The Prince's Soulmate | ✔

Chapter 56

His eyes blazed angrily as he stared at the ground.

“Did something else happen?”

“She’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“My mother found out about our relationship. Thalia returned everything I’d gotten her, but she had kept the flowers I gave her in a vase in her room. My mother saw those.”

“But they’re just flowers,” I frowned.

“They were a rare kind of flowers that only grow in the southern part of the kingdom” he scratched his neck nervously. “They might have cost a few hundred dollars.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “She fired her. I found out when I got home. I don’t know where Thalia went and I can’t get through to her.”

He punched the bench with an angry growl. “She was working here to save money for school and now it’s all my fault that she got fired. What should I do?”

“Give her some time,” I suggested. “And give your mom some time to calm down. Maybe she would have been okay with your relationship if you’d talked to her about it first.”

“That wouldn’t have worked,” he snarled. “She would have fired her immediately.”

“But you’re old enough to choose who you want to date,” I protested. “So why is it such a big deal for her?”

“That’s how she’s always been,” he sighed. “Unlike the other guys, I didn’t live as a noble all my life. I was a regular guy until six years ago. Everything was simpler.” A smile crossed his face as the memories of his childhood floated across his mind. “It was the life I wanted. My family wasn’t rich, but we were happy.”

“I didn’t know that. How did you end up here then? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“We were all happy with a simple life. But my mother wasn’t. She constantly asked my father to buy her things. Shoes, bags, dresses… all the designer items that the noble women strut around in. He saved up and finally managed to buy her an expensive bag. She was happy, but she still wanted more. She left him for the Lord of Everton, rank Beta. It turns out she’d had an affair with him years ago. He is actually my biological father. She finally confessed everything before she left my father. He was heartbroken.

“My father couldn’t afford to give my mother a lot, so I wanted to change that. I thought Thalia probably wanted the same things, so I showered her with gifts.”

“I’m sure she appreciated them, Raúl. But material gifts only bring temporary joy. Not everyone enjoys things like that. It can be burdensome, especially when the other person can’t give you anything in return.”

He paused to let that sink in.

“You’re right,” he decided. “I should have paid more attention to her feelings. I got so used to my mother and her friends competing to buy expensive stuff, I just assumed that Thalia wanted to live like that too. I must have hurt her feelings.”

“Did you move in with your mom six years ago?”

“My other siblings chose to stay with our family and I wanted to stay with my dad too, but I was the youngest, and the Lord of Everton's son, so she took me with her despite our protests. So that’s how I met my biological father. He doesn’t have any other children, so I’m stuck here as his heir.”

“That must have been hard for you,” I frowned. “To live a life you don’t want to…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to get trapped like that too.