Chapter 3

He led me into the unlocked mansion, just moments before the heavy downpour begun. I flinched at the clear sound of rain behind me, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." I told him as I withdrew my hand from his firm grip and kept it to myself.

He didn't say anything and ventured through the dark house, searching for a candle or so I presumed.

"I think I still remember where the candles were kept." I went after him, walking around the house without any difficulty.

Ace and I used the broken window in the kitchen to enter and exit the house as we pleased. Hence, I was conversant with every nook and cranny of the area.

It only took me a while to locate the candles, which were kept in one of the kitchen lower drawers. But then another problem occurred soon after.

"How do you suppose we light them?" I asked, scratching the back of my head, unable to see squat in this room.

"Check some more drawers and I'll look over there." He instructed, making hasty footsteps away from me.

"I do not think it's wise to..." My beckon never reached his hearing, for I heard his footsteps march further towards the left.

Defeated, I shook my head and used my hands to feel the inside of each drawer, searching for something to light up the candle.

"Here." I heard him say from behind me, but before I could react, a drop of hot candle wax landed on my exposed shoulder.

Though I didn't cry out, I winced in pain." I see you found the box of matches." I deduced from the warmth the fire gave off.

I took the candle in my hand and lit it's tip using his, the room brightened with the addition of a second candle.

"I think the rain won't last long." I observed whilst I casually lifted my gaze from the burning candle, to his, which was just some inches away from mine.

I felt my heart stop the moment I casted my gaze on his face in the light, and more so, his stare was directed at me. Rather, it was trained on the small imprint left by the candle wax on my skin.

His gaze was so raw, that it felt as though it undressed my bare skin, a sudden sense of self conscious overwhelmed me.

"It's rather dusty in here, don't you think so? Let's open a window" I nervously said to him, as I gracefully slipped past him towards the spacious living room behind us.

"That won't do us any good, it'll just blow out the candles." He replied, following me around as I paced about the room.

"Why don't we sit and wait out the rain?" The stranger offered, planting the candle stick on a high surface, brightening up the room.

He then took off his coat and laid it out on one of the settees, making a neat little place for him to rest. I enviously watched as he took care of the dust, despite staining his white sleeves.

Not wanting to stand idly, I attempted to use my palm to rub off the dust on a vacant seat. But ended up coughing on the dust particles that escaped into my throat.

"What on Earth are you doing?" He casually remarked, using one hand to dig into his left pocket for something, whilst he took steady steps towards me.

"Preparing a place to sit."

He pulled out a pack of vintage cigarettes from his pocket and stuck one in-between his sexy lips. "Why do you think I took the trouble to get dirty?" His sonorous voice echoed into my ears, carving itself into my memory.

As though that were not enough, he lowered his head down to my candle, his gaze never leaving mine for a second. He used the flame from the candle stick to light the butt of his cigarette, all while recklessly grinning at me.

"Sit down and chat with me." He told me, using his eyes to gesture to the chair he prepared for me.

Not wanting to put his kindness to waste, I mouthed a thank you to him and helped myself to the seat he prepared.

"Now then..." He balanced his cigarette perfectly between his index and middle finger. "Why don't you start with why you tried to kill yourself?"

My stomach tied a nervous knot to hear him ask that out of the blue, somewhere deep down, I had hoped for him to forget about the incident.

"I..." He cut me off before a single word could be uttered.

"Don't make the mistake of lying to me." His piercing gaze met mine, sending clear signals into my mind, convincing me that no matter what, the truth had to slip out of my mouth.

"Please." He muttered afterwards in-between his next smoke, the sound of his voice gone tender reached me, forcing my lips to part.

"Where do I start?" I dramatically asked, spreading my arms apart in a hopeless manner.

"Wherever you wish to." He replied me calmly, standing across the room from me, watching my face as I spoke.

Seeing, as I was given the go-ahead, I divulged everything to this stranger, starting from the reckless business decision papa had made before my birth. Some twenty one years ago, and how he had been heavily saddled with debt.

Then, I told him of how Ace and his family decided to help my family name, with an alliance between us two.

I explained it all in detail, that even I myself couldn't believe the tale of my own life. I was too used to carrying my burden in silence, that speaking out about it felt slightly strange.

But oddly... liberating.

"It sounds like something drawn out of a fairy tale, but I guarantee you it's the truth." I concluded, with a weak smile on my face.

He let out a thick cloud of smoke from his cigarette and didn't say anything for almost half of an entire minute. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, as I looked every which way, questioning my actions.

"Do you love him?" I heard him speak in a rash manner, his wild gaze set directly on me. It wasn't the words he asked that had an effect on me, but rather the fact that he was the only one who asked those words.

The rain suddenly came to a halt, and so did the resolve in my mind. I didn't feel the need to hold back when speaking to him.

"Love? Let's be realistic with each other, there's no such thing as pure and unselfish affection. It's all, a transaction between two parties." I truthfully answered, using my free hand to blow away the cloud of smoke.

He scoffed at my response, and straightened his back, "there's an interesting one. But it's not as if it matters whether you love him or not."

"And why does it not matter to you?" I pried, diving into uncharted seas, unarmed and unprepared.

"Because..." He took a pause to think of what to say, "it doesn't influence anything." He plainly said, not bothering to place a filter on his choice of words.

"Anyways, forget about him, tell me this, what do you plan to do from here on out?" He inquired, staring at the cigarette in his hands.

"Pardon?" I asked for clarity, as far as I could tell, my life was already over and done for.

His eyes lazily darted to the window, "by the look of it, it's not yet midnight. There are two plain choices in front of you." He explained, taking calculated steps towards me.

"One, you can choose to live your life in shame and knowtoe to others for as long as you draw breath. Or you can take the second option." He crushed his cigarette against the dusty window pane and placed his hands on his hips in a sexy manner.

"To choose to make a name for yourself and live your life to the fullest, just like you were meant to from the start. Without the burden of having to shoulder anyone's debt."

Something unexplainable stirred inside me as he spoke with the intention to rouse me up. My eyes widened in shock, to hear something think so highly of little old me.

It made me wonder...just who was this man?