Chapter 69 - 69

Within just a few hours, the mother and daughter duo had arrived in Imperium City, and it was different from what Zaria had expected. It looked beautiful and futuristic and it made her dart her eyes left and right out of curiosity.

She was still lost in her small fairytale world when her mother tapped her head to introduce her to someone. It was only then that she realized that they had entered a grand apartment complex and there was a beautiful woman with blue eyes before them.

"Is this Zaria? She is so cute!" Exclaimed the woman, reaching down to pinch her adorable chubby cheeks. "Hey, I'm Emma. Do you like ice cream?"

She wasn't used to the jovial woman so she snuck a glance at her mother before shyly nodding when the latter gave her a go-ahead smile. At that, the beautiful woman took her hand to lead her into the kitchen to give her ice cream.

She didn't have many memories of Emma except the few times that the woman gave her toys and snacks. She always regarded her with a warm smile and hugged her, but didn't seem to have any family of her own. One of those few times, she baked her muffins before sweetly asking, "Zaria, do you want to meet your grandmother?"

"Uh huh." She nodded without thinking through it. She didn't know much about her mother's family; the latter rarely talked about them and all she knew was that they lived in Imperium City.

Her mother was busy so Emma took her to her grandparents' house. All she could remember was Emma talking to a middle aged man, then frowning and turning away while holding Zaria's hand. She then gave her a new pair of cute shoes and didn't mention her grandparents anymore. She didn't ever understand what happened.

The last time she met Emma was when her mother, Emma and her went to the amusement park.

"Wait for mummy, will you?" Said her mother, stuffing a ribbon into her small hand and disappearing into the crowd.

"Where did she go?" She asked Emma innocently, having realized that her mother had been acting strange and leaving her side for long periods.

"She went to get you a new doll." The latter replied and led her to one of the rides.

"But I have very many new dolls already." Zaria did not understand why she needed so many of them. Besides, did it take so long to get a toy?

"Zaria, look at that! Do you want to play over there?" Emma pointed at a crowd of kids gathering around something.

"She did not answer me." Zaria muttered aloud, having suddenly noticed that Emma was acting weird too. Nothing was strange about her mother's friend helping her evade matters that were not meant for a child's ears, except the timing of it.

"Who did not answer you?" Desmond asked, making Zaria drop the knife in her hand out of shock.

"Careful!" Desmond yelped and leapt to her side in an instant to check her feet. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, you startled me." She wheeled her breath back to normal and patted her chest before picking up the knife and placing it in the sink. She then checked on the food and faced him with a frown. "My mother's friend. And when mother came back, she looked distressed…"

She stopped when she realized that she was telling him things that were none of his business and he would not even understand them.

She thought he would berate her for it but on the contrary, he looked interested in hearing about her past. "What happened?"

"It's the last time I spent time with my mother." She looked down as she tried not to think about the events that unfolded after that. They went back to Luxenville and the next thing she knew, her parents started fighting about a divorce.

He took in her drooped expression and knew that while she needed someone to talk to about what happened in the past, she wasn't fully ready to open up. He raised his hand and patted her head gently. "Don't think too much about it."

She looked up to meet his gaze and heard his next words that sounded so unlike him. "Sometimes the past should be left to be just that-the past. Unless there is anything to resolve and you are ready to resolve it, it will only keep haunting you when you think about it."

She thought he made sense, and she didn't think there was anything much for her to think about. No matter what decisions her parents made in the past, it was not up to her.

"Do you miss her a lot?" He asked gently, realizing that this was the first time she was mentioning her mother. She seemed close to her father and had only talked about him before.

She nodded, and he asked, "Is she…"

"Divorced." She smiled through the word and sighed. "I would rather not get married than get a divorce later."

He knew she was talking about how agitating it was for kids to separate from one of their parents and he sunk into thought. "What a coincidence, me too. I will not settle down and get married until I meet a woman with whom I am ready to spend the rest of my life."

She tilted her head to look at him in surprise. Who would have thought that a man like him would have such a strong belief.

"But you have been with so many women…" His words did not make any sense to her. How could one be so open about breaking up countless times but be against divorce? Was there a difference?

He knew that he didn't have a good reputation but he smiled. "Does it bother you?"

"You are not asking this for the first time." Her hands tightened around the mittens she was about to wear as her brows knitted. He had asked this before. "Why do you keep asking me this kind of question?"

"Because you seem bothered by my 'playboy' reputation." His lips slightly parted in a grin. "Does it make you jealous?"

She frowned. "No."

Her answer didn't hold much water, it was thin and sounded like there was more to it. He smiled as he watched her start to braise the pork as he said, "I have been with a few women in the past but the media exaggerates it."

She was puzzled by his words but when she looked up into his eyes, she was convinced that he was not lying. Besides, she had not seen any woman aside from Natalie by his side since she met him. remembering how he had reacted to the news before, it didn't make sense for him to let the media tarnish his reputation beyond recognition. "You let them. Why?"

"You are smart." He smiled down at her and wondered whether he should be honest with her. "Can you keep a secret?"

"You can tell me anything. All I'll do is make it a front page headline." She joked, earning a laugh from him.

"I did it for my friend." He paused to completely get her attention before he dropped a name. "Natalie."

"Natalie? As in Natalie Sparks?" She asked for confirmation and gasped in disbelief when he nodded. "Why would you call her your friend? She is your fiancée. No, wait. Why would you make the public think you were cheating on her—your friend?"

"It's not for the public. It's for her parents. They were forcing her into marriage so we came up with this plan. I showed interest in her and after our parents set us up to get engaged, I started 'fooling around with multiple women'. The point was to make the Sparks' drop the idea of forcing her into marriage if she will merely be cheated on. Too bad, they didn't care much about it." He looked disgusted when he talked about it. What kind of parents were they? They were more keen on gaining benefits from their future son-in-law than they were about their daughter's happiness.

"Anyways, neither of us agree to break the engagement yet because it's a cover up for the real reason why she doesn't want to get married. It's her personal reason. I hope you don't mind if I don't tell you about it?"

She was already in so much surprise that she was unable to believe that Desmond could be such a loyal friend. She nodded her head routinely. "I don't mind."

"Wait. Is this what you wanted to explain to me before?" Her eyes widened in realization.

He chuckled. "Yes. What else did you think? That I was in love with Natalie?"

She frowned and thought back to their interaction. Although they looked like they could make a perfect couple with a smart, handsome man and a beauty of equal intelligence, their interaction was almost like that of siblings. No wonder Natalie would be friendly with her even while suspecting that there was something brewing between her and Desmond. So they were not a real couple.

"You don't have feelings for each other? Not an ounce?" She confirmed suspiciously.

In response to her slow brain, he closed the distance between them to peck her lips. "I only have feelings for one woman and that is you, Zaria."