Chapter 3

• Helena asked Victoria to her room to talk. She missed her daughter so much, she had lost so much weight and it broke Vicky's heart. Her mother was a shell of what she used to be. Although she looked happy and at peace to see her daughter alive and well it still broke Vicky at how her mother looked like a walking corpse. " Mom, please move in with me. You can't keep living here like this, I know Mara and dad are not treating you well" said Victoria.
• "You have two adorable grandkids now, will you help me look after them, while I go to work?" she added. Helena couldn't even wait for her to continue, she was happy to look after her grandchildren so she agreed without even asking the burning quest of who the father of the twins were. She knew her daughter was a good person and there was probably an answer to all the bad things that Mara has been saying about Victoria. She decided to give her time to tell her everything.
• Dinner time came and Christian came with one of his assistants, Colin. They brought dowry and all sorts of gifts for Mara's parent. Even though it was a sham marriage, He still wanted it to look real. Mara had invited her friends and relatives just to show off. Some of them hated her family but they were just there to curry favour from her family since she was marrying into the wealthiest family in the country. When Victoria and her mother came downstairs everyone was already seated, Christian was the first person to lock eyes with Victoria and he stood up right away. " Mr Underwood, I didn't know you had 2 daughters?" he asked Greg. Mr Underwood smirked and said " oh, you mean Victoria? She's not my real daughter, She's the daughter my wife came with" .
• Christian was confused and amused at the same time. But a smile could be seen on his face while he was looking at Victoria. Mara got very angry and spilled the beans. " We are not related in anyway with this sore loser, she's like one of our maids, She even has a child and we still don't know who the father is" she said. This immediately picked his interest and he wanted to know more about Victoria.
• What people in the room didn't know was that Victoria and Sebastian knew each other. Even though Victoria didn't look at his face properly the morning after their one night stand, she immediately remembered this face. She had been thinking about this man .Christian was intrigued, but on the other hand Victoria was disgusted by him. Anything it anyone that was touched by Mara was considered trash according to her. Even though he couldn't stop thinking about that night for four years all her feelings were extinguished as soon as they net and she realised "her man" as she has fantasised for so long was her step sister's fiancé. She was disgusted and heartbroken at the same time. She wanted to leave that place immediately.
• She hugged her mother and said whispered goodbye in her ear, but her mother knew something was off because sh4 was trembling. She wanted to stop her but she didn't want to call attention to her daughter, so she just bade her farewell and said nothing more. Greg didn't even bother to look at Victoria. Mara was very happy because she thought, Victoria was jealous.
• Victoria ran as fast as she could and stood beside the road to wait for a cab , but none appeared, she was cold and miserable. He tears pained her eyes. The more she tried to stop her tears the more they kept falling. What she didn't know was that after she left, Christian called off the wedding, without any explanation, he apologised and told the family he was sorry, something came up that needed his attention. He told Mara and her family that they should keep the gifts. The Underwood family was a laughing stock, even Mara's fake friend from high class were laughing at her. Mara was beside herself, she felt like a joke, yet she couldn't shout and scold Christian because she was scared of him. How could she not fear him it even his parents and everyone in the room was scared of the man. But since she thought he approached her because of his grandfather she decided right then that she will use the old man to make Christian marry her. A beautiful girl like her can get any man she wants, she just needed to use her charm to persuade him.
• At the road side" I don't know it I should be happy or mad, In fact I should be the one crying " Victoria was startled by a deep voice next to her. When she looked up, she saw Christian looking down at her, but she couldn't read him. Was he mad? She didn't know what to make of his expression. Christian had so many questions to ask Victoria but he didn't know where to start, yet the question that came out of his mouth was " will you marry me ?" . Victoria shit his a look and laughed, not because she was amused, but because she couldn't get this man's audacity. He was engaged to be married to her step sister but here he was asking her to marry him. Did he think she was a toy to be played with? The nerve. So this man wanted her to be his mistress? What did he take her for? " she thought.
• Although Christian was mad at this girl, he couldn't bring himself to shout at her, because he also couldn't contain his happiness. " please go back to your darling Mara, and stop playing games with me, you have no shame for a man who is about to get married. How dare you ask me to be your mistress?" Victoria shot back. Christian was amused by this little lady. For such a tiny body she sure had a temper.
• "Anything or anyone that was touched by Mara is dirt to me ,just so you know." She continued. And if she sent you to toy with my feeling, you both will be very disappointed " she mocked. Even though she was livid, Victoria was happy to get a glimpse of the man if her dreams, this man has been evading her sleep for the past 4 years. She had never seen such a handsome man, he looked like a model straight out of a Elle magazine. " What a waste, why choose Mara of all people , such an evil woman?" She thought to look herself.
• Christian could see that this little lady was angry, but he couldn't understand why she was even unhappy if she was the one who left him high and dry. " I have been looking for you for 4 years, with no luck. I am the one who should be angry by the way" he countered back. " Was I not good enough? Why would you just leave the hotel without saying a word, and even decide to disappear? Was I that horrible? He continued to grill her with questions.
• At this point Victoria didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Because that night was the highlight of her entire life, she couldn't forget about this man even when she tried to. She told her heart to stop longing for this man but it didn't listen to her. She asked him why he chose to be with Mara of all people and the man laughed like he had the funniest joke. This made her angry and she decided not to pry any further. She stood up and started walking, leaving him to here. But he was not going to let her go again, afraid she was going disappear from his life again. He chased after her and grabbed, he hugged so tight. No one spoke, only their heart beats could be heard. It was like they were communicating with each other. Victoria knew she had to forget about this man, but right at this moment she couldn't let go, she didn't want to let go. She felt so safe, like she belonged there. This man was like her safe haven, how could she let go. Even if this was the last time she was close to him ,she just wanted to inhale his Cologne. He smelled so good and it was comforting..