Her Highness.

'Marry him?' Astounded by her own thoughts, Azalea bolted up from her seat.

"I have to leave now. Make sure you cancel this nonsense by tomorrow." Azalea instructed in a hurry, as she sprinted out of there. 

Adam wanted to stop her but she was already gone by the time he could even react. He exhaled a deep breath, cleaning the table. He still has a lot of time to make her fall for him. The game has just started. An evil smirk appeared on his lips, as he put the bowls away and went back to his work. 

Azalea didn't stop at her pace until she was out of the building in the open street. The streets were still crowded as it was the middle of the business street. With many leaving their work for home. Yet, the overcrowded place made her anxious heart calm. It gave her a grasp of reality that was taken away from her as she spent alone time with him. 

Those dangerous thoughts that infiltrated her mind were scary. She had trusted a man once and it turned out that there was no guarantee he would not be like others. After all, monsters lurk just beneath them. The one you trusted was the one that could betray you. 

Azalea took a few quick deep breaths to calm her nerves before hailing a taxi to her house. Only then did she take out her phone to check the time, it was half past nine. A small two-minute talk took her more than six hours. Just thinking how she fell asleep in his office and ate the food he brought without any care of the world when she was sure he could have many chances to take advantage of her. How foolish of her. 

Azalea cursed herself for being so careless, she leaned back, with her fingers ruffling through her wavy dark hairs. 

"Are you okay?" The taxi driver questioned, seeing her distressed through the rearview mirror. 

Azalea immediately shifted her body, and with a smile, she nodded to the man's question. She almost forgot she was still out in public. Azalea was quick to put up a stern face, looking outside the window when her phone vibrated, and a notification popped up on the screen. 

It was none other than her mom. The message read: "I heard you had a date with your son-in-law. How was it? Should I tell your dad to prepone meeting his family and talk about the wedding."

Azalea's blood boiled reading the message. She loved her mother dearly but when she does this kind of stuff she swears to God the will to cuss out gets stronger. 

She had just turned twenty-two by all means and was still in University getting her masters. What's the hurry with the marriage? It's not like she was getting old or ugly. Instead of letting her fool around her parents want her to settle down with a so-called psychopath. She doesn't even know how to take care of herself and forget being a mature adult. 

Lea sighed and didn't respond to her mother, it was just going to end up in a useless argument about her being an ungrateful daughter. She put the phone away, and looked out of the window, watching the night sky till she reached her apartment. 

After paying the driver, Lea took the lift to the fourth floor of her apartment building. It was an average suburb building with nine storeys, most of which were rented by the students from her University. 

Azalea got out of the elevator and walked toward the end of the corridor where her room was located. The small white wooden door at the end was almost camouflaged with the white walls. With a golden hue, the number four-zero-four was written on the door. 

Lea lazily took out the keys and unlocked the door, unveiling the dim room with only a source of light coming from the corridor. With a sigh, she stepped into the room, closing the room behind her and cutting off the only source of light. 

It was a strange cold, instead of turning on the light she plopped onto the floor, letting her body be devoured by the darkness.

Next morning…

It was only the sunlight entering through the window that made Azalea open her eyes from sleep. Last night she ended up falling asleep on the floor like always. 

In the sunlight, the apartment was brightened enough. The apartment was clean with nothing much. The room barely had any furniture, just a television hanging on one of the walls, a sofa against it, and a few magazines and books on the floor. The open kitchen attached to the room was similar, barely the necessities yet was clean as if no one ever touched it. 

Azalea stretched her arms, her body stiff from falling asleep on the floor. This was becoming a habit of hers. With a yawn, she got up from the floor, picked up her wallet, and walked towards the bedroom adjacent to the kitchen. She entered the bedroom, and threw her wallet on the bed, before taking off her clothes and entering the bathroom to freshen up. 

The only place that seemed to have stuff was her bedroom, with a queen-sized bed at the center and a wardrobe at the right with a vanity table right next to it. On the other side, was an L-shaped desk with a computer and books. 

After a quick shower, Azalea put on her usual pajamas and picked up her phone from the wallet to order food when she noticed all the missed calls and text messages from her mother. 

Her Highness: "Stop ignoring my message, I know you saw it. If you don't reply I swear I will fix your damn marriage." 

Her highness: "Still ignoring. Fine, I will just fix your marriage." 

Her Highness: "Why are you so stubborn huh? Tell me one bad thing about Adam. He is nice, kind, polite, good-looking, earns well, and treats you well. What else do you want?" 

Her Highness: "Don't tell you still not over that bastard who can't get over his ex?" 

Her Highness: "If that's the case I will kill him first then you for being such dumb. Don't you dare think about that jacka**!" 

Azalea suddenly felt all her energy drained just by reading her mother's text. How to explain to her mother it's not because of someone else but just that she doesn't want to get married yet? She was still young. Azalea knew if she didn't reply her mother would not let her be in peace. 

Azalea: "Mom, it's nothing like that. I am still young and busy studying. Why don't you focus on finding your two eldest sons' bride? They are already reaching thirty. How can I get married before my brother's?" 

After sending the message she made sure to turn off her phone well aware that her mother was going to go berserk and yell at her then at her brother's. If her phone was off her mother would call her brothers and yell at them for not having any wife till now which was better. 

"Sorry, brother. I hope you two survive the hell." Azalea prayed before continuing with her normal routine.