Page 45 of His Beloved Princess
Grandmother piled some eggs on a plate for me, but I didn't have an appetite. I’d hardly eaten since I found the contract in Mr. Thorn's office that morning. I only pretended to chew some food, and then I started throwing up in the bathroom upstairs because my stomach couldn't hold anything.
"I gotta go back today," Declan, a twenty-eight-year-old military officer, said between spoons of oatmeal. He helped me run away from Bastian's bodyguards. Without him, I would never have been able to disappear from under their noses.
"Of course," I mumbled, killing the egg with a fork. I didn't want to return to the city. I couldn't face the hard truth. I was too weak for that.
"You can stay here as long as you wish, darling." My grandmother squeezed my hand, giving me a small, kind smile. I almost burst into tears again. None of them knew what happened, and they didn't ask questions. I was grateful for that.
After breakfast, Declan said his goodbyes, and with a last wink, he left. He was a handsome, cheerful guy with a great personality. He made stupid jokes that made me laugh, even when I was drowning in tears. I just couldn't understand why I couldn't fall for a man like him. He wasn't a hot-tempered, grumpy, billionaire asshole who was destroying people's dreams. He was the exact opposite, and my life would be a fairytale with someone like him.
"Do you want to talk, dearie?" Granny woke me from my musings, and I shrugged. I wasn't prepared to admit that I had been cheated on again. It hurt so much I almost couldn't breathe.
"I thought he would try to find me," I whispered, shame and embarrassment filling my body. Even when he lied to me, I still craved his gentle touch, desirable look, and praise.
"How do you know he's not trying?" Granny asked, placing a mug of steaming coffee in front of me.
"He's got his own army," I replied, stirring the hot concoction with a small spoon. "He can find me anywhere. All he has to do is to make a call."
"Will you tell me what happened?" The soft, loving voice of the woman who replaced my mother in everything made me cry again. I couldn't hold so much pain inside. It was crushing me, my heart, and my soul. It felt as if I had lost the meaning of life. I didn't care about my job, friends, or anything else.
I was depressed, only able to think about the future that would never come. I imagined our life together. I dreamed about the happy family we could have had.
Fuck!I never wanted to have kids before, but with him, I was willing to give it a shot just because I would love to see a little boy with messy hair and crystal-blue eyes conquering the world.
I looked into my grandmother's worried face. It was covered with wrinkles but didn't take away her natural charm. She was everything my mother never was, and she loved me no matter what. She was the only one who told me the truth about my parent's marriage and their arguments, and she was always there to remind me that it was never my fault. They chose to live like this.
With a heavy sigh, I started to talk. I told her everything from the very beginning: how Bastian was acting like a complete asshole, how we began our special relationship. I also told her about the thing with his stepbrother. It was the only time she gasped. When I told her about the contract or the BDSM club, she just smiled at me like she knew something I didn't.
It was odd, but I didn't think overthink it. I was too lost in my memories of the best time with a man who crushed my dreams.
"That's a fascinating story," Granny uttered when I finished with the events of our last evening together. "Do you really believe that he could fake all of this?" She raised her eyebrows at me, slowly sipping her tea.
"He has another woman," I reminded her sternly, fisting my palms. Just the mere thought of Bastian with Rose made my blood boil.
"That doesn't mean he faked anything with you," she pointed out, making me furious.
"Whose side are you on?" I yelled, abruptly standing. For the first time, it felt like she didn't have my back. And it hurt to know that she picked the side of the man she’d never met.
"Of course, I'm on your side, Electra," she answered soothingly, stretching her arm to take my hand, and I reluctantly sat back. I didn't want to fight with her. "But you said something about the contract with another woman, yet you didn't elaborate. Have you read it? Do you know what their agreement is about?"
I stared at the table before me, eventually shaking my head from side to side. I didn't read a fucking thing. I was so upset that I grabbed my bag and some clothes and ran away.
A frail voice inside my head was persistently speaking to me all the time, telling me that maybe I was mistaken, that perhaps Bastian didn't sleep with her. However, his lack of action confirmed my suspicions. He didn't care about me at all. He was probably happy that I disappeared and he didn't need to pretend anymore.
"What if there is an explanation behind all of this?" Granny asked, squeezing my palm supportively.
"You don't even know what you're talking about," I whispered, suddenly tired from all the pointless talking. I just wanted to lie in my bed and cry. I needed to let the pain out, or it would suffocate me.
"I know much more than you think." She smiled knowingly, winking at me when I shot her a confused glance. She pushed chocolate cookies in my direction and poured me a glass of milk before she unfolded the love story of her life.
"My dear, I was in the same relationship as you are now." Her dreamy face put a smile on my face. "Before this whole BDSM thing became so popular." She leaned into her seat, crossing her legs and giggling. "I was an inexperienced young girl, and he was a manager in the engine factory. For a long time, I couldn't believe that he would ever lay his eyes onme."
"Grandfather was a mechanic," I mentioned, and she nodded. She clearly didn't experience this adventure with him.
"Your grandpa was an amazing, loving, caring man who adored and cherished me in every way," she stated with certainty, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "But he could never have given me what my king gave me with only the simple look of his green eyes." She gently bit her lower lip. Her cheeks were wet, yet she was smiling at me. And I realized that the memory of that man was making her happy, even after all this time.
"I'm sure you know that feeling when your heart is hammering in your chest as if it wanted to run to your man on its own. Your whole body is trembling in expectation of what could happen, and you're set on fire only because he looks at you differently." She flashed me a wide grin when I nodded. My cheeks reddened in embarrassment. I never talked about this with anyone, and I would never have thought my grandmother knew that feeling so well.
"Why did you or him end things?" I inquired, ignoring my flushed state. I wanted to know what destroyed my grandmother's happiness.
