{"id":480,"date":"2026-01-21T15:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/?p=480"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:33:13","slug":"paper-vows-novel-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/paper-vows-novel-chapter-4\/","title":{"rendered":"PAPER VOWS Novel Chapter 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
PAPER VOWS<\/div>\n
CHAPTER 4<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
It is after nine pm. I am in my bed trying to sleep, but sleep won\u2019t come. I am still thinking about the Dante proposal. A part of me wants to accept it. How bad would it be to be married to that man? He is hot and successful \u2013 a full package for me. But then there is a part of me that is scared. What if he is an abuser? What if accepting his proposal is the worst thing I ever do?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I push the blankets off me and go to the kitchen to get some water. I am alone at the apartment. Giselle and James went out – they had already made reservations for dinner a week before. Giselle wanted to cancel and be with me, but I assured her that I was fine. It\u2019s not like I am dying, even though losing my job feels like the end of the world.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Are you sleeping?\u2019 I send a text message to Dante via WhatsApp.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018I am at the club. Is everything okay?\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I reply. \u2018I can\u2019t sleep. You really dropped a bomb on me today. I am very confused.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018I didn\u2019t mean to confuse you. You don\u2019t have to be shy to tell me no.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Can you come to my apartment?\u2019 I look at the message for a second, delete it, then type \u2018Can you come over so we can talk?\u2019 I delete that one too and type \u2018I don\u2019t want to say no.\u2019 I hit send, quickly delete the message and type \u2018Goodnight Dante.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Let me go to bed and try to sleep. I put my phone on the bedside table and try to sleep. I quickly sit up when my phone vibrates and check it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u2018Then say yes.\u2019 Dante highlighted the deleted message. What kind of witchcraft is this?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u2018Hey, I deleted that.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018I can see deleted messages.\u2019 \u2013 Dante.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Not fair. I am sleeping \u2013 for real this time.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Goodnight Jade.\u2019 \u2013 Dante.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I look at my phone for a moment, still on Dante\u2019s chat. This man doesn\u2019t even have a profile picture. I type \u2018Court me, maybe I might fall for you and say yes to your proposal.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I hit send, switch off my phone and try to sleep. The only thing I dream about is Dante\u2019s handsome self and me living in that gorgeous mansion of his. My six am alarm wakes me up. This is the time I usually get ready for work \u2013 I still cannot believe those people fired me. How I wish I could get a good lawyer and sue them. Who am I kidding? I cannot afford a lawyer – I have no proof that the man tried to sleep with me. It\u2019s his word against mine \u2013 no one will believe me.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I reach for my phone and switch it on. I watch as messages flood in, but I go to Dante\u2019s chat. He replied \u2018Okay\u2019 to what I said. Okay what? I need more than just okay. I quickly get off WhatsApp when I see Dante typing. I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth and shower. It\u2019s too early to be showering for someone who is not going anywhere, but anything to be away from my phone right now. A part of me is not ready to see what Dante is typing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
As I am standing under the shower, with the hot water falling on my back, I realise how stupid I am acting. I am a thirty-six-year-old grown woman who is acting like a teenager. I shouldn\u2019t be scared about what Dante wants to say. This man wants me to marry him\u2013 I am the prize here.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I get out of the shower, wrap a towel around my body and then go to check my phone. There is no new message from Dante. Then what was he typing? I wear shorts and an oversized t-shirt, fix the bed and then go to the kitchen and start looking into my emails. Nothing is interesting in here \u2013 most of them are just emails from my old job. I hope their company burns down for what they did to me. I also wonder how many women have slept with that old, wrinkled man just to keep their jobs.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u2018Good morning, soon to be Mrs Lyon.\u2019 A text message from Giselle.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Don\u2019t make me regret telling you my business. How are you today?\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Well fucked and you?\u2019 \u2013 Giselle.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018You are so annoying.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018Did you think about what you are going to say to that man?\u2019 \u2013 Giselle.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2018I am still thinking.\u2019<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
