CHAPTER 32: YOU’RE JUST A LONELY ORPHAN.

On my way to Alexander’s mansion, I kept staring blankly out the dark street, through the cab’s window, letting the gentle night breeze blow away my emotions. There were a lot of things going on in my head, but none of them were making sense.

The more I thought about why Alexander would do such a thing, the harder it was to comprehend it. Was that why he forced me to marry him, so that he could rip my father off his properties? But why?

My father was never good to me, but I knew how hard he worked to keep the business running smoothly. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even eat or sleep just to meet up with work. And now some stranger thinks he could take everything away? Everything my father had ever worked for?

That was impossible. Even though I wasn’t sure I would help my family, I would rather have someone else claim my father’s assets than Alexander. That jerk wouldn’t get away with what he had done.

By the time I got home, my blood was already boiling. I marched straight to Alexander’s room, but when I got there, he wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the bar either. Where could he have gone?

"Do you know where I can find Alexander?" I asked one of the cooks.

"Master is in his study."

I found my way to his study and pulled the door open. Inside, it was dark, the only light was coming from the dim lamp on the desk, and sitting there was Alexander. He was flipping through some paperworks and didn’t even look up when I came in. But I knew he already noticed my presence.

"I came to talk to you," I said after a long, awkward silence.

"About what?" He asked, picking up a pen.

"About my family."

Finally, he glanced up from the book and stared straight at me. He didn’t stop there, his soulless gaze creeped from my head down to my toes, then back to my face again, causing me to shift uncomfortably.

"The last time I checked, your family said they never had a daughter like you. I wonder what family you’re talking about," his tone was chiller than usual.

If he said that to hurt or belittle me, then he was wrong. That was something I have heard all my life, and it had no effect on me anymore.

"That is not why I am h..."

"Go straight to the reason why you are here. I have no time to spare," he interrupted me before I could finish, and it made more rage bubbled inside of me.

I clenched my fist to contain my anger, and sighed. "My father told me you claimed his assets and stole his properties."

His expression didn’t change, as he scribbled something on the papers in front of him.

"Your father told you that? I am surprised. Well, now that you know, whatever you’re here for won’t work. Leave."

"Leave? I won’t leave until you tell me why you did what you did. Was that why you forced me into this pointless marriage so that you can steal from my family?!" I almost screamed in frustration.

He slowly tilted his head to the side, something I noticed he always did whenever he was trying to control his anger. But come on, he should get angry. I didn’t care.

"Are you trying to provoke me or you just love looking out for the family that never cared about you?"

"You don’t have to remind me of that, because you don’t know what family feels like. You never even had one to begin with. You are just some lonely orphan." I didn’t know where I got the sudden courage from, but the moment I saw his reaction, that little shred of confidence broke into unpickable pieces.

He looked furious. His eyes darkened like the stormy night sky and his jaw tightened so hard it almost ticked. I expected him to jump from his seat and attack me for what I have said, but instead, he just closed his eyes and exhaled, when he opened them again, they were calmed.

"Just leave. Don’t make me repeat myself."

Noticing his change of mood, I decided to leave and went to my room. But that didn’t mean this conversation was over. I still needed an explanation.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept tossing and turning around the bed. Suddenly, my phone pinged. And to my surprise, it was a text from Noura. I didn’t know why I felt the enthusiasm to talk to her. I quickly responded to her "hi" with "hello, I thought you would never respond to my text. What happened?"

"I’m sorry, your message got mixed up with others. I didn’t realize it until tonight. How have you been doing?"

"Doing great. I only wanted to know where you live, I really want to meet you."

"Don’t worry, I will text you my address when I’m ready to meet you, okay?"

After that, we kept chatting about a few things. She seemed really nice, and soon I started to feel quite comfortable talking to her. I even told her about what happened with Alexander and I tonight, and her response shocked me.

"I’m glad you’re still alive to tell me you called him an orphan. Congratulations," she texted, adding a laughing emoji at the end.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, confused.

"I mean that’s his most vulnerable spot, calling him an orphan meant clawing out his heart and squeezing it in front of his eyes. He hated it. But surprisedly, he didn’t hurt you. Strange."

"Why do you think it’s strange? Maybe he was in a good mood and he didn’t snap."

"He always snaps, sister. He literally loses his mind whenever he gets called that. Never say it again."

I didn’t respond and dropped my phone on the nightstand, then pulled the blanket over my head. Reflecting back to earlier, Noura was right, I shouldn’t have called him an orphan. But it was partly his fault too. If he didn’t ridicule me about how my family treated me, I wouldn’t have said that to him. Still, Anna, that was a hurtful thing to say, I confronted myself. And worse, I told him he never had a family. God... what got into me? How could I have said such mean things to someone? But still, he didn’t attack me. Maybe he never cared about whatever I said.

I kept going back and forth with my thoughts, and eventually, I fell asleep.