Pampered Like A Princess

In Edward’s office, Sophie rested on the couch with a magazine in her hands. She also took the occasional glance at the ever stunning Edward sitting in front of her.

Edward was discussing some business matters with Andrew. Sophie on the other hand kept her eyes on the envelope from Nelissa on the table.

Sophie then put down the magazine and asked, “Edward, what are you going to be doing two days from now?”

Edward didn’t respond. He dug his head deep into his work.

“Miss Bailey, Mr. Hales’ schedule for the week is already full,” Andrew instead replied.

“Alright,” Sophie smiled and responded. There was a trace of subtle disappointment in her eyes.

She graced over to Edward’s desk and reached for Nelissa’s envelope.

She noticed that the envelope was really thin; as a matter of fact, it seemed empty. Before she could pick it up, Edward grabbed her hand and stared at her.

“I hate people disturbing me when I’m working. You are distracting me,” Edward reprimanded.

“Aren’t you going to the temple to pray for Anna? Get going already, that’s the least you can do,” Edward added.

Sophie was stunned. “Alright, I will also pray for Mikaelson’s speedy recovery.”

“Thanks.” Edward let go of her hand and continued working.

Andrew saw Sophie out of the office and into the elevator. Sophie took a look at her hands and there was a bright red mark around her wrist; Edward really grabbed her very strongly.

After he finished his work, Edward opened Nelissa’s envelope. There were two pieces of paper inside.

One was a cheque for three hundred thousand dollars and the other was just a simple thank-you note.

Edward loved her handwriting. At that moment, Edward let out a sly smile. Andrew felt a slight chill in his shoulders and was worried for Nelissa.

That wasn’t a kind smile! What did Nelissa do this time?

“Tell me, am I too nice to her? She is the first woman to never thank me properly,” Edward glanced at Andrew and said. He subsequently dropped the cheque on the ground and stomped on it.

“Thank you Master Hales for the help. Here is the money I owe you. We are even now.”

Those were the words written on the note.

Andrew didn’t know how to respond. Edward had never been that nice to a girl before; Nelissa was really the first one!

It was sunny and bright in the morning but the weather changed drastically over the course of a few hours.

Nelissa was on her way back to the Quest family. She knew that Zayden was a workaholic and would probably still be in his office at this hour.

She wanted to go back and take some stuff; all the contracts that Zayden forced her to sigh.

Maybe they were still in that safe in his bedroom! Hopefully the password was unchanged.

She held a tiny umbrella and braved the storm. The umbrella seemed like it would be torn away at any moment as Nelissa struggled her way to make it up the steps of the villa.

She stood at the door and paused; Nelissa had the keys but the locks were probably changed long ago.

This home of hers had been invaded and conquered by someone else.

Ding-dong!

Nelissa rang the doorbell multiple times before someone finally came to the door.

Nelissa assumed when either the maids or the butler opened the door, she could make up any excuse to enter. She could say that she was Zayden’s newly hired secretary and was home to collect some documents.

To her surprise, it was Susan that came to the door.

Nelissa wasn’t expecting that; she had totally forgotten about her.

Susan was really living the lavish mistress life; she didn’t need to work. All she did was to stay home all day doing nothing.

“What’s the matter?” Susan asked while she played with her hair cockily.

Nelissa replied, “I’m here to collect some of Mary’s stuff. Her clothes and the photo of us by her bedside.”

Susan looked at Nelissa with disdain. They were both in a white dress that day.

Susan casually said, “Dear, do you think I would let you enter?”

Nelissa wasn’t fazed. She calmly responded, “This was originally my home. It doesn’t belong to me now but you don’t have a say in it. Zayden is the owner now.”

Nelissa added, “I noticed that you have been really fond of taking my things lately. But I don’t blame you. It must have been hard being my doppelganger for so many years.”

BANG! Susan slammed the door and stepped out of the villa.

Susan walked onto the grass in the rain and gave Nelissa a pitiful look.

“I don’t have the keys. Both of us are locked out here now. Let’s wait for Zayden to come back and see what he says.”

Nelissa knew what she was plotting; such an evil woman.

Suddenly, Susan dropped to her knees in front of Nelissa. Her knees sank into the muddy ground and stained her white dress.

Nelissa just stood there and shook her head at Susan’s display.

