Leonard Alexander stood transfixed to the floor, as his mind replayed Ethan DeLoach’s words over and over again. Leonard knew he had lost the ga right from the beginning, but that didn’t an he could not protect Shikera with the little power he had. Liam Anderson knew best what was good for his daughter, and for him to choose Ethan, Leonard knew there was a reason.
The door opened and he looked up to see the man who had brought Shikera to the hospital, walk in. His hands were full with what Leonard presud to be snacks, and that thought brought a smile to his face.
He could tell this man was attracted to Shikera, but then, he also found the man pathetic as he was liking a woman whom he knew nothing about. Why else would he get snacks or food for a woman who couldn’t eat anything that was not ho cooked or properly examined?
"You ca?" he asked, knowing without anyone telling him that he just asked a stupid question.
Andrew didn’t seem to mind though, since he was thinking instead of why Shikera was missing from the bed.
"Where’s she?" he asked the doctor who was standing alone by the bedside.
"She left, in an hurry," Leonard answered nonchalantly.
Andrew exhaled loudly to show how frustrated he was with this doctor. How the heck did the man get his license?
"Didn’t you say she needed to eat before leaving?" he asked patiently, thinking the Doctor would understand him if he explained slowly.
Leonard nodded, a wry smile settling on his lips. " And didn’t you say I was an incompetent doctor? I let her leave without eating so you can call her if you want to be reassured of her safety."
Without waiting for a reply, he strolled out of the room to his own office. Removing his lab coat to reveal green scrubs underneath, he sat down on the large chair behind the desk.
The door opened and he looked up to see his sister who rarely ca down to the ground floor to visit him.
"What’s wrong?"
Krystal ignored his question as she took her seat opposite him.
"Did Ethan co himself? Or did he send his assistant?" she asked, raising her brows at her brother’s downcasted expression.
"He ca, but he was strange. Not like I expected him to be," Leonard answered. From the look on his sister’s face, it surely looked like she knew what he was talking about.
"Krystal, do you think that man is really Ethan DeLoach? Our playmate when we were kids?"
Krystal chuckled, as if to tell him his question was ridiculously unbelievable.
"I do know he is the one. Why? What did you feel when you were with him?" She leaned over the desk while paying Leonard rapt attention.
The latter frowned, "He seed cold, then hot...then a mixture of the two. Like soone who doesn’t have a single personality or character."
Krystal smiled at that. She hadn’t been wrong after all, as another person had just confird it to her now that Ethan was really unstable. What she wanted to know now was, if it was his nightmares that caused this or if it was what happened when he was ten.
She stood up to leave when her brother stopped her, a blank look on his face.
"I need Ethan’s private number? What would you accept in return?"
Without thinking twice, Krystal took out her phone and showed Leonard the number, watching as he copied it to his own phone.
"What would you accept in return?" she heard Leonard ask again.
"Shikera," she answered. Seeing the confusion evident in her brother’s eyes, she continued, "Chase her. She has the right to make a choice between Ethan, you, and everyone else who likes her out there."
Leonard sighed, "I lost for now, Krystal. She’s currently married."
Krystal shrugged, "So? It’s an arranged marriage in which both sides have their gains so there should be nothing wrong."
With that assurance she had given her brother, she walked out of the office.
***
While still laughing, Ethan took a second look at the ssage before turning to Shikera.
"Contract wife, it looks like I’ll be getting into a lot of deals as long as I’m married to you."
Shikera didn’t know what she was supposed to feel at Ethan’s question. She knew she should be happy that he was talking to her, but his seemingly mocking tone begged to differ.
"What happened?" She asked simply, failing to comnt on his statent.
"Goodnight..."
The both of them turned to Ruthlyn who had just spoken, as they simultaneously gave her a nod.
Waiting until his assistant had gone, Ethan finally answered, "Your boyfriend sent a ssage. He seems really smitten by you..."
"My boyfriend? You an Leonard?" She asked with a frown.
"Who else? Do you have so many that you don’t know which I’m talking about?"
He was smiling, but Shikera knew it was not sincere. It looked kind of eerie and looked just like the smile on his face on the day she t him.
She sighed loudly before answering him, "Ethan, I already told you I do not have a boyfriend. And I thought you believed ..."
"I did," the smile fell from his face, revealing a dejected expression. He continued, "But I think I was so stupid to do that."
"Ethan..."
"Goodnight. I’ll call you when I’m done setting the table."
Shikera could only watch as he walked away, and up the stairs. A thought suddenly popping in her mind, she rushed to et him and blocked him.
"Wait!"
He stopped dead in his tracks, obviously surprised that she had co after him.
Shikera took a deep breath in and exhaled, trying to summon the courage to speak to her husband who looked like a different man.
"Uhm...what did the ssage say?"
"He said sothing about keeping you completely safe in return for getting any information I need to know, about you. He surely loves you, doesn’t he?"
Shikera’s eyes widened as she heard the ssage, before she finally reverted back to her forr expression.
"You...you don’t have to pay attention to the ssage at all, Ethan! Leonard just likes joking around," she gave a forced laugh, one that did nothing to obscure the dread and fear in her brown eyes.
Ethan recognized that look as the sa look she held earlier this evening, when he had lied about their active sexual life. What was scaring her so much?
"Why shouldn’t I pay attention?" he asked, in a passive tone that showed no emotions.
"Because...it’s of absolutely no use! Ethan, you liked , right? Leonard is just acting like a protective friend...you should understand. Ethan?"
Ethan brushed her aside and continued his ascent to the top of the stairs, failing to answer her question. However, Shikera was not ready to accept that so she followed him again, stopping him from opening the door to his study.
"What ti do I co here?" she asked, and Ethan threw her a curious gaze.
"For your goodnight kiss..." she trailed off as the look on Ethan’s face hardened, and he pulled her into the study. Closing the door and pushing her back against it.
"I almost forgot that," he whispered, the evil smirk tugging at his lips again. At this point, Shikera was confused as she could not count the number of eerie vibes she had felt from him since they entered the villa this night.
His voice jolted her out of her reverie, "Why should I care if you have a boyfriend anyway? We already have a contract within ourselves, no?"
Shikera gave a frantic nod; anything to make her target less angry at her. She had been married to Ethan for three months now, and the ti for her father to co ho kept growing nearer. The only thing she could do was to act fast.
"Yes...and just so you know, Leonard is not my boyfriend, he has never and will never be."
Ethan looked angry... or not; he seed dejected...or not. Shikera couldn’t describe the expression on his face now as he stared at her, quiet.
She decided to take matters into her own hands when he remained unmoved, as she slipped her hand behind his neck and pulled his head closer to hers.
"Let give you beautiful dreams..." She whispered, crashing his lips down on hers. She tried kissing him but the kiss lacked their usual fiery passion, as he refused to respond to the movent of her lips.
"But...I can’t." Ethan separated from her, taking two steps backward.
"I am a very bad...and an insanely possessive man, Shikera. He caressed your head, and looked at you with such eyes that makes hate myself..."
"Ethan..." Shikera was confused at the sudden turn of events.
"Don’t call my na with no emotions while you call his...with familiarity. Shikera, it might seem nothing to you but then, I get jealous of my own self."
"I sotis wonder which part of you feel more comfortable with...the dejected part? The angry one? The evil one? The love starved man? Or the broken one..."
"What are you saying, Ethan?"
"I’m informing you that I’m capable of doing what you least expect, as long as it concerns you."
"I still don’t understand..."
"It ans, I want you to tell everything he knows, that I don’t. Everything, right from when you were born to this mont...I need to know everything."
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