“How dare he?” Caroline fumed in anger when she received a wedding card from her male best friend, Dylan.
“I always told you that he is just using you to get Alice,” Dylan said in an equally angry tone. He couldn’t believe Caroline’s best friend Alice Fonda from college days did this to Caroline. He barely knew about that girl, but god knows for what reason; he never liked that witch.
A tear rolled out of her eyes, still having a hard time believing that her boyfriend was marrying her best friend secretly.
“But why?” She asked, not able to understand that why Mark Johnson, her boyfriend did this to her.
“Do you still don’t get it, Caro? He was always after Alice’s money. He befriended you just to get near Alice because, in front of everyone, you’re just an Orphan, just a nobody except me, obviously.” Dylan said, shrugging his shoulder.
Both Caroline and Dylan had been friends since she first came to the Orphanage on her seventh birthday. She started pretending as nobody after high school because she hated how she was treated differently by everyone because her parents were billionaires and from the royal family, not to also mention because a lot of girls wanted to become her friends just because of her two super duper hot twins brothers so that she could play the role of cupid.
That was when she realized how fake the world was. So, she talked with her parents and asked them to hide every detail of her being the daughter of a Billionaire because she wanted to spend her life as a nobody. She wanted others to choose her for HER, not for the fact that she was rich.
And when she reached college as NOBODY in another city, her heart broke because no one wanted to be her friend because, in their eyes, Caroline was nothing but a student who got admission on scholarship, which was true as she was intelligent enough to get a scholarship. Not just that, she also pretended as poor.
“I should have told Mark about my identity. Then… then this won’t have happened.” Caroline muttered, wiping her tears.
“Are you even listening to your own words?” Dylan asked, looking at her in disbelief. “You should be grateful that asshole and that witch showed you the real colors before you have revealed your true self to them,” he added and wiped Caroline’s tear.
“Don’t you know that whatever happens, happens for good,” he said to cheer her mood, but it looked like at that moment, these words were not working on Caroline.
*
After an hour, Caroline’s phone rang, displaying her mom was calling her.
She narrowed her eyes and looked at Dylan, who looked here and there.
“Did you… did you do anything?” She asked, sobbing.
“You were crying for an hour, so I informed her about it to Mrs. Haysbert,” Dylan admitted. Caroline didn’t receive the call because, at that moment, she wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. After a while, a message popped on her phone from her mother. Caroline opened the message to read it.
“Be grateful that certain things didn’t work out. Sometimes you don’t even know what you’re being protected from or where you’re being guided to when you’re in the middle of chaos. That’s why you just have to trust that greater things are aligning for you. Let go gracefully.”
“Remember that neither your dad is my first love nor I’m your dad’s, first love. You can always find a better one.” The second message popped out.
“You can talk to me or anyone in the family, Princess. If you want space, then it’s fine; just take care of yourself. We love you!!” The third message popped out.
“I love you all,” Caroline replied and locked her phone. She wiped her tears and closed her eyes, thinking, what next?
She needed to do something to divert her mind from this heartbreak.
“I’m leaving for Spain.” She texted her hard-shell brother, Colton. So that her dad wouldn’t send a search team for her in case she went missing and also because she knew her secret would be safe with Colton because everyone could rest in peace if they would realize that one of the family members knew about her presence.
“See you soon, Dylan,” Caroline said, leaving his bed and shaking her shoulder, showing her big black wings, matching her black clothes and black hair. The blonde hair changed its color itself into black when she turned twenty-two, and also, the design of Talismans (pendant) changed into the shape of a key on the very same night.
Dylan was not at all surprised to see Caroline in this way; in fact, he felt lucky that Caroline trusted him with her truth. “I hope you’re not planning to go anywhere in this way as long as it is somewhere in the human world.” Dylan reminded. “Use human’s way, you know. I have watched Lucifer multiple times, and I don’t want something similar with you that happened with Rory’s wings.”
Caroline quickly hid her wings and hugged Dylan. “I love you, Dylan. You’re the most amazing friend that I have ever got.”
“Same here. Take care of yourself. And until and unless you find your right one, don’t, don’t share your identity with anyone.”
“I won’t. And this incident is a lesson for me.” Caroline responded, breaking the hug.
*
By night, Caroline was already in Madrid. Colton suggested taking at least fifteen days of tour packages to visit each and every place in Spain instead of sulking because of heartbreak.
That was why she didn’t order the food in the room in which she was staying and walked out of the room after getting ready like a goth wearing black from top to button and wearing dark makeup, which also suited her.
While having dinner, she didn’t miss how most of the people were there with their parents, and she was eating alone.
‘It’s okay, Caro. You’re just twenty-five. It's not too late to get the right man to love you.’ She said to herself while having dinner. After dinner, Caroline ordered around fifty burgers to distribute to homeless people that she would find on the roadside.
*
‘Enough, Mom. I’m here to enjoy Spain. And you started playing cupid by arranging girls for me just because I’m not able to find my mate.’ A young man mindlink his mother.
‘But…’
‘No, but and no if…. I don’t understand what is wrong with both you and dad. Dad was searching for some Caro for me for years until I found my mate. Now that she has left me, you started looking for another mate for me.’
‘Artemis…’
‘Bye, Mom.’ Saying this, Artemis closed the mindlink and looked at the driver, who halted the car all of a sudden. That was when he observed it was the red light. He angrily looked out of the car window, and his eyes landed on a woman in black, giving burgers to the people sitting on the roadside. He saw that old man speaking something, that’s why he concentrated on their conversation especially.
“Sorry!! I don’t understand Spanish because I don’t belong here.” That woman said that to that old man.
‘Her voice is sweet. But something is strange about her. I can’t smell her.’ His wolf muttered, listening to Caroline’s voice.
“Dios te bendiga” The old man said, touching Caroline’s head. This time Caroline had her phone in her hand, which translated into English, ‘God bless you.’
Caroline smiled at that him and kissed his hand; she stood on her feet to throw the paper bag in the dustbin because all the burgers had been finished, and that was when Artemis’s eyes landed on her face. He couldn’t understand the reason why looking at her; his wolf was on edge, and even though she wasn’t the most beautiful woman that he came across. He was attracted to her.
‘Don’t go on good looks. Remember what happened last time? At least, she has a heart of gold.’ His wolf reminded his human, who nodded his head and kept his eyes fixed on that woman in black.
‘By the way, have you noticed that her cheeks and nose were and her eyes were puffed?’ His wolf asked, observing Caroline carefully. Soon. Artemis’s car started moving, leaving Caroline behind. A part of him wanted to hop out of the car and reach near her, but another part of him wasn’t sure that she was the ONE.
.
#TBC