“Nelissa, I don’t think you are here just for the clothes, right? You want to take the photo and announce to the world who you really are. Then you are going to get rid of me,” Susan hissed with a sulk on her face.

“Have you ever thought about how Zayden felt? After he took over the company, he struggled for a long time to revitalite the company.”

Susan began tearing up and continued, “I can help him boost the company’s performance on the stock market. Are you really going to make all his efforts go down the drain?”

Nelissa looked at Susan. The rain grew heavier and Nelissa couldn’t differentiate between the tears and the raindrops flowing down Susan’s face.

“In the end, you are just scared of me. You cannot allow me to take away your identity,” Susan mocked.

Nelissa responded with silence.

At that moment, Zayden’s car pulled up the driveway. The chauffeur opened the door for Zayden and sheltered him with a black umbrella.

Zayden saw Susan on her knees in front of Nelissa.

“Susan, where is your umbrella?” Zayden asked calmly.

“I’m begging Nelissa!” Susan fixated her eyes on Nelissa.

“What are you doing here?” Zayden asked. He was still relatively calm.

“I’m here to collect my mother’s clothes and the photo we took together,” Nelissa answered. The chauffeur was rushing to shelter Susan from the rain.

Zayden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was suppressing the anger he felt. “I’ll send someone to bring the things over tomorrow.”

Nelissa gave a downcast look and said, “Can I not even step foot into my own home?”

“Nelissa!” Zayden roared. He was very disappointed at Nelissa. “I don’t care what you are trying to do! Drop the act! You are never stepping foot into that house!”

It was apparent that both of them were guarded against each other.

Nelissa deliberately chose a time when Zayden would be at the office; Zayden intentionally returned home from the office early.

They were once so madly in love. Only lovers could share such intimacy and knowledge about one another.

Nelissa glanced at Susan and remarked, “Help her up and get her some soup in the house. Even I feel sorry for her.”

Nelissa turned and walked away in the rain. Her umbrella helped in shielding the loneliness and depressive figure of Nelissa.

Zayden hesitated to call out her name; he wanted to give her a ride but he knew that Nelissa would refuse.

In the Quest family, the maids prepared some hot towels for Zayden and Susan. Susan was drenched; she might get sick.

“Zayden, did I overdo it just now?” Susan asked weakly.

“You know fully well what you did! Don’t ask me stupid questions!” Zayden tossed the towel on the ground and strode up the stairs. He didn’t even turn to look at Susan.

Nelissa walked slowly in the rain. She focused all her energy on enduring the cold, harsh wind and rain splashing on her face.

She didn’t notice a car nearby watching her.

After some time, she couldn’t bear it anymore. Her face was hurting from the cold. The constant beating of the raindrops were like slaps reminding her of the cruelty of reality.

Her home, the man she used to love; they were all taken away by another woman.

She was exhausted. She squatted down as a puddle of muddy water formed around her feet. Her feet were aching and sore from walking. The flat-heeled slippers weren’t much help either.

The car from earlier stopped not far from Nelissa.

Edward got down as Andrew held an umbrella beside him. They sauntered towards Nelissa.

Nelissa squatted there until a pair of leather shoes entered her sight.

“What are you doing here? Are you lost?” There was wrath folded within Edward’s voice.

Nelissa mustered her strength and raised her head. Edward stood there like the Colossus of Rhodes, magnificent and glorious.

His presence felt more overwhelming than the heavy rain itself.

Nelissa was frightened. She knew that she had to reap Edward’s fury. The thought of that made her lose her grip on her umbrella as it tumbled away.

The heavy raindrops were like bullets as they mercilessly pounded onto Nelissa.

Edward quickly took the umbrella from Andrew and held it over Nelissa. He said strongly, “Stand up!”

“My leg is numb, I can’t get up…” Nelissa didn’t want to get up; she didn’t want to know what Edward would do to her.

Edward raised his eyebrows and seemed to relax a bit. He passed Andrew the umbrella and bent down to lift Nelissa in his arms.

Nelissa then gently wrapped her hands around Edward. She could smell the fragrance of his cologne, which was miles better than the stench of mud and rain.

“You are the first woman that ever dared to coquet with me even after committing a mistake.”

Nelissa didn’t know if that was a compliment but before she knew it, Edward had already carried her into the car.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.