His Reckless Heart

Chapter 4

Four years later,

Rebecca's POV

"You look amazing," my father said as soon as he caught a glimpse of me in the mirror as he strolled into my room,

The makeup artist was just doing little finishing touches on my face, but as soon as my dad walked in, she excused herself to give my dad and me a little privacy.

My dad was looking super hot in his two-piece suit with a white inner. He likes to keep his dress a little bit simple because, according to him, he loves being simple and free at all times.

It was my twenty-two years birthday and my father had made all the arrangements to give me a beautiful star-studded party.

So much has happened in the last few years since I left America for London. For the most part, It happened that the old man was right.

My father is a prince and the sole owner of multi-billion dollar companies scattered across the country, so I am a princess, albeit not in the traditional royal sense.

He never knew he had a love child somewhere, but he remembers how he and my mom got entangled in one hot night of passion.

According to him, he was in America to have fun and didn't want anyone or the paparazzi to know he was there, so he decided to disguise himself as a regular guy.

He met my sad mum at a bar, who kept lamenting and complaining about the infidelity of her husband, so he tried to console her, things got heated from there, and they both went to his hotel room and made out.

He woke up the next morning and found that my mum was gone, and he couldn't get anything about her before returning to London.

So basically, I am a product of a one-night stand.

My life has been a roller coaster ride since I came to London. I have undergone so much training and education to bring me up to date with what it takes to be an heiress, which, if I must be honest, I still have zero clue about.

I know it may sound a little dumb to say, but I sort of miss my life in America, when I was a nobody because then nobody cared about what I did or how I did it.

But now, I have to mind what I say, where I go, and the things I do because the paparazzi are constantly on every corner of my father's multi-million-dollar mansion, looking for news for their various media outlets.

"Thank you, Dad," I said wearing a weak smile. I was truly exhausted from all the dressing and makeup and just needed to breathe.

"I know you are stressed but don't worry, it will be over before you know it, "he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I can't wait," I grumbled under my breath.

"If you are ready, let's go; we have someone anxiously to see his beautiful princess," Dad said teasingly as he pulled my hand into his.

I rolled my eyes heavenly as my mind slowly drifted to the person my father was referring to.

Ethan happened to be my boyfriend, not by choice though, my father felt indebted to his family after his father's death and asked me to become his wife.

Ethan is good-looking for the total jerk that he was, he is what many refer to as a lady's man.

He's got the looks and the cash and also thinks he has the world under his feet. Aside from his pride and arrogance, he is also a flirt, although I haven't caught him redhanded, I could tell from the various perfumes that linger on him whenever he gets close to me.

I stood up to take a final look at myself in the mirror. I looked nothing like the sixteen-year-old homeless girl on the street.

I looked like a Disney princess in my all-diamond-themed white little knee-length gown.

The gown on its own would make ugly Limpopo beautiful. I fell in love with it the very moment I saw it and talked about it with the designer while we were still picking the perfect dress for my birthday.

I had instructed the makeup to give me a perfect nude look, and lastly, my silver sandals revealed my perfectly pink manicured feet.

I offered him my hand to my dad and together, we went outside the door and towards the entrance of the hall in which the event was taking place.

We were received by a crowd of expensively dressed people who stood up to start clapping as we entered the hall.

Halfway through the hall, we were joined by Ethan.

He looked handsome in the all-black tux he had on, aside from me he was also the center of attention. I couldn't help but notice how some of the single ladies flashed him the green light whenever he looked in their direction.

“Hey, you look amazing,” he said pressing a kiss on my lips.

“Thanks, you look nice yourself,” I said as he led me to a table that had some dignitaries already seated, including my father.

“I know, I always look nice,” he said while pulling out a chair for me to sit on.

Something about his tone threw me off but I did my best not to let his arrogance spoil my day.

The event continued with little chats here and there, food, drinks, and dances. Since I wasn't an alcoholic type of girl, I mostly took fruit juices and water.

Somewhere in the party, Ethan got up to make an announcement that completely threw me off.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, bringing everyone's attention to himself. “I want to use this opportunity to do something that has always been on my mind for some time now and I also know that this would make our parents very happy. As we all know, Rebecca and I have been dating for some time now, and I was hoping it would only be right to take things a little further,” he said. His words got a reaction from the guest present as most already knew where this was headed.

To be honest, I wish I didn't.

Don't get me wrong, Ethan was a great guy in the eyes of a woman who genuinely loved him. But to me, he was an arrogant jerk I could barely stand. But been that I didn't want my father to be disappointed in the fact that I didn't like his choice of a spouse for me, I had to pretend to be happy in my relationship with a jerk.

Rebecca, please join me he said and honestly, at that moment I wished my name was anything but Rebecca.

Seeing the wild grin that had already spread across my father's face, I got up from my chair and walked towards Ethan with a smile I was fighting hard to keep on my face.

“What are you doing?” I asked him quietly, wishing he would just stop and not complicate things for me.

“I'm trying to make your wish of being married to me come through sweetheart,” he whispered into my ears, before going down on one kneel.

What a jerk.

“Rebecca, I am sorry to say this but I do not have any ring right now and honestly, I didn't think I would do this tonight, but the atmosphere seems so perfect for what I am about to ask you, will you marry me?” he asked.

No.

That was the only word every fiber of my being wanted to scream out, but seeing the expectant face of my dad and every guest present, I knew I was going to go against my wish.

“Yes, I will marry you,” I answered, hoping to get the charade over with.

There was clapping and jubilation from every corner of the hall as everyone soon started congratulating us.

It was tiresome pretending to be happy in front of everyone, but I did well by putting up a happy face all through. If there was something I had learned about being in the spotlight, it was never to show my true feelings.