Clash

Alone in the darkness of his room, Reiner picked up his phone and started making a call. After a few rings, the line connected.

“It’s rare for you to initiate a call,” a cheerful voice spoke through the phone.

“Edward…” Reiner said.

“What is it old friend?” Edward replied enthusiastically. It was rare for Reiner to call him. Usually, it was the other way around.

“You remember how you asked me to find out about Natalia’s other lover?” Reiner asked emotionlessly.

“I see. So, you found out?” Edward replied as a smirk formed on his lips.

“Yeah…” Reiner said, followed by a small sigh.

“Who is it?” Edward inquired.

“…Zak Rosenhall” Reiner replied.

He heard a loud sigh on the other side of the line after a brief pause.

“You don’t seem too surprised,” Reiner stated his observation.

“I had a feeling that that was the case,” Edward replied back smoothly.

“Since when?” Reiner asked.

“I had a hunch which was confirmed during the red-carpet event of his movie premiere. Zak purposefully invited me there,” Edward explained.

“Quite bold, huh?” Reiner commented.

“Zak probably knows everything. That Zak…he’s very dangerous. I mean, he’s even got his mother in the palm of his hands” Edward said followed by a sigh.

“What will you do?” Reiner asked bluntly.

“The only way is to make Zak willingly let Natalia go,” Edward replied.

“I don’t know…Natalia seems overly attached to him,” Reiner said doubtfully.

“I don’t know all the details of what happened between them but…no one should spend his or her entire life paying back a debt,” Edward stated firmly.

“Maybe you’re right…” Reiner whispered as if to himself before hanging up.

Well, I guess I’ll leave her in Edward’s capable hands. The time I have left with her is running out…

…

I woke up in a bad mood and with a sense of premonition as well. I sigh before stretching and getting out of bed. Lucien has been so busy with work that he was either home late or haven’t been home at all lately. I wonder if he’s home today, but I guess the answer is probably a ‘no’.

“Laura…” I greeted my maid when I encountered her in the hallway downstairs.

“Miss Natalia…” Laura said as she smiled a tight smile. I wondered what was wrong, Laura seemed nervous and restless.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to get straight to the point.

“Nothing…Miss. Breakfast is ready in the dining room…” Laura said before gesturing towards the dining room.

“Ok…have a nice day,” I replied before proceeding towards the dining room.

Something is off today, I thought. Less than a minute later my sense of premonition was confirmed when I stepped one foot into the dining room.

“Hi there!” an overly bright and friendly voice called out from the dining table.

“Good morning. Welcome to the house of Lucien Rosenhall,” I replied firmly as I plastered the fakest smile I could onto my face.

I took my seat at the table as I waved away all the maids from the room. No one should have to witness whatever that was going to go down between Angela and me.

“Thank you, my stepdaughter,” Angela replied politely but with an edge to her stare.

“Did Lucien give you your own set of rooms? After all, this mansion is quite spacious,” I asked, faking my concern for her well-being.

The look on her face confirmed my hypothesis immediately. This woman has not had the chance to get close to Lucien at all since their wedding, let alone sleep with him. Worst, I was sure she was not allowed to set foot into Lucien’s wing of the mansion either.

“Yes, thank you for your concern,” Angela replied curtly before hiding behind her teacup as she brought it up for a sip.

“Well of course, taking care of our guests’ wellbeing while they are in this mansion is part of my responsibility,” I said with full emphasis on the word ‘guest’.

The smile Angela had been trying to keep up suddenly vanished from her beautiful face. Her eyes narrowed at me and it was clear that she had decided to cease all pretense of being nice.

“You better know your place, girl. I am the legally wedded wife of Lucien Rosenhall now!” Angela shrieked in anger.

“So was my mother and look where she ended up,” I replied with an icy smile. You better watch what you do and say Angela…like…really.

“I will not tolerate your insolence. You don’t have to like me or act like you do. However, you should never cross the line,” Angela warned me as she leaned forward aggressively towards me from across the table.

“I have completely no idea what you’re talking about…” I said as I shrugged and smiled at her innocently.

“I saw you having sex with Lucien,” Angela spat at me.

“Oh…so you did see…” I said with a satisfied smile.

“Didn’t you want me to see?” Angela said as she sneered at me. Her face contorted with anger.

“That’s just your own speculation,” I replied smoothly as I began sipping my tea.

“I won’t hesitate to expose your secret if you don’t behave yourself immediately!” Angela shouted.

“I’m not the only one who has been sleeping around with men that I shouldn’t sleep around with, am I?”

I shot back before smirking knowingly at her.

I silently thanked Zak for all the dirt he provided me on Angela. Zak was right. If I wanted to keep Angela under my control, I needed information that could be used against her. I needed to know all her dark and hidden secrets.

“…How much do you know?” Angela asked, clearly in shock.

“More than you would want the whole world to find out,” I replied before beaming her the perfect Rosenhall smile.

“You bitch!” Angela screamed.

**Crash!**

The next moment, there was a loud crash as Angela’s threw her teacup at me. Thankfully by my reflex or by pure luck, I was able to doge the attack. The teacup crashed to the floor and broke followed by other plates and the tea pot when Angela pushed them all down from the table.

“Miss Natalia!”

I heard Reiner’s panicked voice as he burst in through the dining room door. I smiled a little at him to let him know that I was ok. Reiner was immediately by my side checking for possible injuries.

--To be continued…