Cold and numb

"Your Highness," someone's voice rang before she could see or get any reaction from Sebastian. The door opened slightly but no one came in. "I think you might want to come and see this immediately." Elle could only hear the man behind the door speaking.

Sebastian stood up. Threw her an unfathomable glance before walking out of the door.

Elle was left there, still in her state of undress and hugging her own knees, trembling on that massive king-sized bed, alone. She needed to explain quickly, to tell him that this was not planned out at all. But the voice in her mind was already whispering to her, telling her, 'No one would believe what you are going to say even if you keep explaining and telling the truth until your saliva runs dry. You've gone through that, so many times before. So it's pointless to waste your breath.'

And as she sat there, she thought, the voice was right. Sebastian would not believe her. Not just him, but anyone else would not as well. Because now that she was thinking back about this whole situation, it did seem like a well-planned trap. It was like a perfect plan to push Sebastian Reign to fall into the trap.

She knew that Sebastian Reign was not any lesser compared to Brandon Haze in terms of power and money. In fact, he was even be better in a lot of ways.

This prince was known not only for his royal status and good looks but also because he was the heir of a massive and one of the biggest companies in the world, the Quinn Corporation.

It was a common topic of discussion not only within the entertainment industry, but also in the business and politic circles, saying that whoever ends up marrying Sebastian Reign would instantly hold a crazy amount of power. In fact, Brandon Haze could not even hold a candle when compared to him.

Elle remembered that years ago, her father used to always brag on about having his daughters marry a Viscarrian royalty one day. Her father said that there was no monarchy in this world that was as stable as the Reign royal household. He had said that just by getting their family get tied up with the Reign family, their rule as the monarch in their part of the world would be tremendously strengthened.

And that was why her father had tried so many times previously to invite any Reigns to attend his birthday celebrations and every other important events. But no one from the Reign family responded to his invitation. No Reign royalty ever set foot in this palace, until tonight.

Though this was definitely a shocking situation to him, Elle could tell that her father had quickly seen the immense opportunity that had presented itself the moment he saw his daughter entangled with the Reign prince. He had masked it up with anger. But knowing her father, King Markus was also a very sharp man that she still could not quite outwit. And knowing him, she was even more certain that there was no way he would let this opportunity slip through his fingers now.

He was going to do everything to hold Sebastian accountable for her! Especially after having barged in on them in such a compromising situation.

Elle buried her face into her palms, curling herself into a miserable ball on top of the massive bed. All she wanted to do was to escape. Why was it so hard? Was she really bound to marry that monster? How could she have such a fate?

She looked at the door absentmindedly. All her courage and the bravado from earlier seemed to have melted like mist in the face of the sun. It was completely gone. There was only hopelessness and despair in her eyes now.

By now, she guessed that Sebastian must have gone and told her father the truth. Brandon's spies must have also already reported to Brandon about this matter. It was such a big ruckus that Elle was quite sure Brandon would never miss hearing it. So, she was guessing that Brandon would be demanding to take her to the OBGYN as soon as possible to find out if she really did not have sex with Sebastian.

That sounded so incredibly silly, but Elle was the one who knew what kind of mad creatures her father and that monster was.

It was on her eighteenth birthday when she found out the ugly truth about Brandon Haze's interest in her. Due to her anger that night, Elle had told Brandon that she was no longer a virgin. That was lie, of course, but the man did not believe her. He was so creepily confident that she was still a virgin.

But later on, Elle found out that her closest maid and bodyguard, the woman who had always been with her since she was a high school student, actually worked for Brandon in secret.

The maid had been ordered by Brandon to look out for her ever since she was a teenager. The creepy monster had been grooming her and she had never found out about it until two years ago. That had also explained to her why all the boys she had dated suddenly broke up with her before their relationship could even start flourishing. She could tell that Brandon had done something in the background. She had managed to stop and question one of the boys. And that was how she confirmed that her relationships had been sabotaged.

It was over… it seems that she really was just powerless against them…

Quietly, she climbed off the bed and picked her clothes. She slowly dressed herself up, her eyes, losing all the shine and was as lifeless as the eyes of a dead fish. Even as she trudged over to the door, her steps were heavy and sluggish.

When she reached for the doorknob and found that it was locked, a small but bitter smile just tugged at the corner of her lips.

Then she quietly turned and walked towards the window. She opened it and the cold breeze of the nighttime welcomed her. It blew past her face. The slight numbing sensation she felt on the tip of her nose and her cheeks was quite suited to her current mood – cold and numb.