-43-Secret revealing.
"Their tale begins in childhood, blooming with time. Time gave him sufficient amount to make her his wife. But he ignored it in his reign." [For Stuart]
..........
In irritation, Stuart held her shoulders in a tight grip and shook her hard asking for an explanation.
"How did it happen, Riley Brown?"
Seeing his outrageous reaction, Riley was stupefied. She never saw him reacting the way he did. Even in the past if somebody proposed to her. He never reacted to it. 'If I tell him about the real reason. What will he do?' She didn't want to even imagine it? If he was this angry with her because of it. He might even flip the table. 'Or maybe he will kill Christian Evercast. Or maybe he will laugh at you for saving a man who is responsible for your destruction.' Her subconscious mind mocked her.
Stuart glared at her when she didn't answer. He shook her out of her thoughts.
"I have asked you something, Riley Brown."
The intensity of his voice made her shiver. Bracing herself for another large reaction she uttered the words closing her eyes.
"It's a contract marriage. I married him to get The man we saved off my back."
Her words left him speechless. 'What she married a man just to get away from another man. What type of stupid idea it was. 'Was she always this stupid?'
"What's wrong with you Riley? Do you think marriage is a child's play?"
"No Stuart. You know how much I respect marriage. I would never do that."
"Then why did you have to marry a stranger to save yourself from another stranger. What kind of stupidity it is?" Roaring the words, he flipped the table away from him.
Riley flinched at his action. But she knew better than him, he will never hurt her.
"Does uncle knows?"
"I didn't have the nerve to tell him. But he knew about Christian."
"Who the fuck is Christian now?"
"The man we saved. His name is Christian."
"Tell me exactly what happened? I don't think you will just marry anyone because he was chasing you? Tell me what's the whole truth, Riley?
Riley narrated to him the whole story of how he had threatened her to get married to someone because she had challenged him to Mindy's accident. Skipping the parts where they kissed.
She watched him closely in the half-open eyes like a kitten. She shivered at his expressions which were deteriorating to the point that she felt cold all over her body. His round brown brows were creased while his pink lips were tugging lower in a scowl. He was clenching and unclenching his fist again and again as if to control throwing something.
The words that came out of her mouth made him regret his decision of not proposing to her when he had time. He regretted saying yes to the girl because it was merely the reason for all his problems. If only he would have refused her, they would have never met Christian nor would have been separated. The time away from her proved him wrong. The world felt worse to him now because all he wanted ever was to stay by her side through blacks and white. His heart was bleeding in remorse for saving him. The tension that was created by This Christian was much worse than him living life with the family who hated him. It was like now he understood the meaning of the quote, 'Time and tide wait for none.' He wanted to laugh at himself in agony. But it would make him look Crazy. And he never wanted to show this side to her.
'I wish I have given myself to you before these tides that had disrupted the rides of our lives Riley. I wish I would have married you then.' Clenching his fist tightly, he muttered in his mind.
'But now, I will not take a chance even if the world turns against me. I will make you mine Riley. No one can stop me now. No one will be able to!'
Riley waited for him to say something to her but he didn't. He just sat there in silence as if contemplating something. After the news of his death, She remembered how some nights she sat on the balcony waiting for him to come to her room. So that they can watch movies together with the packets of chips she saved to eat with him. But he never came, they were only filled with silence. She waited for him on her bicycle, she roamed around his house again and again. Waiting for him to show up. So that they can roam around the shops in search of their favorite food.
She had felt how life was Without his voice. Without his warmth. She wanted to hear his heartbeat.
But he never came. She only heard his voice in her dreams that we're only a depiction of her past. That was how much she missed him. She never thought he would be there in front of her. In front of her eyes. All alive and healthy. Her eyes swirled with emotions. She stared at him carefully to memorize every bit of him, to preserve it for herself. She remembered all the happy memories that they have made.
With dried eyes and a thorny throat, she stood up walking up to the balcony. Opening the windows of the room. Gazing outside. Gazing at nothing in particular. Just looking at the moon silently shedding a few tears.
"Won't you say Anything Stuart?"
He sighed helplessly "I am angry with myself Riley, I need time to digest this."
Riley shivered as the cold air made contact with her bare arms.
"You can take all your time. But I just wanted to tell you that I missed you, Stuart. I missed our bicycle rides. I missed watching movies with you. Without you, I felt trapped in darkness. I was trapped in our memories. But now that you are here, my heart has finally found peace."
"I missed you too my jelly bug. And I am never leaving you again. And. I."
"Yeah? Say?" Riley looked back at him waiting for him to complete his question.
"What is his name? The man you married?"
A small smile graced her lips. A smile that felt a thorn in his heart.
"Mendicate. His name is Mendicate. He is a great man."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Ah. I believe you."
"But there is one thing, that feels off to me. Why would a man give up on you? The man who can propose to you 111 times. I don't think he can ever give up on you."
"I."
Just as she was going to answer him, her phone rang disrupting their talk.
"I will just take this. It's Mindy."
Stuart clenched his fist in frustration. They were now on the nickname basis.