The Price of Love

Chapter 18: Fairy Tales

Bella

I felt the tears welling in my eyes as I rushed up the stairs. I had thrown myself across the bed, not bothering to change out of my fancy dress when I heard a soft knock at my door. I sat up, wiping at my eyes. "Come in."

It was Sadie. She came in and closed the door quietly. "Do you need anything, miss?"

I inhaled. "No...yes." I felt my eyes threatening to overflow again and placed my hands over my face. "I don't know. I don't understand what is happening? Why am I here?" I said mostly to myself, but the young maid must have thought I wanted an answer.

"I'm not sure, but the young master wanted you to be here," she said softly.

I sniffed and wiped at my eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"Do you want me to help you with your dress, miss?"

I shrugged, but then I saw the distress in her eyes, so I nodded and got to my feet. "Yes, thanks."

Sadie grabbed a fluffy robe from the closet and laid it on the bed. She had me out of the dress in no time. As I wrapped the robe around me, I noticed her looking at the dress lovingly. She seemed embarrassed when she realized I was observing her.

"Forgive me, miss," she said sheepishly. "I just think this is the prettiest dress ever. You looked so beautiful in it. Master Seokjin has great taste, doesn't he? Sonya--that's Miss Micha's maid--told me that this dress cost more than I make in two months, but she said---oh, miss, are you okay?"

I had gone pale and dropped down on the edge of the bed. Why would Jin keep spending so much money on dresses for me? I looked down at the shoes I had kicked off and focused on the Jimmy Choo label along the footbed. I felt so confused. Why would he have bought me clothes and shoes and plane tickets and everything else only to let me know he's marrying someone else? Did he think that the expensive gifts would appease me? Was this a send-off?

"Y-yes, I'm okay," I whispered. I curled up on the bed willing myself not to cry. I heard Sadie moving around the room then the bathroom. I was a bit startled to see her standing next to me all of a sudden. She was holding several cotton balls and a bottle of makeup remover.

"Let me help you, miss," she said. "It is not good for your beautiful skin to sleep with all that makeup on." She began wiping my face with long, gentle strokes. "You are such a beautiful girl You definitely belong with the young master. You look perfect together. He is the handsomest man I've ever seen in my life."

At her words, I felt my lip tremble and my eyes fill with tears again. I didn't want to be with Seokjin because of our looks. I wanted us to belong together because we were in love. I loved him too much for words. Why was he doing this?

"Oh, no, miss. I'm sorry," Sadie said. "I didn't mean to say something dumb. It's just that I was sure the young master liked you. After all, he was very happy when you got here. I heard about how he greeted you. It sounded so romantic. And then he bought you that gorgeous dress, and the two of you looked like real-life fairy tale characters when you went down to dinner." She stopped when she saw that I started crying again. "Oh, miss. I'm sorry."

"So am I," I said in a tremulous voice. "I just don't understand people like them, Sadie," I continued in a wail. "I don't understand Seokjin at all. People warned me, but I was too stupid to see the truth. People like him don't live by normal rules. This is what I get for believing in fairy tales. You see, the thing about fairy tales--they aren't real."

The maid finished wiping my face. "You should get some rest, miss. Maybe things are not as bad as they seem right now. I'm sure the young master will explain. No one who saw the way he looks at you can believe that he would ever choose anyone else."

I took the last tissue she offered and dabbed at my eyes and my nose. "Thank you, Sadie, for everything. Good night."

"Good night, miss," she said. She laid out a silky nightgown on the bed and left silently.

I rolled my body to the other side and sobbed into the pillow. No, I would never understand these rich people and their privileged lives. What did Seokjin expect me to do or say? Did he even consider how I would feel? Why did he ask me to come here if not to show me just how insignificant I was in his life. I was so, so stupid!