There is a knock on the door. I get off the chair and go to attend to it. \u201cDante? What are you doing here?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cGood morning! I brought you breakfast.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cPlease come in,\u201d I step aside so he can come in.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I try to hide the smile on my face. He drove all this way just to bring me breakfast. Does this mean the courting stage has started? I watch him look around my apartment. I am sure he is thinking this is small. Even his bathroom is bigger than the lounge we have in this two-bedroom apartment.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Today he is wearing black long sleeved short with black trousers \u2013 no tie with formal shoes, and he smells as delicious as he did when he walked in on me bathing. So if I say yes, this man will be my husband? I won\u2019t lie; I like the idea.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cJade!\u201d Dante\u2019s voice snaps me out of my head.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I quickly close the door and walk to him. \u201cWhat did you bring us?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I don\u2019t wait for his response. I reach for the picnic basket in his hands. I have a feeling this is from his kitchen. It\u2019s coffee in travelling mug and a simple breakfast plate \u2013 toast, eggs and bacon. This seems like it\u2019s enough for two, so I dish up for us.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cAre you going to work after this?\u201d I ask Dante as we eat.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou are not going to ask me if I am also going to work?\u201d I ask him. These eggs have to be the best eggs I have ever tasted \u2013 I know it\u2019s just eggs, but they taste so good.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cAt the club you were crying about losing your job. I know you don\u2019t have a job.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThat reminds me, you never told me how you knew where I stay,\u201d I say to him.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI did a little background check on you. If you are going to be my wife, then I need to know what I am getting myself into.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cBackground check? That sounds extreme. Did you like what you found out about me?\u201d I ask him. It\u2019s not even a joke \u2013 did he really like what he found?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThis conversation wouldn\u2019t be happening if I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cTell me a little bit about yourself. Who is Dante Lyon?\u201d I did a Google search on him – there isn\u2019t much information. Just that he is the owner of 4th Street club. It turns out he has brunches all over GoldenRock.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am just plain old me, nothing more.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cCome on, we are going to be married. Tell me about yourself.\u201d I say. He looks up, our eyes locking. He has gorgeous brown eyes.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou said we are going to get married.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
That slipped out. \u201cYou are courting me, remember \u2013 maybe I might say yes. Now tell me about yourself.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I watch him pick a piece of bacon, toss it in his mouth, then lick his fingers. Why does a simple thing like that look hot when he is doing it? \u201cYou already know about me. Maybe ask something, I will answer.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cWhat do you look for in a woman?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Without hesitating, he answers, \u201cYou.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cMe, just as I am?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cYes. Your turn, what do you look for in a man?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
I want to say I want someone like Him but maybe this is the time to tell him what I want. \u201cI want a man who will love me as I want to be loved.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cHow do you want to be loved?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cLoudly. Genuinely. Respectful.\u201d I tell him, getting off the chair. I think we are done eating. I quickly clean up the table and wash the mugs, then sit with Dante. \u201cHow do you want to be loved?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cLove is not really my thing.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d I ask. He shrugs his shoulders. What does that mean? \u201cIf love is not your thing, then how are you going to love me?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cHow you want to be loved.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cI don\u2019t get it,\u201d I say to him. If love is not his thing, then how are we going to do this?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cThere is love, the feeling and the action. I can only give you the action.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cYou are a very complicated human being, Dante,\u201d I say to him. I don\u2019t understand what the difference is.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cI am many things, Jade, complicated is not one of them.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cAren\u2019t you going to be late for work?\u201d I change the subject.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am the boss. I can do whatever I want, but I have to be there within thirty minutes\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cIt must be nice being the boss.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
He checks his wristwatch and says to me, \u201cAs lovely as this is, I have to go to work, but I want to ask you something. Are you submissive?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cI believe in balance, I don\u2019t submit blindly.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
He gets off his chair and walks towards me. Lord me smells so delicious. He stands in front of me, his gaze meeting mine and asks, \u201cHow does dinner tonight sound?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cDinner would be lovely.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cI will pick you up at seven?\u201d he leans towards me. I swear all the blood in my body rushes to between my legs when I feel his breath on my skin. He pecks me on the cheek and then tells me to enjoy the rest of my day.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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