Scarlette
Six hours earlier
Everything around me is so shiny, and it has me wishing there’s a pair of sunglasses I can grab to stop my eyes from hurting.
Chrome racks. Chrome-framed mirrors. And even the floors are the same, with every shiny tile causing my wide-eyed reflection to stare back at me.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
I don’t even understand why I’m feeling this way.
I was fine when Lykan and I had lunch with Grandma Jackie, and we told her about how the laws of his kingdom have now made us man and wife.
I was also fine when Arav asked if he could make an appointment with one of the royal family’s pre-approved stylists.
Any girl would have been over the moon to be in my position. A big, bad wolf—I mean, a tall, dark, and handsome wolf—I mean sheikh—as a husband, and now, a stylist who’s currently curating my wardrobe so that I’d look like a million bucks every time the world sees me by Lykan’s side.
I’m living the life.
Right?
So what have I been hyperventilating for in the past thirty minutes?
Now that I’m away from the sheikh’s magnetic presence, everything that’s happened has been replaying in my mind...and causing me to question my sanity.
The office. His hands. His mouth. The way I completely melted under his touch.
Am I really not going to put up a fight about this?
I know it’s my neck on the chopping block, but...I can pray about this.
Can’t I?
I mean...I can, right?
Or no?
I haven’t even completely closed my eyes when I sense something start to stir—
No, oh no.
And it’s none other than the inner voice of my conscience—
Oh, my darling Scar.
Which unfortunately sounds very much like all the snarky, smarty mean girls I love to hate in the contemporary YA romance novels that I used to devour.
Shouldn’t you have thought of praying before going to bed with the sheikh?
I know, I’m sorry.
Well, it’s too late.
What do you mean?
We don’t do divorce, darling.
I never said I wanted one—
Then we don’t have a problem, do we?
Six hours earlier
Grandma Jackie’s kitchen wraps around me like a hug the second I walk in, and all the panicky feelings I struggled to overcome in the stylist’s shiny, shimmery, and splendid salon finally start to fade.
This place is not only comfortably familiar; it’s also the complete opposite, with everything here making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The scent of vanilla and fresh bread. The sound of eggs being beaten. And best of all is the way my Grandma Jackie makes me feel as she turns to look at me.
The wisdom in her eyes. The calmness of her expression. And oh, the gentleness of her smile.
Before I know it, I’ve already run into her arms, just like how I used to do when I was a little girl, and it was Grandma Jackie whom I only trusted to keep me safe when the world didn’t make sense.
“It’s going to be alright, dear. It’s going to be alright.”
She guides me to the tattered couch by the window, just like how she always would all these years. Whether I’m a little girl, a teenager, or an adult—I don’t think part of me will ever change. I trust what she has to say, and I always will.
“I’ll give you a few more seconds to let it all out, and then you will wipe your tears and compose yourself.”
Right .
I think I also forgot to say that Grandma Jackie wasn’t always a baker. Prior to discovering her passion for beating dough, she used to beat up the bad guys for a living. She served in the police force for over two decades, retired early when Grandpa Jackson, her partner, was killed in action.
A part of my heart died with him, she once explained. And that’s not good in my line of work. Not fair to my colleagues, to fight alongside someone who’s ready to go to Heaven .
“All good now?” Grandma Jackie asks when I’m done sniffing and blowing my nose with the dish towel she handed me.
“Yes, ma’am.” I always call her this when she’s in her tough cop mode.
“When the three of us talked earlier, I thought we had everything settled.”
“I thought so, too.”
“But you suddenly had cold feet?”
“I...” I don’t know. Is that what this is all about? Is this just cold feet, and nothing else?
“Am I really doing the right thing here?” I blurt out.
“You know it’s too late to ask that.”
I swallow hard. “You really think they’ll kill me if I divorce him?”
“Do you truly want to divorce him?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.” She gives me a look. No, wait. It’s the look. The kind that used to make suspects squirm, and it has the same effect on me as it did then, and so I also end up squirming.
“I...I...”
Grandma Jackie lets out a sigh. “Alright, let’s try making it easier then. Close your eyes and imagine another woman kissing Lykan.”
How dare she!
“But this woman...”
A monster!
“Is lovely inside and out—”
Wait...what?
My eyes fly open. “But—”
“I’m not yet finished,” Grandma Jackie chides.
Ugh.
I reluctantly close my eyes again.
“So, where was I?”
In my worst nightmare.
“This woman kissing Lykan...she’s not only beautiful inside and out.”
She was just lovely earlier, hmph.
