You Hate Me, Right?

Adeline buttoned up the shirt of her pajamas and walked over to the table. Dimitri wasn't back yet, giving her the time to think more about what Caesar said.

Be submissive… She bit her lip, knowing very well that it wasn't going to be easy.

But even so, she knew that Caesar was right. She needed to give Dimitri what he desired to get what she wanted.

A soft breath fled Adeline's nose, and she glanced at the piece of photo that had dropped out of the book she'd grabbed from the table. She picked it up and turned it over to see that it was a photo of her and her mother. They'd taken that particular picture on her birthday, the year before, and she had it ever since.

Her eyes flickered, and she dropped to the bed with a heavy chest.

"It's going… It's going to…" She couldn't seem to form her words, trying so hard to resist herself from breaking down.

Over and over again, everyday was a painful reminder that she was completely alone. Both parents were gone and it was only her left. 

She had to survive, even if it's for the sake of her revenge. 

Her lips trembled and she turned away, looking out the window beside the bed.

She'd thought she could endure the pain of losing her mother, but it just kept settling in. Sometimes, it felt unreal and more like a nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

But she'd cried enough. There was something much more important to do and that was to make the Petrovs pay. Both father and son!

It's going to take a while. Just a while… So, just watch.

I'll definitely make—

The door of the bedroom was pushed open, immediately disrupting her train of thought. Someone walked in and she turned, her gaze landing on Dimitri, whose left hand was stuffed into the pocket of his pants.

His brow arched the second he met her cynical eyes, but before he could even utter a word, Adeline looked away.

She shoved the photo into her breast pocket and stood up with a huge smile on her face.

"You're…back."

Dimitri furrowed his brows in perplexity, his head tilting to his side. "I am…"

She stepped toward him and reached out her arms to embrace him. "I've been waiting for you to come back." 

Dimitri was still and glued to his spot, startled by her sudden change of behavior.

Was she drunk? Why was she suddenly being warm towards him?

He grabbed her shoulder, pushing her back. "What the fuck is going on with you? Why are you behaving so weirdly? What the heck are you trying to pull at?"

"I've just been thinking lately, Dimitri." Adeline pulled on his shirt, her eyes soft and warm. It was nothing like the way she'd often looked at him.

This caused Dimitri to blink furiously, his head instinctively drawn back. "T-thinking about what?"

"About us," Adeline responded, reaching out her hand to affectionately cup his right cheek with her palm. "We fight a lot, and it has honestly become so tiring. I want us to make up Dimitri, to try and live in peace."

"I don't want to get hurt anymore... I really don't." She cynically sighed, her hand dropping to her side.

Dimitri was not sure what to make of this.

Did something he was unaware of happen? His father had sent two men with her, right? He would have to inquire then because this was not at all like Adeline.

Infact, she was making him uneasy for reasons he couldn't point his finger at. 

The sincerity in her words and her eyes were really bugging him in a bad way. This was a side of her he'd never glimpsed before. Not once in his whole life since knowing her.

They had always been at odds with each other and had not even a single thing in common. She never listened to him and barely ever agreed to the things he said.

And it seemed to have gotten worse after her mother's death. She was changing too fast for his liking. 

"You hate me, right?" Adeline suddenly asked, disrupting his thoughts.

"I do." Dimitri frowned at her. "But what are you getting at?"

A small sigh escaped Adeline's lips.

"I was thinking that since we don't like each other at all, maybe we can try getting to know each other. We can...maybe go to the restaurant tomorrow, just to talk."

"That is, if you don't mind," she added.

Dimitri stood and stared at her for a minute straight. He approached her, leaned down, and touched her forehead.

"What are you doing?" Adelina batted her lashes at him.

"Checking if you are sick." Dimitri stepped back, his brows furrowed. "Can you please act like your normal self?"

"A restaurant? Really? You and me?" He laughed, incredulous. "You definitely have some screw loose if you think that would ever happen. What? You think I'd take you on a date or something?" 

He watched as Adeline's expression fell, her pupils softening sadly, instead of getting mad. "I honestly expected you to be this way, Dimitri."

She looked at him and began to fidget with her fingers, as if nervous. "That's why I want us to fix things. To talk and just be even a little nicer to each other. It's not too much to ask, is it?"

Dimitri didn't give a response. He was peering down at her, as if trying to figure her out, to find out what she had up her sleeve. 

This wasn't like her. Something was definitely wrong. 

Adeline couldn't tell he was thinking, but she couldn't figure out what it was he had in mind. So, to take the acting up a notch, stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "When was the last time we'd ever kissed, hm?"

Dimitri instantly stared daggers at her.

"Don't tell me you didn't have fun tonight." A look of disdain painted itself on the man's face.

"Pathetic!" He snorted, but he wasn't pushing her off. "Didn't I tell you not to make your way back to me?" 

Adeline hated his words. She was fuming, but instead of reacting the way he wanted, she instead smiled pessimistically at him, a deep breath exiting her nose. "I know, but let's forget that, okay? I've been pondering about us since I came back and this is the only thing I figured could work for us."

"It's been two years now, I think it's time we learn to get along with each other, don't you think?" 

Dimitri didn't say a word, but his pupils were on her with such keen intensity as though he was trying to catch any sight of lies in her brown pearls.

In the end, he found nothing but sincerity swirling in them.This left him all the more confused.

Something felt off and was making him seriously restless, but it was hard to pin his finger on it. 

Adeline didn't want him to think deeply into it or things might go wrong for her, so she initiated a kiss, nibbling his lip. It switched into a slow, sensual kiss, and gradually, Dimitri gave in, his lips crashing against hers.

He roamed his hand to the back of her neck, his fingers grasping her hair.

Adeline pulled back from the kiss a few seconds in, catching her breath. She swallowed hard, and Dimitri stared at her with eyes heavy with want.

"Ade-"

"Don't forget our little date tomorrow, okay?"

She escaped from his grip and adjusted her pajamas with a hearty smile. "I'm looking forward to it," she said, making her way over to the bed to lie down and cover herself with the duvet.

Dimitri could only stand and peer at her. He lightly touched his lips and turned around, reluctantly leaving the room.

As soon as he was gone, Adeline hurried off the bed into the bathroom and turned on the tap water to rinse her mouth.

There was this overwhelming urge to puke.

Never did she think she hated him to the extent that just kissing him disgusted her this much.

…Urgh!