Chapter 139

RYKER’S PO.V

For the next three days, things were quiet and it had me feeling uneasy because I knew that silence was only a covering for something more sinister at play. Camilla tried to get me to focus on the good, on the fact that nothing was happening but I knew better. She spent most of her time with the girls so she couldn’t feel the tension the same way that I did, she couldn’t feel the unease in the air. To an extent, I was glad that she couldn’t because I didn’t want her to worry more than she already was.

She told me that she had an encounter with Alara but wouldn’t tell me what it entailed. She just explained that it didn’t end well and since then, Alara had all but disappeared into her room and refused to come out. That was what had me worrying because I knew that she wasn’t someone who would take a perceived insult lying down. She was planning something and not knowing was the hardest part.

On the bright side, Christine was supposed to return any day from now. She hadn’t written us a single letter so there was no way for us to know how the trip was going and if the search was fruitful. I tried not to worry about it but it was hard. It was almost as if everything was turning upside down and I didn’t know what to focus on first.

A knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts and Camilla walked in. She looked exhausted but she was still nothing less than beautiful. Her hair was flowing down her back but the sides were pinned away from her face allowing me to see the faint bags under her eyes and her dress was more on the simple side with barely any embellishments.

“Aurora is asleep,” she exclaimed as she made her way over to me. “I got one of the maids to watch her.”

“You look exhausted,” I pointed out and she rolled her eyes playfully.

“Haven’t you been told never to comment on how a woman looks? You just called me ugly.”

“I said you were exhausted, you couldn’t be ugly if you tried,” I corrected and I saw the corner of her lips tilt up. I reached out to her and she wasted no time in intertwining her fingers with mine. She sat on the edge of the table in front of me and just looked down at me with a small smile.

I didn’t know what it was about her smiles but they always managed to make everything feel right. For a split second, I didn’t care about Alara or Christine or the fact that my life was about to be pulled up from the root. I simply existed in that moment with her and chose to focus on that alone.

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16:10 Mon, 19 Feb G B

Chapter 139

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she whispered and I shrugged. “Is there something on my face?” She reached up to touch her face but I stopped her by grabbing her hand. “Tell me, is it bad?”

“There’s nothing,” I assured her and she narrowed her eyes at me for a split second but chose to believe me. “I was just thinking about how incredibly lucky I am to have you. If it were someone else, they would have left me by now and honestly, I wouldn’t blame them. This whole thing is a cluster f uck. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me after we get rid of her,” she crinkled her nose in disgust. “Have you noticed that she has been awfully quiet over the past two days? Is it because I finally stood up to her?”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but-”

I was cut off by a knock on the door. Camilla was the one who answered and I frowned at her because I was more than content with leaving the person knocking until they got the hint that I didn’t want any interruptions. I was shocked when my door opened and Caius made his way into the office.copy right hot novel pub