“Fine. We agree to your request." King caught my attention.
"King," Kingston's mother said trying to stop her son.
“Good then. Then we will hold the two weddings together." Kingston's grandmother says standing up.
Watching King's grandmother leave, I grab King's hand taking him out of the house while the nanny follows us with our son. Dragging him to the car, I stop looking around to make sure no one is present before I speak.
“This isn't what I signed up for. I said I was going to marry you. I even agreed to do it on the same day as your brother. But I won't live in the same house as him. I can't do it.” I said sternly.
“Of course, I am not going to allow us to live here for long. I only agreed to my grandmother's request so she will let us married. Once we are married, we will live here for a few months and then leave.” King said making me sigh.
I didn't have a choice right now. Since I had signed the contract, there was no turning back. Although I hated the idea of having to stay under the same roof as Princeton, it was a good opportunity to make him pay for everything he had done to me in the past. I could use his brother.
“Fine. But we must have a bigger room. And my son must stay with us. I cannot dare to leave him alone with anyone from your family. His feeding, his dressing, everything must be done by the nanny that you hired. I won't let them near him." I declared.
“Our son.” He said.
“What?”
“He is our son. That's how you must address him or they will find out that something is off.” King explained.
“Fine. Our son. Are you happy? Let's go home now.” I said rolling my eyes as I entered the car.
The upcoming weeks become even more stressful than before. I had to juggle between my classes, our son, and my upcoming wedding which wasn't easy. Although King’s mother continues to favoritism towards Prince's future wife, she still remembers to ask me what I want. I had always wanted a simple wedding. It had been my dream wedding when I was dating Prince. But now was different. I wanted a large-scale wedding. One that would make every jealous of me.
“I want this, this and that. All of them.” I said handing over my magazine to the wedding planner before I turned around to leave.
“ What do you think you're doing? Making decisions without considering others? That's so like you. You're used to being selfish, aren't you?” Kingston's mother asked.
“I have to go back home. My baby is all alone and I-”
“So what? Are you proud of it? Sleeping with your ex-boyfriend's twin brother, getting pregnant, you think it's something to brag about, right? You shameless woman.” Kingston's mother said.
Clenching my hand into a fist, I do my best to retrain myself from slapping her hand across the face. Just a little more. Once I was married to King, I wouldn't have to endure any of his mother's insults again. She won't be able to bully me again. Plus I am sure she was angry at me because Prince's girlfriend had lost her baby.
“I will be going now. As I've said, I need to return to my family."
Leaving the store with tears in my eyes, I stand on the side of the road trying to catch a cab back home.
“Lexie. Lexie, are you okay? Did something happen?" King asked running across the road to meet me.
“It's nothing,” I reply trying to leave the front of the store but King refuses.
“Did she do something to you? She did. I will go and talk to her." King said trying to enter the store but I stopped him.
“ Don't do anything that will ruin the wedding. Let's go home.” I said staring at him deeply to make him understand.
Taking my hand, King reluctantly leads me back to the car. He wasn't the type of person to succumb to his mother's bullying and I knew it. This time, he had to control himself so that our plans could succeed.
“What else do you want?" I asked him on our way back home.
“What do you mean?" King asked looking at me for a second.
"What other goals do you have for avoiding your arranged marriage? Don't you have other ambitions? Like taking away the company from your brother? Now that we are getting married, it's obvious that your mother is going to withdraw her support from you. Prince is not going to leave you alone either. He is going to come after you. Set you up. He will do everything in his power to get his revenge on you." I said staring at him.
My words seem to have a huge effect on King as he quickly finds a spot to park the car before looking at me. My intentions were obvious. I didn't have any interest in money or assets. All I wanted to was make their lives a living hell like they had done to mine.
“ I understand what you are saying. I have also thought about these things before you said them. But I want to tell you. You must not lose yourself. The reason I am marrying you is because you are different. If you become just like them, there is no appeal to you any longer.” King said briefly before looking away.
Our ride back home becomes silent as I think about what King had said. Arriving at the house, King opens his door leaving before I can even talk to him. He didn't want me to take revenge on his family.
“Where is my son?" I asked looking at the nanny as she walked out to greet us.
“He is already asleep. I've already fed him so you don't have to worry about anything.” The nanny said making me nod my head before entering inside..
Heading upstairs to my room, I close the door quietly so I don't wake him up. Right now, he was my reason for staying. My reason is to get revenge. Of course, Kingston wouldn't understand the pain I had gone through before. Now they wanted to do the same thing to me again. I wasn't going to let them.
******************
“Are you going to be like this till we get married? Or should we call the wedding off?" I asked looking at Kingston the next day at the dining table.
He had been ignoring me all day. Although I wasn't affected by the fact that he was ignoring me, I needed to know where he stood with his decision. I wasn't changing my mind so he needed to tell me.
“Do you want to call off the wedding?" Kingston asked looking at me intensely.
“You were.… You have been ignoring me all day. I want us to be on the same page. Although we are not in love with each other, we shouldn't be enemies either.” I said.
“I can never hate you," King said softly. Getting up from his seat, King walks around in front of me for a bit before running his hand through his hair. " You know I can never hate you. I was disappointed.”
“If it was you, won't you want revenge? Won't you want to take revenge on them too? Your mother, you don't know how badly she treated me. You were out of the country so you don't know the horrible things she did to me. Your grandmother? She poured a whole bucket of cold water on me because I… I gave her food.” I said tearfully.
“ Lexie, it was in the past. Prince didn't take care of you. He allowed them to hurt you but I won't do that. I am not asking you to forgive them. I just hope that you don't become like them. Don't lose your innocence because you're becoming my wife.” King said softly as he held my hand making me sob.
He was different from his brother. Even though they were just alike, he was a better man.
“I've already decided. I will take the company from Prince. Not because I want to get revenge or harm him, but because he isn't the right person to take over. After I take over the company, I will leave some of my shares for you and your son. So don't hold any resentment in your heart." King said making me nod my head.
A few days later, the wedding day finally arrived. Waking up due to the sound of someone knocking on my door, I check on my baby before opening the door. The wedding planner arrives bringing in a lot of staff and things that were supposedly going to be used for my wedding. Glancing around, I search for King but I don't see him.
“He isn't allowed to see you before the wedding ceremony. In order not to jinx it.” The wedding planner says making me nod my head.
“ Can I get some food at least? I haven't eaten anything since yesterday because I was busy at the libra-”
“ Your mother-in-law said you can't eat anything before the wedding too. Your stomach will be bloated and then, the dress might not look good on you." The wedding planner said interrupting me.
“Bloated? If I don't eat, I might faint from the dizziness. Even a slice of bread will be okay. Something so that I can also feed my baby." I said trying to convince her but she wasn't giving in.
“ I am sorry, ma'am. Don't worry because your son has already been fed. He is asleep." The wedding planner said making me rush to my son's crib.
Checking that he is alive, I stare at her clenching my hand. My beloved mother-in-law had planned everything.
“I will go and take a shower now. Nanny, make sure no one comes near my son during the wedding.” I said glaring at the wedding planner before I walked away.