Chapter 8

Lareina's POV:

"Wait! Stop!" I heard a familiar voice yell out. I turned around, shocked to see a flustered Noor and her mother.

"Please don't go." Noor came up to me and tried to grab my hand, but I pulled it out of reach. I saw her face fall and immediately felt bad.

"I told you before I'm going to settle for less than what I'm worth." I pointed between her and me.

"We can't be anything if you choose her; if you can't decide between the two of us, if you make me feel as if I am nothing to you." She looked at me with wide eyes.

"I didn't know I made you feel like you were nothing to me. You mean everything to me. That's why I'm here." I crossed my arms and looked at her mother then back to her.

"You're only here because your mom made you come." I left her speechless because she knew I was right.

"All she needed was encouragement and a strict talking to." I shook my head.

"I swear I wanted to come after you. I just thought you were honestly done with me." I scoffed.

"You had to have your mom convince you to come to fight for me? At any time, you could have just not chosen her and fought for me, but you didn't. Why would I come back when I would be in constant competition?" She sighed. She looked at me, pleading as she reached out for my hand. This time I let her take it. She then dropped down on one knee. Oh god, this is awkward.

"Please don't propose because this is not going to go how you think it will." She just rolled her eyes.

"I'm not going to propose. I have to prove myself to you first, and I promise you I will. I promise from here on out I will not make you a choice; I will not hesitate to make you a priority. I will do whatever I need to do to make you trust me and fall in love with me. Then I'll propose." She nervously chuckled. I just looked her in the eyes and continued to stare.

"Fine. But I have conditions." She just nodded frantically then stood up. She kissed me on the cheek, and I could feel my cheeks inflame, feeling awkward with her mother watching.

"Whatever you desire, my love." I hummed in thought.

"I want my family to remember me, and I would like to visit them during the holidays. I don't care if you charm them, or whatever it is you do, into making them believe that we've been together for a while, so it's not weird that we live together. Also, I want them taken care of since I can't be there to help pay bills. I want everything covered." She looks back at her mom, and her mom nods.

"All your conditions will be met." I smiled, and she smiled back at me.

We got into the vehicle, and soon we were back at the palace. I will never get over how huge this place is. Someone grabbed my suitcase and brought it back up to my room for me while we headed into what I believe is a living room. Noor's father and Naiomi were there. I stopped dead in my tracks and went to turn around but was stopped by Noor's mother. Fuck. I huffed and turned back around and tried my best not to glare at this little witch bitch.

"I'm sorry for being selfish. You and Noor are meant to be, not her and me." I huffed.

"Yeah, no shit." I had my arms crossed, sounding like an insolent child. I heard her sigh.

"All I can say is I'm sorry. Noor was right when she said I'll understand once I meet my mate. I won't try and come between you too anymore." I looked into her eyes, and I could see sincerity.

"I'll believe it when I see it." I'll be tolerant of her presence and just treat it like a business. She nodded at me and then made her exit from the room.

"Hi, I'm Noor's father, Adham, but you can just call me dad if you'd like" He smiled and brought me in for a hug.

"And my name is Malina; you can call me mom if you'd like. Welcome to the family." She brought me in for a hug as well. God, her grip is strong; I can't really breathe.

"Okay, mother, let up. She's turning purple." Noor pulled us apart.

"Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting you're human." I took a deep breath and waved her off.

"It's cool." Noor brought my face up to look at her, inspecting me closely. Have I said that her eyes are my weakness? Because they are definitely my weakness.

"Let's go eat, okay?" My stomach growled at that point.

"Thank god! I'm starving."Her mom chuckled and led the way to the kitchen.