How did she end up beautiful in just a matter of seconds?
“In fact, I’d go as far as saying—objectively speaking—”
I have a bad feeling about this.
“She’s even prettier than you.”
Knew it.
“And most importantly of all, this other woman loves Lykan with all her heart, with all her mind, and all her soul.”
Oh.
“Now, open your eyes,” Grandma Jackie orders.
I don’t want to— ouch!
My eyes fly open in indignation, but Grandma Jackie doesn’t even have the grace to look properly guilty after stepping on my foot.
“Let me ask you again. How do you feel about Lykan?”
I shrug.
“Scarlette.”
It’s the tone this time. The one she uses to let suspects know she’s this close to throwing them into jail if they don’t confess...and of course it’s still as effective as it always was, even on me.
“What if this is just infatuation?”
I think...
“It was just last week that I was head over heels in love with Vaughn.”
I think I’m babbling and grasping straws...
“Ever since I was sixteen, Grandma! Sixteen! So how is it possible—”
Because I’m scared...
“Oh, but it is, sweetheart. Your feelings for Lykan are very much possible and true because you were only infatuated with Vaughn.”
...of that.
“And it’s time you accept this and move on.”
I’m so tempted to laugh and cry again. “You make it sound so easy.”
“No, Scarlette. I’m just saying it’s quite simple. Not easy, but simple.”
“How can any of this be simple?” I ask helplessly. “I’ve only known him for days.”
“While you have known Vaughn for years,” she points out, “but guess who ended up making you forget everything I taught you about saving yourself for marriage?”
Ouch.
“H-He seduced me,” I end up blustering in self-defense. “He completely swept me off my feet.”
“And that’s why you want to divorce him?”
“No, of course not—” Aaaargh. “Stop trying to confuse me like I’m one of those suspects you want to charge for murder!”
“Then stop wasting both our time,” Grandma Jackie retorts, “beating around the bush like you’ve been doing since you got here.” She reaches for my hand, and I feel like crying again for some reason.
“I love you, and I want the best for you.”
“I k-know.”
Why does it feel like she’s about to hurt me...
“Then let me ask you again, and this time, you must speak the truth.”
...for my own good?
“Do you truly want to divorce him?”
I shake my head.
“Why?”
“You know why.” I feel like such a wimp, with how the words remain stuck in my throat.
“But you can’t say it out loud?”
“If I say it out loud...then there’s really no way out.”
“There never was, the moment you married him.”
“But I really don’t think he’s serious about having me killed—”
“I don’t think that either, but it’s not what I’m talking about.”
Oh.
“The world will tell you that you have a choice,” Grandma Jackie says softly. “It will even insist that you’re a fool to let a book written thousands of years ago to make decisions for your life...”
I cover my face with my hands.
This is not what I wanted to hear.
But I know it’s what I needed to hear.
“I’m scared,” I choke out. “I’m really scared that I made the wrong choice, and that I’m about to throw away everything for nothing.”
“How you two began isn’t ideal, but it’s not too late to make things right. You want the Lord’s blessing, you start obeying Him now.”
“I don’t even know if Lykan believes in God.”
“You do, that’s all that matters.” Grandma squeezes my flour-dusted hand with her own. “The Lord is with you. There is nothing to fear. What can man do to you?”
One hour earlier
The limo is ridiculous. Like, movie-star ridiculous. All buttery black leather and shiny chrome, smelling like expensive cologne and money. The windows are so dark I can’t see anything outside, and these soft lights make everything look golden.
Lykan keeps looking at me, and I can tell he’s...perplexed.
He’s probably wondering why I’ve yet to make a fuss, and frankly...so am I.
I keep wondering if any moment now, my mind will convince my heart to overrule my soul, and I’ll start yelling, ‘Let me out of this car this instant!’
But...honestly?
That moment doesn’t feel like it’s ever going to happen, and... huh?
The partition between us the driver slides up, and I look at Lykan, startled. Is he about to tell me something he doesn’t want anyone to hear, like maybe—
“What are you planning?”
Accusing me, his wife, of...
Huh.
I actually, honesetly don’t know what he’s accusing me of. Does he think I’m—
“You’ve been very reasonable,” Lykan says broodingly.
Oh, so that’s why.
“I...I thought it was just sensible to give our marriage a go.”
“Just like that?”
“Yes.”
Lykan’s gaze narrows. “There has to be something else. You’re not the type to change your mind for no reason.”
He’s right, of course...and I think that’s a good sign. He knows me, even though it’s only been days since we first met. That has to be another one of God’s signs... right?