Seraphina
I couldn't breathe as I watched Alec weave through the crowd which parted like waves, heading right towards me. It felt like it was happening in slow motion. Everyone was fawning over themselves to get close to him but were being held back by guards who I quickly realized had already been positioned here by Alec because somehow, he had clearly figured out that he'd be well received by the public after his true identity was revealed.
Beside me, I tuned Sean out, eyes unable to leave Alec's, and when he stopped right in front of me, I suddenly felt too shy to hold his gaze, choosing to duck my head. The spotlight was back on the two of us now, and I could feel the entire crowd staring at us right now, making me feel ridiculously shy. I've never been in the middle of such attention before, so it felt like I might faint.
A hand underneath my chin in the next second tilted my head up and I gulped as my eyes bored into his intense ones which felt like they were swallowing me up right now. Alec looked confident and completely unfazed by the whole ruckus going on around us right now and somehow, that managed to calm me down a little. His thumb lightly grazed my chin, making me shiver just as he spoke.
"Are you ready to leave now?" He asked in a husky voice that had me shivering a little. I looked around for a moment, flinching on realizing that we were being recorded right now.
"Is that okay? What about your mother's birthday?" I asked tentatively but he snorted.
"I'm sure my mother is presently seething because of what I just did, best believe she wouldn't wanna see me right now." He drawled on a low chuckle and I bit on my bottom lip while nodding, my mind wandering a little to his sisters who came to confront me minutes ago. One thing was quite clear, this contract marriage between us means that I was marrying into a very complicated, problematic family.
Something I have in common with Alec.
When I glanced back at Alec, he was standing closer to me than a moment ago, pulling out a startled squeak from me just as I attempted to take a step back. However, his hand came around to settle on my waist, which he used in tugging me right into his firm chest, making the air whoosh out of my chest.
"Remember that we're being recorded right now." He whispered into my ear and realization slowly crashed into me.
Slowly, I forced myself to relax, but it was hard cause being in this position right now was reminding me of that night I spent with Alec. His hands were burning tight into my skin through the material of my dress, and the feeling of his lips against my ear has my breath growing labored.
When he lowered his hands till they rested on my hips, I swallowed emptily before shyly meeting his gaze. The look he gave me right now had me biting back a gasp, his gaze were dark and searing, making me shudder against him.
The sounds of camera stutters going off around us were still in the front of my mind, but that couldn't distract me from the sight of Alec who was slowly leaning over me right now like he was gonna kiss me. That instantly had my heartbeat accelerating, and my hands shook a little.
That was the moment I began to overhear some of the words going around in the crowd.
"She is so ugly."
"Is that ugly woman really gonna be his wife?"
"How can someone that hot wanna end up with a weird looking girl with such a cursed looking skin?"
"I feel so bad for Mr Alex. Is he being forced to get married to this woman?"
"Who even is the ugly woman? Is she from a rich family?"
As those words drifted into my ears, I felt a wave of coldness settle over me, a bitter taste settling over my tongue. As I swallowed emptily, I watched as Alec seemed to read something over my face, then after a few seconds, he was taking a step away from me, right before he reached for my hand and held it in his, his large one swallowing mine up.
"We're leaving." He murmured, then he tugged me through the crowd before I could get a word out. My heart thrummed hard against my chest as I trailed right behind Alec, wondering how Alec had been able to perfectly read me moments ago, especially seeing as we're still literally strangers.
The crowd tried hard to touch us but successfully got help back by the guards who accompanied us out of the hall, and a thought registered within me as soon as we stepped outside and all the flashes instantly began to go off, a complete opposite of how those media coverage had reacted when we were stepping into the hall some hours ago. It was that overnight, Alec and I have turned into celebrities.
That thought overwhelmed me a little and I briefly wondered if I'd be able to handle this. This undoubtedly means more attention, more judgements, more haters and the rest. But well, it was too late to turn back, no? And I want to finally start receiving credits for my work, which means I'll have to get used to this lifestyle at the end of the day.
It was until Alec and I got ushered into Alec's car that I was able to breathe properly again, and I heaved a long relieved sigh as the car drove off.
"Damn, that was something. It's gonna take a while to get used to" Alec sighed, rubbing his forehead and looking out the window for a moment and I seriously couldn't agree more.
"You handled it well, way better than me." I offered from my spot beside him and he turned to face me, chuckling wearily.
"Someone has to be the stronger one between us, little wife. The one who'll take the backlash and bullets for you, the one who'll protect and take care of you." He murmured, a small grin tugging at his lips and I huffed while rolling my eyes and trying to ignore how my heartbeat accelerated a little.
"We're not in public, you don't need to keep they're an act." I pointed out and he arched a brow at me.
"You think they're just an act?" He asked and I shrugged slowly while blinking at him in confusion.
"They're not?" I asked.
He hummed, eyes still pinned on me as he spoke. "Draw the partition, Phillip," he called out, clearly referring to the driver and my heart flew into my throat as I breathed out a stuttered breath.
Slowly, he leaned into me, coming right in my personal space until he was leaning over me and my heartbeat pounded even harder. It was harder to breathe right now with him being so close to me like this, and when his hand slid down to ghost over my waist, my heart pounded even harder.
"Say, wife, what do you think about coming home with me tonight?"