PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 26

“What a bloody long day!” I say to Zach when he gets into the driver’s seat. After hours of fake smiling and laughing with Jade and her sister, I am finally free. I am now in my car, and Zach is driving me home. Had I known things were going to be this exhausting, I would have said no to the lunch. Don’t get me started on how she was talking about Dante like he is the best thing that happened after sliced bread.

I am glad all that is finally over. I cannot wait to get home and take a nice, relaxing shower. As much as I don’t like Jade, I am curious how Dante is going to react to the pictures I took with Jade. Is he going to tell her that I am his ex-girlfriend? On my side, if Jade were to ask, I would tell her that I didn’t think it was a big deal. Paula is calling me…

Me: Hey girl!

Paula: You said to call you so you can make an excuse to leave Jade and her sister.

Me: Thanks, I am already in the car heading home. I’m glad it’s finally over.

Paula: Why would you put yourself through all that, Ari, knowing you don’t like her?

Me: I wanted to see what kind of person she is. I wanted to see what was so special that Dante would choose her. There is nothing even special about her. She is just a normal person like everyone else.

Paula: Maybe that’s what Dante wanted, someone who is normal and not famous.

Me: Dante doesn’t know what he wants. Anyway, I only care about Dante’s reaction when Jade posts the pictures we took together.

Paula: You guys even took photos; Dante is going to be pissed.

Me: I wonder if he will reach out after he sees the pictures. Seeing his ex and current in one picture will surely make him faint.

Paula: You are messy, do you know that?

Me: I didn’t do anything. Jade and her sister are the ones who approached me first. I was shopping in peace, and they came to me.

Paula: Let me go back to my man. Tell me how people react to your photo with Jade.

Me: I will. Take care!

I hang up and go to my Facebook, search for Jade Marshal. I was hoping she had posted the photos of us, but she hasn’t. The only photo she posted is the shoes her sister bought, the ones that look like mine. I go to the comments – people are talking about how they will be getting the same shoes. I’m so throwing away these shoes. I cannot wear something that the whole of GoldenRock has. When I get home, Kelly is already waiting outside the house so she can get my shopping bags and put away my things.

Kelly gets the door for me and says, “Welcome back, Miss Willow.”

“Be careful with my clothes when you are putting them away. ”

“I will, Miss Willow,” she walks ahead of me, heading to my bedroom.

I go to the kitchen to get myself some water. I place my phone on the kitchen counter, open the fridge to get flavoured water. My favourite is litchi water. My phone vibrates a couple of times on the counter. It usually does that when I am getting multiple notifications.

From the looks of it, Jade finally posted and tagged me. She posted two pictures of Giselle, herself and me with the caption ‘Lunch with Aria Willow. It was lovely meeting you girl.’ I am glad that she chose the pictures where we all looked good. I don’t like it when people share pictures of only themselves looking good. The picture already had five thousand likes within five minutes. Don’t these people work or something? I decide to go through the comments.

‘Are you guys sure you are not sisters? You look alike.’

I scoff at that comment. I am way prettier than the two of them. I continue scrolling through the comments. She is getting way more engagement than I usually do.

‘My favourite people in one photo. Lov u, Jade and Aria.’

‘Pretty women xoxo.’

Most comments are directed to Jade, so I log off. The only reaction I want is Dante’s. I want to know how he feels about all this. Is he going to tell his woman to stay away from me? Is he going to tell me to stay away from his woman? I cannot wait to see it all unfold.

“I didn’t know you were close with Jade,” says Mom, walking into the kitchen. “I just saw your pictures with her on her page.”

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on newspapers and word puzzles? This is young people’s business. You shouldn’t even be following Jade; you should be following News Network.”

“The internet is for everyone; there is no age limit. How was it like meeting Jade?”

I roll my eyes and answer, “I don’t care about her. She was the one who was happy to see me, even asked for photos and begged to tag me so people know we get along.”

“People like Jade are people to keep close. Those are the kinds of friends to have.”

“Mom, she is a no one. The only reason she is famous is because she is with Dante,” I tell my mother.

“As I said, it’s best to have people like her as a friend. One day, she will invite you to her home and introduce you to one of Dante’s friends or brothers. You could score yourself a billionaire man too.”

“I can score any man I want. I’m going to my room,” I don’t wait for her response, I leave the room. I had Dante way before Jade. I had that man and even dumped him. I can get any man I want.

‘Just saw the pictures, I’m sure Dante is boiling where he is.’ A text message from Paula.

‘He can boil all he wants. His woman loves me, and there is nothing he can do about it.’

‘Tell me if he reaches out.’ – Paula.

ALARIC CLARK

“That’s too tight!’ I groan in pain as Denzel bandages my leg. We are still in Dante’s office. Denzel rushed to get bandages and some alcohol to numb the pain. My doctor advised me to stay away from alcohol for a while so that the medicine can work, and never pour alcohol on a wound, but I never listen.

“Why do you keep provoking Dante?” Denzel says. He is packing the things back into the first aid kit.

“Who wouldn’t want to mess with Dante Lyon?”

Denzel says, “This is not a joke. You know he is only taking it easy on you because we are close.”

“Your brother should just chill. He already had me roughed up and stabbed me in the leg. I was just joking around, and he is taking things to heart.”

“What did you do?” Denzel asks. “My brother would never just do all this unless you provoked him first.”

“I was just playing with his woman. Did you know that even Dante Lyon knows how to make a woman love him?”

Denzel’s face gets serious, and he says, “You know there are two things I don’t play about, my family and my business. Don’t mess with my family.”

“Broe chill, she is just a chick your brother is f*cking.”

“She is family as long as she is with my brother, don’t play with that. You and I have been very close for years, but don’t mess with my family,” he warns.

“Geez, you Lyons are so uptight.”

“I mean it, leave my brother’s woman alone. In fact, leave Dante alone. I don’t know why you feel the need to mess with him, but it won’t end well for you,” says Denzel.

“Noted.”

“I mean it, he is only sparing you because of me,” he says, and pours himself a shot of whiskey.

“Have you met Jade? She is fire.”

He eyes me and says, “Dante said he will introduce her to the family when the time is right.”

“Why does your brother have to be so mysterious? Ya’ll make it seem like he is someone important.”

“He is important to our family. He is my brother – he will always come first to me,” he says, then tells me that he will drive me home. The Lyons love acting like they are important – his brother happens to be a billionaire, nothing more.

And I don’t care what they say. I can do whatever I want. If I want to mess with Dante, I will do that. If I want to mess with his woman, I will do that too. It’s not like they are going to do anything to me. Dante can only send people after me, nothing else.

“You are quiet. What is going on in that head of yours?” Denzel asks as he drives me to my house.

“Me? Nothing, just thinking about the pain in my leg.”

“You wouldn’t be having that pain if you didn’t provoke my brother,” he replies.

“Denzel leave me alone.”

“I mean it, Ric, leave Dante alone. He doesn’t like being bothered,” he says. That I cannot do.

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