Chapter 1：Defy All Odds 

"No!!! Please..." she whimpered and started squirming left and right in her bed, sweating profusely. Her heart was pulsating crazily, making it hard for her to breathe.

"I love you…" the man whispered as his face got closer to hers. He was trying to kiss her while she was panicking.

"Stop!!!!!!!" she shouted, and her beautiful almond-shaped eyes which were closed jerked open.

She started heaving heavily for a while before she was finally able to gather enough strength to raise her weary body. She pushed herself up to sit on her bed and comfortably rest her back on the headrest.

She took some time to calm her breathing and then bent her knees and wrapped her cold arms around them. Her body was still shuddering and shaking because of the adrenaline.

She crumpled her face and whined, "How could a kissing scene even in dreams become a nightmare?!"

She had this disorder called philemaphobia according to her doctor or simply a 'fear of kissing' that was greatly affecting her acting career since she could not accept projects that had kissing scenes.

She looked at her wall clock and saw that it was already past midnight. Her mobile phone dinged so she grabbed it to see who messaged her. It was from her Manager, Mitch.

[Brione, please take a look at these photos and the videos I sent you. Look at this place. It's like heaven on Earth. It's a private island owned by the Royal family of Country B. It's owned by Prince Cedric in particular. The shooting for the commercial will be held here and I think you should accept it. You are in dire need of a vacation to unwind yourself as well, so please sign the contract and accept this project dear… Make sure to decide by tomorrow and let me know your decision.]

Her manager had been bugging her for days about this particular project, but she never answered since she was not in the mood to go out of the country. But then she thought that maybe it would be good for her to go and see other places instead of brooding here. She smiled a bit before typing a reply.

[Alright. Let's take their offer. I will sign the contract tomorrow morning Mitch. See you later!]

Another sigh escaped her mouth before she laid back on the bed and went to sleep. She hoped that she would no longer have a nightmare once she closed her eyes. Kissing is usually a sweet and romantic experience for everyone else but to her it was a nightmare.

She smiled lightly recalling the only man she managed to kiss and she was sure it was sweet though she had no recollection of it. She only came to know about it when she read it in the journal. How she had kissed him abruptly that night when she was drunk. Both of them lost their first kiss to each other.

She turned around and lovingly gazed at the said journal on her table. It was her best friend, Gavin's journal, and everything important and memorable that happened in his life was written in there. Though most of it was Gavin's unspoken love for her…

She touched her lips and sighed. Maybe the reason she was able to kiss him was because he was the man she loved. He was her first love and she felt so safe and secure around him that she could overcome all her fears… But she failed to tell him how she truly felt...

She let out another deep breath. It has already been a year since Gavin went missing. He went missing after the luxury steamship which he boarded had an accident and sank in the ocean. After the incident, she killed her time by burying herself in work, hiding her longing for the man she loved.

She refused to believe he was dead like everyone else was assuming. She was still waiting for him to come back to her because he had promised that he would never leave her and would stay with her forever.

She could just feel it deep inside her heart… That Gavin will return and come back for her...

*****

At country B

"Do you think she will accept the project? There's still no response from her until now. Did you make sure that the offer is good and doesn't look suspicious?" the man with deep amber eyes asked as he looked out the window. He impatiently brushed his golden blonde hair before he gently massaged his temples.

"Hmm, it's a good offer so I'm sure Miss Brione Yu will sign the project. There's nothing wrong with it for her to turn it down since we made sure it's an offer one could not refuse and it's not suspicious at all," Will, who was the Prince's personal assistant, commented as he looked in his wristwatch.

Will was the only person allowed to address Prince casually in front of the Royal family and their employees. The Prince regarded him as his blood brother. The two had practically grown up together as Will's father, Mr. Sean, was the King's personal assistant.

He yawned, feeling sleepy since it was already very late. He leaned his back on his seat opposite the Prince inside the limousine. They were returning from a birthday party where there were talks about the Prince's marriage and his future.

He looked at the Prince and heaved a long sigh. He was against what the Prince was planning regarding Miss Brione Yu because it would only complicate things between the Royal family and the cabinet members led by the Prime Minister.

"What are your plans now? Your father… I mean the King seems to be determined to marry you off soon. He also wanted me to convince you that Miss Olivia is best suited to be your wife. And I will say it over and over again that I also believe that it's the best thing to do," Will tried convincing the Prince again.

Cedric, the Prince of Frales, Duke of Moore, had a gentle smile on his face as he remembered the first time he had laid his eyes on the woman who instantly captured his heart.

It had been during his first visit to Country D two weeks ago. He had sneaked out of the conference hall wearing a disguise to take a walk in the nearby park as he had been feeling suffocated. He was admiring the cherry blossoms when his eyes landed on a woman, sitting on the bench.

The area was closed to the public due to a television drama shoot so he was unable to approach the woman and had to see her from a distance. He saw that she had a lot of fans who were waiting for her, waving at her and calling her name.

That was when he learned that her name was Brione. She had long ash-gray-colored wavy hair with a few strands swaying, framing her captivating face as the wind blew.

She was sitting elegantly on the bench, reading something that looked like a journal. Her face was displaying a range of emotions. It was the first time he had seen a woman smile, cry, and then chuckle all at the same time. But he had to agree that she looked gorgeous no matter what emotion she showed.

He could not take his eyes off her. It was as though there was some force pulling him towards her. So he silently vowed at that very moment that he would do anything, whatever it took, and defy all odds to make her his woman and his lover.

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Author's Note:

Thank you for giving this book a chance. Hope you enjoy this one and also take your time to check and read my other novels at webnovel app/site (you can search the title and add to your library):

1.) The Law of Attraction

3.) The General Who Hates Me

4.) The CEO Who Hates Me

Thank you guys and stay safe. Hope to be with you all until the very end of this book that will definitely have a happy ending... *wink*

Your Author, EUSTOMA_reyna