I mean, you want to make people believe that we are a couple, right? Or did I get it all wrong?"

What in devil's name is he driving at?

'I don't understand what you are driving at?" I say, and as early as now, I am deeply threatened by this—what he is thinking.

"What I am trying to say, Ellie, is that we should consider showing our parents just how much effort we put into trying to make this work, don't you agree?"

I see. And why is he looking… Oh well, there is no need to give so much unnecessary meaning to his actions. I should be used to him being a jerk any time he feels like it.

"I don't give a fuck about what you are driving at, but I want to make one thing fucking clear, Damian: this is just for show. And if it were not for my father's condition, I wouldn't be out here discussing this with you. I don't care."

"But I fucking care!"

Excuse me! I mean, wait a second. Why is he making me quiver with his autocratic, cold tone, huh? Forget that; what the hell does he care about again?

"None of us wanted to be bound together this way," he starts furiously, but still maintaining his cool, 'None of us intended our encounter. And neither of us planned to fall in love, even in the uncertainty of our future. It is alright if this is what you want—to end this and forget all we had. It is fucking okay if this is the end that you want for all those beautiful memories we shared and the love that is burning us even right now as we speak. But I have as many rights as you have to demand how I want this to end, and I am not compromising?"

Okay? Did he have to be so harsh to make such a simple point? He has the fucking right? Freaking right!

"What do you want?" My voice is a trembling whisper, and I curse him for freaking me out this way.

"We are going to invest everything in showing that we are trying our best to make this work. We are going to make this seem as real as the word real itself. We are going to be a fucking real couple in the eyes of everyone and do everything that a real couple does."

No! He is kidding me, right? He just can't ask that.

"Aah..."

"That," he cuts me off, and I quiver in fear. His eyes are radiating nothing but chilled ice, leaving no room for argument. "Either that, Ellie, or we go back in there this fucking minute and call this absurd betrothal off!"

What is this? A blackmail? He knows very well why I am still willing to put up with him. He knows that this can kill my father. What sort of a cunny jerk is this son of Riccaforte? He knows why I am doing this. He knows I can't subject my father to any shocks right now. He is...

"Your answer, Miss Riccaford! I am waiting! And, like you said, we don't have time. They must be growing tired of waiting for us!"

Jerk! Manipulative jerk! I curse this…this…nkt!

"Anything. Excluding sex!" I state.

Someone explain this icy smirk on his annoying face that is making me almost... No, wait. I am literally wiggling as he leans on my face, feeding me his sensual pheromones. It might be the way his icy eyes are melting and twinkling. Why is he melting like this? Why does he look like this aggravates him?

"Sex is just an auxiliary bonus for a Greek god like me when it comes to taming my prey, Ellie! You, of all people, bear witness to that, don't you?"

Do I? No, do I really?

He winks, withdrawing from my face and offering his arm to me, the grin still plastered on his pink lips. "The show is on, my betrothed, and we have been gone for too long. They might think we are making a grandchild out here. Shall we?"

I don't know whether it is him calling me his betrothed for the first time or the impression of us making a child that is making my pulse race like this. I also don't understand the name of his game right now, but I guess it is time for the show.

I tuck my arm in his without caring to listen if it brings back the same old feeling, and we steer back inside like a couple we are expected to be for—how long again?