Chapter 5

Emma’s POV

Still staring at the man who walked in, Brian Stone who had been staring at me finally turned around to look at the intruder.

“What do you want?” he asked impatiently.

“Well, I just want to know how the young miss is doing, Your Highness,” the man said.

“You’re not a part of my team. Who are you? Or better yet, who sent you?” Brian asked.

“It’s my boss, Don Michael,” he replied.

“I should have known,” Brian responded, looking angry.

I stared at the prince and saw the way he reacted just seeing one of Michael’s guards.

I recognized the man because he was the one who had always hung around Michael, and I am sure that he came in only to confirm that I hadn’t been telling the prince anything about him.

“You can tell him to mind his damn business, and the next time you come in like that without knocking, I will personally throw you in jail!” Brian said angrily, and the guard smirked, giving me a warning look before he left the room.

“The nerve of that bastard! How dare he send his guard here to check on you? You were never close with him, Dora! How come he is asking about you?”

“I…I…” I couldn’t utter a thing because I was scared. Scared to say the wrong thing and ruin Michael’s plan.

“It was our engagement party last night. You should have had enough decency to have stayed behind after the great scandal you caused,” he said again.

“Scandal? I caused a scandal?” I asked.

“Yes, you did! Don’t tell me that this little accident you had had erased your memory.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The doctor said you only hit your head and suffered a bruise which he thinks hadn’t been caused by the accident, more like a punch on the face.”

He was probably talking about the punch Michael gave me.

“Apart from that you are perfectly okay, you certainly can’t be having amnesia, and besides you have to tell me what got that bruise on your face,” he demanded.

“It’s nothing,” I replied.

“You were perfectly alright when you left the party!”

“I just knocked myself on the wall,” I lied, touching my bruised face.

“Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s your problem. We aren’t that close to prying into each other’s lives.”

To know that Dora and the prince weren’t close enough with each other only made me feel wary. How can two people who want to spend the rest of their lives together don’t meddle in each other’s affairs?

Never have I had a guy who cherished or loved me. Working a lot made me so busy that I hardly had time for it, but now, I have no option than to be in a relationship, which I certainly don’t want.

“What matters now is what you did at the party. You really got everyone angry,” he said.

I sighed gently. I didn’t know what Dora did before she left the party yesterday. The stupid Michael should have at least had some knowledge in this before sending me into the dragon’s den.

Suddenly his phone began to ring, and frustratedly, he answered, and after speaking on it for a while, he turned it off.

“That is my mom. She has just called to tell me that the newspaper is already out.”

“Can you please tell me what happened last night?” I asked as gently as I could.

“My God, it’s so easy for you to forget, right?” he asked angrily.

“I didn’t forget it on purpose, I was caught up in an accident, and I can’t recall a few things.”

“Fine then. Since you claim to be having temporary amnesia, I will tell you what you did. Yesterday was supposed to be the day we got engaged, but due to your stupid pride, you have made it all useless. Have a look at this!” he said, thrusting me his phone.

I picked it up and saw Dora kissing a man on the balcony. Seemed like she hadn’t known that someone had caught them both.

A while later I saw a picture of her and her lover kissing being displayed on the big screen at the engagement party. Then I saw another video of her storming out of the room into her car and then driving off.

If only she had known that entering her car would be the last one for her that night, then she probably might still be alive.

“So? What do you have to say?” he questioned fiercely.

“That I am sorry for causing all this problem,” I replied and saw the surprise on his face.

What is wrong now? Have I just said something wrong?

***

Brian’s POV

For a while, I kept on staring at her. Did she just say that she would apologize? Has something come over her or does her accident cause that?

I still couldn’t believe that Dora Baxter apologized.

When I saw the video of her kissing another guy, I didn’t feel jealous or the things that should be felt by an engaged besotted guy.

I wasn’t in love with her, and she can have her own lover for all I care, but she could at least have done it with a little bit of discretion.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Dora asked, and once again, I stared at her.

It kind of feels strange, and I don’t know why, but I feel that the Dora that woke up after the accident is different from the one of the past.

Why I felt that way I would never know. Could just be my head wishing for a better Dora? I thought before putting it at the back of my mind.

“You surprise me, Dora. You never apologize to people, but suddenly here you are apologizing to me? I will surely be surprised, right?” I asked, searching her face for a while, but it remained as blank as possible.

Odd, I was able to read her thoughts by reading her face in the past, but now, I can’t possibly read a thing. Has she built some kind of barrier to herself?

“Was I that bad?” she asked, and I knew that it was time for her to see a doctor.

She has certainly forgotten that she has a bad character, a character which almost everyone hates, including me. If it hadn’t been for the merger, I would have left, but I had to wait and keep on waiting until I get the chance to get her signature on the document, and then I would leave her life completely.

“As bad as a witch, you always tormented everyone,” I replied, staring at her, letting her feel guilty for a while.

Just then the door opened, and her parents walked in.

“Finally, she is up!” Minister Baxter yelled at her contemptuously.

“You have brought nothing but disgrace, Dora! Nothing but disgrace!” her mother yelled at her.

She sat on the bed and stared at them for a while before bringing herself to speak.

“If I have caused anyone any problem or pain, then I am sorry,” she apologized again.

I was sure that her parents were thrown off by her apology, too, but they didn’t show it as they continued to rant and rant on Dora’s head.

The Dora I knew would have yelled at them to shut up or would have asked them to leave, but she stayed mildly and accepted all their insults.

This is something new to me, I thought standing behind not wanting to meddle.

“I am sorry,” she whispered again.

“So finally you’ve learned to say ‘I’m sorry,’ right? Well, it came at the wrong time. You have tarnished your reputation in front of His Highness. I only hope that you can live to bear the consequence,” Dora’s mother flung at me.

“Your Highness, we will understand if you decide to cancel the wedding,” Minister Baxter said.

Just hearing him say that, I felt so relieved. If I say yes, then I won’t have to continue this farce, I thought hoping that he would refuse.

I looked up and found them staring at me in a very strange way.

Should I just stop this farce of a marriage?