The Aristocrat's Daughter

c3.23: jealoused

My stomach rumbled in the eerie silence.

“I didn’t get to grab dinner before I left,” I explained, getting a chocolate bar out of my bag. “What a prick he is…” I whispered to myself.

A chuckle reverberated from Ryan’s throat. “You don’t mean that,” he retorted on the swivel chair, playing with his Rubik’s cube. “He means well, but he did it the wrong way.”

I stopped munching and glared. If Ryan wasn’t going to get me, then I didn’t know who would. “What part of ‘he shamed me’ did you not get?”

He straightened up on his seat, sighing. “Listen, Mel. If there is any good thing I learnt the hard way, it’s not to expect the worst out of the people we love. Even if he meant to shame you, think of ways to solve the solution, not complicate it. If he cared about your class, he wouldn’t be with you anyway!” he threw his arms in the air, trying to prove his point. “Deep down, I’m sure you know he meant no harm, so don’t let this get more complicated.”

I tongued my inner cheek, stirring his words in my head. Ryan was right, but I wasn’t sure to what extent his words applied to my situation. Then again, he knew Kai for longer than I did. If the guy was bad, he would warn me.

“I’m with you with the Kim thing all the way, but you need to understand her comeback was very shocking to him, to all of us. He might just be using your job as an excuse not to talk to her because he is uncomfortable. You need to be with him, not against him.”

His words had some truth, but I chose to keep my response to myself.

Ryan got up from his chair. “I’ll get you some dinner for now. Sleep well and think better in the morning. We have to go to Massie’s birthday vacation on the weekend too, you know.”

I nodded.

In the soft bed I slept on, I rolled and tossed very often. My hands held my phone tightly, contemplating whether to text Kai every now and then. I had never thought of who should text first in our relationship, so thinking of that at that moment felt odd.

I typed and deleted many texts to test what I could say. Should I tell him I was fine, and he didn’t need to worry? He didn’t ask. Should I ask whether he ate? He wasn’t a kid; he could order food. Should I ask if he missed me? He would’ve texted me.

I eventually fell asleep with my phone in my hand. When I woke up, it was on the bedside table. I assumed Ryan looked over me at some limit. I looked at the clock on the wall and gasped. It was nine in the morning, so I already missed the start of my lectures. I found a text from Ryan assuring me it was okay to take a break and rest, and I could be comfortable around the place because his parents usually left early and came back late.

I changed out of my pyjamas and went downstairs with my backpack. I smelled freshly baked bread. Downstairs, I met the butler, who introduced himself as John. He insisted on me eating before I left as a part of the Martinez courtesy.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, taking a seat on the dining table.

John ensured I had a wide range of options to eat. Again, the Martinez courtesy. If only he knew. When he needed to leave, I stopped him with a curious question.

“Where are Mr and Mrs Martinez?”

His face fell. “Checking… in the hospital.”

I bit my lip. “Is he… very sick?”

“He can get better.” He flashed me a sad smile. “Now, if you may excuse me, Miss.”

I nodded for the man to leave, resulting in me being alone in a spacious dining area with various plates of food. That area alone was bigger than any studio mum and I had ever rented. Was that where Ryan had grown up?

Did he wake up to birds chirping rather than extremely early alarms at five in the morning for part-time jobs? Did he come downstairs to a table full of plates, a family waiting for him at it, rather than munching on a croissant on his way to work? Were they cosy together in that warm home in winter beside the fireplace?

He had everything I was deprived of. I couldn’t help the jealousy that sprouted in the pit of my stomach and the hatred for my supposed biological father. How could he leave us suffering when he had all the means to help? He didn’t have to welcome Mum besides his wife, but at least send her money for the child he helped create.

It still felt unbelievable such a thing actually happened. Sometimes, I wished I never knew and just went on with my life. It didn’t change anything anyway, except it made me loathe someone I never even met.

I lost my appetite and left the mansion. I spent the morning in a studying café to catch up a little before finals and progressed with some reports. I didn’t realise how much time I had spent there until my phone rang, and I caught the time on the screen: two in the afternoon.

He finally called. I picked up, but I could only hear breaths at first.

“Why didn’t you come to university?” he finally asked.

I didn’t reply. I didn’t know what the right thing to say was. I let my unsteady breaths tell away what I felt.

“When are you coming back home?”

Home? Was Kai’s place my home? I should’ve asked that much sooner, but my circumstances blinded me. We were living in a fairy-tale and didn’t wake up until I brought up such a serious topic.

“Did you rethink what you said?” I finally spoke up.

“Come home, and we’ll talk. I promise,” he murmured. It almost came out as a husky whisper.

I missed him, even if it had been a couple of hours only. The thought I’d distance myself for more than those couple of hours made me miss him in advance. That change would be hard because we had been living together, doing everything together, for months. It felt different to sleep away from him, even when he wasn’t looking at me. His murmured words reminded me of his faint good-nights before I’d drift off to dreamland in his arms. I almost shed a tear at the longing.

“I’ll… think about it.”

I wanted to say ‘yes, I will’, but I knew it wasn’t the right thing. If I was that easy to convince, I feared he would take me for granted and keep making mistakes in the future.

“Take care. Eat and sleep well,” I purred.

I heard him sigh. “You do too.”

How much would you rate Ryan from 1-10?

How hard do you think it will be for Melanie to come back?

What do you think they should do to maintain a healthy relationship?

Also, just started out a FREE book club! Come see 👀

Shower this chapter with support if you like drama! Vote, share and comment xx 😘