Chapter 2

Anita’s POV

With a slowness I didn’t know the man had, he perched me on a chair as I let out a small nervous chuckle.

“Where are we?” I couldn’t help but ask. There was just something so special and exciting in the air and I couldn’t wait to place my hands on it.

“You would soon know. Just trust me,” he whispered in my ear and when I wasn’t ready for it, he loosened the mask on my face and my eyes caught the beautiful setting before me.

I was seated at a dinner table overlooking the beautiful river that ran behind Damien’s family home. There were candles on the table and bright golden lights from small bulbs. It was like something out of a fairy tale and I couldn’t believe that I was part of this wonderful fairytale at this moment.

“This is so lovely,” I praised.

“I know, but I was hoping this would make you even happier,” he said and took out a small box from his coat pocket.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets on seeing the box in his hand. This had to be too good to be true. I thought as I stared at him open the box, revealing the most beautiful ring I had ever seen.

Damien raised his eyes and stared at me with a depth that reached down into my soul. It was as if he was pleading with me with his body and soul and there was no way I was saying no to this man. Then, he popped the question.

“Anita Brandon, would you make me the happiest man on earth by marrying me?”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, I kissed him as I didn’t trust my words to do justice to how much I wanted to be with and spend the rest of my life with this man. No man has ever made me feel what Damien was making me feel and I knew it had to be true love. Something I was so grateful to be experiencing.

When the kiss was done, he stared at me in the eye and asked, “Is that a yes?”

“Yes, it is, you moron.” I swatted him on the arm and presented my finger to him.

With that, he slid the ring into my finger, the weight of it making the whole thing even more real. This had to be my most prized possession and I loved it just as I loved the man who had given it to me.

***

“Mom, Dad, everyone, I am home,” I announced the moment I got home.

Excitement was running high in me and I couldn’t wait to share the exciting news with the people that mattered to me.

“What’s up?” my sister Stella called out from the sitting room.

“Guess what, guys?” I squealed stealing their attention from the movie that was playing.

“What?” my mom asked, scared that something may probably be wrong.

Well, I couldn’t exactly blame her. I was hardly ever this excited, but Damien had made me the happiest woman in the world.

“I just got engaged!” I said flashing the perfectly cut diamond in my hand.

My mom and sister quickly rushed to my side and checked out the ring, each letting out an excited scream at the beauty of the ring.

“Damien, right?” my sister asked without taking her eyes off the ring.

“If it isn’t Damien, then who could it possibly be?” I shot her a glare.

“I am so happy for you, baby.” My mom swallowed me in her warm embrace. There were tears on her cheeks and they warmed my heart, knowing that they were tears of joy.

My dad hugged me after my mom had released me. “I am so happy for you, sweetie, and I know that you would make a wonderful bride. You are such a lucky woman and I know that Damien is so lucky to have a woman like you in his life.”

Within me, I knew that my dad was telling the truth. This was the happiest day of my life and I was glad that Damien had made the dream come true.

***

I was still reeling from all the activities of last night when my sister jumped into my bed and forced my sleep mask off my face. She shoved her cellphone in my face and I couldn’t tell what exactly she was trying to show me.

I raised a brow at her, and she scoffed. “You are so beautifully clueless. Well, I just thought to let you know that you are trending on the internet right now. You are a sensation darling.”

I sat upright the moment I heard that. How could I be trending on the internet? I was barely active on social media, so there was no way I could be trending.

My sister must have seen the confusion on my face because she continued. “Somehow, gossip columns have gotten news of your engagement to Damien, and trust me, everyone is highly interested in the fiancée of a young billionaire. So, they dug out pictures of you and all the girls are talking about the beauty who stole Damien King’s heart.”

I grabbed the phone from my sister’s hand and she was right. My engagement with Damien was already on the popular section of a lot of blogs and social media platforms like X.

“Why the heck are a lot of people interested in knowing who I am?” I demanded, barely believing that I was so popular that my pictures were on almost all entertainment blogs.

“You are Damien King’s fiancée, girl! Expect to be so popular now,” my sister said and lay by my side, mumbling about how she couldn’t wait to be hitched by a young billionaire who would get her so popular, but my mind wasn’t on any of her ramblings.

Instead, I went through the posts and comments that made about me. Some were nice and cool, while others tried to criticize my person or paint me as a gold digger, but then, one comment caught my attention and made my heart pummel.

“She looks so much like a replacement for Joan Stone.”

Someone had suggested that I was probably just a substitute for Damien’s ex-girlfriend and as much as I didn’t think that could be true, it hurt me in a way I didn’t know was possible.