Bad Royals

25

Everything seemed to fade the moment her eyes met his.

Those soft eyes that she longed to meet. The eyes that she missed gazing and glaring at so much. Those captivating eyes that made her heart do a weird flip.

Archer. Archer was here. Archer was sitting right in front of her. Archer was here in London like her. Archer was in the same room on the same table as her.

Is that an illusion of her desperate imagination?

She still couldn't believe her own eyes. But he was really here, in the flesh!

After all that wasted time, she finally met him. But she wasn't ready, nor her courage was available now. She seemed lost and confused at the moment.

And..afraid. James took the seat beside her and kept reassuringly squeezing her hand. She appreciated it. He always knew how to support her.

However, the figure in front of her kept glaring at James. She felt awkward and didn't know what to say or how to act.

Archer, on the other hand, had so many mixed feelings all crashing at the same time. As soon as his eyes landed on Bella's figure, he was over the moon despite the confusion of seeing her here, but he was beyond glad that he finally saw his beauty. But all that happiness was soon crumbled. Here his Bella was standing in the arms of another man. He was a good-looking man with a loving, no! A very loving look on his face, to be exact that held so much affection and admiration towards Bella; he had his arms around Bella's waist. His hands, to be specific, were resting on her waist. He felt anger gather and rise inside him. How could he touch his Bella? Moreover, Bella seemed okay with that; she seemed.. so okay and relaxed. And when she put her hands on his, he felt like punching someone, and he knew exactly who.

As if it wasn't enough, he was now sitting beside her. So close. So damn close. Who is that guy? And why the hell is he touching someone who isn't his? Those were the questions bombarding Archer's mind. He wanted Bella all to himself. He wanted to enjoy her company. He wanted to make up for the waste time. But with that guy beside her, it was impossible.

He thought that she would come running into his arms when they finally meet and finally realize that they are meant together. But guess he dreams big. Because till now, she didn't even utter a single word to him. They all got to know each other and were done with the introductions, but she never acted as they were kind of close nor said a single word to him.

God, am I fuming! Archer growled silently.

"So prince Archer..." Eliza started, and Bella felt nervous that Eliza would embarrass her. It was Eliza's habit.

"Just Archer, please." Archer interrupted.

"Okay, Archer, " Eliza smiled. "How come we didn't know about your existence till Dylan got married to your sister?"

"We just wanted to keep a low profile away from the people's eyes, I guess." Archer shrugged.

Eliza nodded, then turned to face her fiancè who was sitting beside her. "And how the hell you did not tell me that you knew the mysterious prince." She nudged him playfully, with a stern look.

He shook his head immediately, afraid of her temper that he fell in love with, to be honest. "I swear I had no idea who he was. I knew about him the same time you did."

Lana furrowed her eyebrows confused. "How come?" That's a question not only Lana was curious about but also Bella, who listened carefully to the conversation, unable to meet Archer's gaze.

"My sister and I used a fake identity. We kept our names but had made up a different Family name. We wanted to study in peace with no media bothering us." Archer shrugged. Now that made sense.