Engaged to the Heartless Heartbreaker ✔

Chapter 18 - Phobia

Nigel chuckled at what I said. My heart was like pierced a thousand times with the way he reacted. He was not taking my statements seriously.

"That was just so corny," he mused. "But, know what, I don't really have a heart. Isn't it still obvious?"

Yeah, why couldn't my stupid heart feel how heartless this man was? Why couldn't I just walk away from him and live a life of my own? Why couldn't I just give a damn? Why couldn't I?

I became speechless. Instead, I let the tears to fall down through my cheeks.

Suddenly, a realization hit me big time. No, I couldn't be a cry-baby all my life. I had to learn how to fight.

"I'll tell mom the wedding has to be ASAP!" It was something that I didn't plan to say. It just came out so naturally from my mouth that even I myself was unprepared to listen.

"What?" was Nigel's shocked reaction. Once again, he found my wrist and gripped it really hard that the tingling pain traveled quickly to my arm and went straight to my chest. I felt I had no more air to breath. But my mind told me to fight. Probably, that Maria Stella stirred the will in me to claim what was rightfully mine. Nigel only belonged to me.

"Yeah, I'm going to tell mommy that she has to set the wedding soon!" I said faking my confidence.

Oh, what have I just said? Am I going crazy now?

"Are you crazy?" He burst out in total anger. This time, he shoved both of my shoulders. He definitely was not expecting what I just said.

I don't know. I'm asking the same question. Can you answer it for me, Nigel?

He very well knew that whatever I would tell Mommy Carol, she would always grant my wish no matter what the cost would be. Sensing that I had no intention of answering him, Nigel pushed me away too painfully.

I nearly lost my balance but I managed to remain my stance. "You're so brutal, do you know that?" I spat at him as I brushed the tears from my eyes.

"And you're the craziest person I've ever met," he said glaring daggers into my face.

His facial expression reminded me of that time when our engagement was announced by mom five years ago. He looked quite shocked, horrified... and angry.

I stared at his eyes, pleading him to be more discernible to my feelings. My abundant tears, on the other hand, flowed down freely on my cheeks.

"You will never win this, Althea. Never. I will make it one hundred and one percent sure," he said, later, in his signature icy insensible tone. The weird thing was, in that icy tone, a surge of confidence was evident. And that all-too-apparent confidence was sealed with a sarcastic glare.

"One hundred and one percent sure?" I echoed him totally confused. Why did he appear so sure when he said I would never win this. When he said he would never marry me, did he really mean it? Was I only faking to myself every time I'd feel that he also had feelings for me? In just an instant, my strength and my sense of hope crumbled bit by bit into a million pieces. It was unbelievably replaced with fear... fear that, in the future, he would never ever be mine. My hands shook at my sides. I had to clench both of them to control them from tottering.

Yeah, how long would I endure all of this?

"D-do you want me to give up now?" I asked Nigel, searching for a clue if fighting till the end would all be worth it.

There was a gleam of surprise in his eyes the moment he heard my question... and, boy, was I also seeing fear in those piercing yet beautiful pair of eyes?