"You're right," I sighed. "About going back. As for telling him, I need to wait a little longer."

There was still time. I could tell him whenever I wanted. I just didn't want him to look at me with disgust. Some of my old clients did that when they noticed I had switched to start a new life. If Lucas ever looked at me like that, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

Chapter fifteen

Return to Richmond

Kate

Ever since I was little, I've always wanted to be a bride. Sounds silly, which girl hasn't ever dreamed of being a bride? I wanted to marry a prince, or a duke. I never did understand the rankings.

To me, it wasn't about the white horse carriages or the fairy godmother. Oh wait, it was more about the food I could buy without bothering about tomorrow's expenses…and all the clothes I could wear. Unlike Olivia who was good with her hands, nothing I did with mine ever seemed to work.

I failed academically I failed skill-wise, and I failed in every other thing I tried to do. The only thing that seemed to work out for me was just using my looks.

When I met Olivia, I could easily tell that this life, this path that I took wasn't the one that suited her. She didn't have to say a word but I could tell that she hated it every single day. And yet part of me was jealous.

For someone who hated it so much, she was easily getting the good choice of clients. In a way, it wasn't so bad as she was able to recommend me to some. Just sometimes, I had to deal with being compared to her in terms of beauty and the rest.

So, when she finally announced quitting and never going back I was ecstatic. For two reasons: one, she finally had something else to do that would not make her feel bad or dirty about herself just the same way she felt almost every day and night after a session. Two, the number of opponents had reduced for me.

I know it sounds like I hated her or something or was jealous of her, but only the latter is true. I never hated her. In fact, I only envied her desire to go beyond the life of using beauty and body to get what you want, and settling with getting things by hard work.

There were times where I wanted to quit too…but when I saw the humiliation she faced as she tried to change I was scared. I knew the lifestyle wouldn't last forever so I thought about a way to secure my future. And that was when I met James.

James was a mystery. It was a playful and flirtatious charm that seemed to join every woman around him and yet he had his eyes set on me. Like the rules of this game suggested, I guarded my heart with every fiber of my being careful not to make any mistakes.

The harder I guarded, the easier it was for him to get through to my heart and whispered promises of a life of luxury, where I never had to return to the life I was enduring. He promised me the heavens, the earth and the kingdom thereof. He promised me a life of love and harmony. Even when I worried about his children being stumbling blocks to our happily ever after, he promised that I would face no situations or challenges.

The more you feed me the words I wanted to hear the more I fell in love until he asked me to marry him.

Fast forward a month later, and he started to act differently. He kept acting like I was the one in too much of a hurry to get married.

Truth be told, I was in a hurry. The thing about things like this is that, time for men who propose to women like me, will have a shorter lifespan after marriage. at least in this case, he was loaded. As long as I had my needs met I didn't have to worry about anything else.

Or so I thought.

It didn't take me too long to realize that I was never truly in love with his wealth: I was in love with him. I assumed that there was something good in him. His lack of interest toward marriage was scaring me. I thought I could bring it up in a conversation.

****

It was lunch and the two of us had been quietly enjoying our meal.

“The chef really went all out today,” James remarked as stopped eating

“I can tell,” I agreed, the meal was indeed good.

I stared at James who was scrolling through his phone and worked up the courage to talk.

“Baby,” I called.

“Mm?” he responded.

“About the wedding, we still haven't picked a date and not that I don't trust you or anything but it's kind of making me a little worried,” I said. “I mean even Olivia when she overheard our conversation was worried that you do not want to marry me anymore. She even suggested that I leave if things got out of hand and not that I….”

“So you intend on leaving?” He dropped his phone on the table and slowly turned to me with fury in his eyes. “Just because that hooker friend of yours said so?”

“What no? No, that's not what I meant at all,” I quickly defended. “It was only a suggestion. And Olivia isn't a hooker.”