Hellbound Heart

Elle did not move. She could not avert her eyes either and just kept her gaze staring straight at Sebastian and that beautiful woman sashaying by his side.

This morning, when Ava told her that Sebastian was not coming again, Elle had wondered if Sebastian was testing her. Could he be doing all these on purpose just to see her reaction? Could he be trying to push her buttons to see if she could maintain her patience and calmness? Could he be setting these situations up to find out if she would lose control and demand for him to come or if she would take matters into her own hands and appear at the Reigns residence, and introduce herself as the crown prince's fiancé?

These thoughts had flooded her. She had known how powerful people think. They do not trust anyone, even their family sometimes. They would do everything to inspect the motives and real character of someone before letting them into their inner circle. Elle understood that because she knew full well how dangerous it was to let some stranger into your family or inner circle, without knowing them full well. She knew how easily one person could bring the whole household down. And that was why she always agreed on the saying, be careful of who you let in your home.

That thought had Elle understanding Sebastian's action and giving him the benefit of the doubt. She knew she was a stranger he literally just met a few days ago. They could not even be considered friends and were acquaintances at best. If this was really a test for her, Elle would really not blame him. She would show him instead that she was a person who could keep her word.

But right now, looking at her fiancé seemingly out on a date with a stunning woman, when she thought that he had been busy, caused a really awful feeling to bloom within her chest.

She wondered again if this was yet another test. Yesterday and this morning, Ava had encouraged her to call Sebastian, but Elle did not listen to her suggestion. She only told Ava she did not want to disturb Sebastian. Could he be upping his test since he did not get any reaction out of her in the past two days that he had ignored her and made her wait?

Whatever the case, Elle found out that this was not as easy as she thought. However, no matter what happens, no matter what she felt about this, she could only do one thing, and that was to keep a straight face. She was the one who barged uninvited into his life. She was the one who chose to go for this arrangement despite all his warnings. She had been warned not once but a few times.

Moreover, she promised to herself never to regret her decision. Because to her, all these little hiccups were still far better than marrying Brandon Haze.

Squaring her shoulders, her gaze followed the pair as they moved towards the building's main entrance. They were about to enter when Sebastian suddenly paused.

Slowly, he turned his head and looked toward her.

Elle felt her heartbeat skipped a beat when his eyes held onto hers. Time seemed to move in slow motion. He was a bit far off so she could not quite read his expression clearly, whether he was surprised to see her there or not.

One second… two seconds… three seconds…

The stunning woman by his side then spoke to him, so he averted his gaze and looked back at her.

"Miss, our car's here." Ava's voice echoed, causing Elle to quickly turn to face her bodyguard and nodded.

When she returned her gaze to where Sebastian was, she was surprised to see him already looking at her. Elle gave him an elegant smile, befitting her status as the crown princess. She then glanced over at the woman for a second and before she turned to follow Ava, Elle gave Sebastian a respectful nod.

She never turned back to look at him again and just gracefully walked away.

Quietly, Elle sat there as the car accelerated, just looking out the window with unseeing eyes as many thoughts jumbled up in her mind.

"Miss, are you alright?" Ava's voice jolted her out of her musings, and she finally realized they were already back at the hotel.

"I'm good, don't worry." She immediately smiled. "Just a little tired from our full day outing, I think."

"I guessed you are, Miss. You've been so energetic all day, so I had expected this. You really need to take a rest ASAP." Ava closed the car door as Elle stepped out of the car.

…

Once Elle shut her room's door closed behind her, Elle went straight to the bathroom and was welcomed by a bathtub already filled with warm water and a bathbomb which she could detect the scents of jasmine, ylang ylang and gardenia oils. The bathtub by the floor to ceiling wall was also sprinkled with rose petals that added to the fragrance. There were also unscented pillar candles on the side and a bottle of her favorite rosé wine. The scene was so romantic and welcoming that she quickly washed up in the shower before soaking herself in the warm bath. The scent and the warmth of the water was just perfect and allowed her tense muscles to finally relax after a whole day out touring the city again.

Reaching out for the bottle, Elle poured herself a generous helping of the sweet rosé wine. She swirled the wine in the glass slowly as she stared at the city lights down below. When she sipped from the glass, she closed her eyes, savoring the fruity and citrusy taste of it.

Right then, she felt so contented, so relaxed. She has never had a moment like this before. She must thank Ava tomorrow for this. She knew that Ava must have been the one to ask the hotel staffs to arranged this ahead of time as they were headed back, thinking she was very tired. If she only knew the real reason that she was a little out of it on their way here was not because of tiredness.

After a long while of just enjoying the moment, Elle gulped the rest of her wine down and put her glass on the floor. She leaned her head back and stared up at the ceiling, her fingers playing with the petals that were floating on the water surface. Her body was fully relaxed now but no matter how she tried, she still could not quite erase the little bit of pain and emptiness that had taken root in her heart. It was pretty tolerable, she could even ignore it, but it was there nonetheless, lingering and not going away no matter what she told herself.

Her eyes then turned heavier and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

An hour later, the doorbell started ringing. But no one came to open the door. A few minutes passed and the doorbell finally stopped.

The door swung open and a man in a bespoke suit emerged from the door. It was Sebastian. Ava was standing worriedly behind him, poking her head from the side, trying to see into the room at where her mistress was.

Ava rushed into the bedroom while Sebastian headed straight for the bathroom. He lifted his hand to knock but stopped midway and instead, pushed the door open. When no complaining noises came, Sebastian rushed inside, only to pause at the sight of Elle. She was fully submerged in a bathtub filled with fiery red petals with only her face visible, her usually large and crystal clear blue eyes now closed.

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