Just as always, Jenna was bossy and loved to nag at me until I did things the way she wanted. There were times that I found her annoying, but I have always appreciated all that she’d done for my mother and me.
“Where is she?” I asked flatly.
“You can come here and see for yourself,” she replied.
Before I could respond, Jenna began pulling on the sleeve of my suit. There was no way that an old and frail woman with such a small frame could manage to drag me along with her, but I found myself following her willingly as she led the way into the mansion. Dahlia truly saved me the trouble of looking for her. One step through the doorway and I could already see her.
“She fell asleep here while waiting for you...” Jenna reported with a worried look on her face.
That worried look as she looked at Dahlia quickly transformed into a disapproving glare when she directed her gaze at me. I let out a sigh when I realized that Jenna was determined to make me out to be the bad guy in this situation. Although I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t my fault that she decided to wait here for my return, I felt like I didn’t have the energy to argue with the old lady at that moment.
“Has she eaten?” I asked instead.
“What do you think? She’s been waiting for you here for hours. She refused to eat or do anything. I called you...” Jenna complained as she wrung her hands in her frustration.
When Jenna started complaining about something it was almost impossible to stop her. Words would pour endlessly out of her mouth as she complained about the same thing repeated. Her words were lost to me as I stared down at Dahlia’s sleeping face.
She really fell asleep here...
Even though I wasn’t there to witness it, I could imagine exactly what had happened and just how stubborn she probably was when ordered around to do something that she didn’t want to. When Dahlia sets her mind on something, she would accomplish it one way or another and I happened to know that quite well.
“Is this some kind of hunger strike?” I muttered to myself as I bent down to get a closer look at her face.
...
**Dahlia’s point of view**
My body ached a little and I felt restless although my eyelids felt heavy with sleep. I felt a slight pressure around my back and then behind my legs.
“Mhmm...” I heard myself making small noises in my throat as I struggled to deal with my sleepiness.
Wait. I’m not supposed to be asleep!
When I opened my eyes, I gasped in shock while all my sleepiness melted away completely. Suddenly, I was wide awake, and my heart was racing fast in my chest. I never thought that I would wake up while being carried in Bradon’s arms.
“Bradon...when did you get back?” I murmured half in disbelief.
“Does it matter?” he muttered darkly.
He was right that it doesn’t matter because what really mattered was that he was back. I couldn’t believe that I fell asleep right there in the chair while waiting for him. It must have been very late at night at that time but that didn’t matter to me right at that moment.
“It doesn’t. You’re finally back. Wait! Why are you carrying me?” I asked when I remembered that I was still being carried in his arms.
He looked down at me with an unreadable expression on his face and the passive look in his cold blue eyes made my blood boil. I knew that he couldn’t care less about the fact that I waited pretty much all night long for him to come back but he didn’t have to be so openly cold. I let out a sigh while asking myself what else I could have expected.
“I’m awake now and I can walk by myself. You can put me down now,” I told him as I stared up into his face stubbornly.
Instead of listening to me and putting me down, Bradon ignored me completely. He simply looked away and continued walking along calmly while still carrying me in his arms. I could hear the steady beating of his heartbeat close to my ear and feel the warmth of his body heat, so why does it feel like I’m just conversing with a tall and rigid wall?
“Stop! Put me down. I told you to put me down!” I protested louder as I began struggling in his arms.
I kicked my legs as I pounded my fists against his rock-hard chest. Bradon just ignored me while he made absolutely no effort to stop me from squirming in his arms. Frustrated by my own helplessness, I began screaming louder and louder.
“Don’t make a scene...” he warned while sounding completely bored.
“Then put me down!” I demanded.
Once again, Bradon just ignored my demands as he continued carrying me along the long hallways of the mansion. From the mansion tour and spending around a week confined to the mansion, I already found out that his place was extensively enormous. I was surprised at first that he would have a mansion that was bigger than the entire Alnault family estate.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked as I glared up into his face.
“Back to your room where you belong,” he replied emotionlessly.
“I can walk there myself!” I retorted.
His arms around my body just tightened and that told me that there was no chance that I could escape from him. After letting out a sigh of resignation, I gave up and stopped struggling. That meant that Bradon could walk a little faster and that I could escape from his embrace faster. The door to my room opened with a loud bang. It turned out that the room where I supposedly spent my wedding night with Anthony turned out to be just a bedroom that Bradon had arranged for me.
--To be continued...