18| Toast

┏━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┓

Toast

┗━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━┛

Chapter 18: Toast (Spencer's POV)

When Ms. Sunny came and informed us that the guests had all arrived, Delilah and I went downstairs, before that we decided to stay upstairs and think tonight through, making a plan.

What story to feed people- That I met her at Mirage and we connected instantly.

The wedding date we'll announce- Two weeks from now.

And I briefly had to explain to her how to dodge a question that comes her way and she doesn't know the right thing to say.

I'm sure there are some women, and men, who are waiting to rip Delilah apart tonight, jumping at the first chance they get. Delilah is new to this life, she wasn't popular in our little world of royals and the rich. Women might now spite her and men might want her. It's pretty easy to tear down someone new to shreds, it's why the rich tend to marry into the rich, and royals into royals. That chain hasn't been broken in a while. Until me.

We stopped at the bottom of the stairs and she took a breath, linking her arm with mine. "Ready?" I asked, watching her.

She nodded, straightening up her back and lifting her chin. I bit back an amused smile and we headed to the backyard, walking in together. She knows what to do tonight. At the ball, it was a surprise even to her and she had no time to prepare. But tonight, she knows what act to put on. I hope if someone tries to bite, she bites back. It's crucial that she knows how to carry and present herself tonight.

When we strode into the backyard, everybody looked. But we greeted each and every guest as they came. The first one Delilah greeted genuinely was her friend who she requested was invited.

"Delilah," her friend spoke through gritted teeth, glancing at me. "What the hell is going on?"

"Later," Delilah mumbled, pulling her arm out of mine and giving, who I believe is Willow, a hug. They talked briefly for a while and I spoke to some of the other guests before I grabbed a hold of Delilah and took her to the gazebo where the engagement would take place. "I'm nervous," she whispered.

"Don't show it."

She rolled her eyes, sitting beside me.

Everybody already gathered around and I could see the confusion on Willow's face.

While I was looking around, my eyes landed on Julian. Oh, shit. Julian was meant to be in the city until next week. Julian is a cousin, more like a best friend, who will probably interrogate me the moment he sees me alone and grill the answers out of me. Julian's mother, my aunt, had moved out of Everton after my mother passed, so Julian goes back and forth quite a lot between Everton and the city, where his parents moved to.

I should have called him and told him what the hell I was doing, especially considering how often he's helped me deal with my brother and father, but it slipped my mind because it wasn't important amidst the chaos.

Drinks were being served to all the guests, which ticked me off when my father clinked at his glass, drawing everybody's attention as he prepared to make a toast.

I grabbed Delilah's hand, locking our fingers together. No chances of people tearing down our lies. I don't know if I can still call it a lie. I meant every word that I told her earlier.

After giving it plenty of thought, I came to the conclusion that if we get married, live together, and act like a real couple for show all the time, it won't work. It will just be another exhausting thing we have to do for the public and at some point, someone will find a crack and then shatter our whole illusion.

Delilah is great, in every sense of the word. She's beautiful, she's genuine, she's on my team, and she's mine from now on. There's no harm in trusting her and letting her in. Maybe even in loving her.

"Spencer," my father sighed loudly. "Let me raise a toast tonight."

Don't, for fuck's sake.

"I can't say I'm not surprised that you've found yourself a... lovely girl to marry." He glanced at Delilah. "Although I will say, and I speak for everybody while doing so, that she is not what any of us expected, am I wrong?"

Silence. Utter silence. People know better than to take my father's side and piss me off in my castle. I'm well aware people think there's a dungeon here which I use to torture people.

I never knew where that rumor came from, but I know how to use it to my advantage.

He chuckled softly, clutching his champagne tighter. "Delilah Celeste," he spoke again. "Welcome to the family. I hope you're happy in this castle with my son. I reckon it would be for the best if you were to return to the palace now, Spencer. But that's a conversation for another time," he smiled.

Then why mention it?

His eyes flicked from Delilah to me and I already knew he was about to find my only trigger point. My mother. "Your mother would have been happy."

I clenched my jaw, rolling my eyes and looking away.

"Her choice may not have been Delilah," he laughed. "But she would have been happy for you, nonetheless. It truly, honestly, deeply breaks my heart that she isn't here anymore, alive."

I could hear the taunt in his voice. It pissed me off and hit every nerve in my body.

"Do you miss her, Spencer?" He's amused.

I looked back at him, glaring. "Don't we all?"

He scoffed softly. Bastard.

"Spencer," Delilah whispered, squeezing my hand.

I looked over at her. I'm probably crushing her hand.

She stared at me, her eyes flickering between mine, but she kept quiet. "Nothing," she mumbled, holding my hand tighter.

"I hope you haven't forgotten her," my father continued.

How could I? Especially with the last words, she told me.

Run. That's what she told me. To run.

"I won't talk for too long. Good luck, to you two. Cheers." He raised his glass just a bit before taking a sip.

"I should just kill him," I whispered, mostly to myself. I glanced at Julian who just looked at my father and then rolled his eyes, shaking his head softly. I turned to Delilah and found her staring at me with surprise. "What?" I asked softly.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

"I heard you. Say it again."

I watched her quizzically. "I should just kill him," I repeated. "My father."

"Do you hate them both?" she inquired.

I shrugged. "Nico's just afraid of my father. He'll do anything he's told to because if he doesn't, he's got everything to lose. And my father will take it all away. Nico's just a pawn."

She blinked, falling into thought while staring at the grass.

"Delilah?"

She glanced back at me. "You should," she nodded.

I frowned in confusion, "I should what?"

"Kill him," she whispered, staring at me.

I blinked once. Then twice. What... is she talking about?

"Let's get on with the ceremony!" Nico announced.

I took the rings on, not taking my eyes off hers. I set the boxes down on the bench, opening them before plucking out her ring.

She stuck her hand out, whispering, "You should smile."

I watched her in amusement. "Look at you, telling me what to do," I teased, sliding the ring onto her finger. The way she just acted was weird. Incredibly weird. I need to ask her about it later on. She chuckled softly, grabbing the ring from the box and sliding it onto my finger while I held out my hand. She acted weird, but she's not wrong. I should just kill him. I might.

I stood up while people clapped, not so discreetly talking about us. Delilah followed while adjusting her dress. She looked up, shooting Willow a pleading look while Willow almost glared at her, the same way Julian was glaring at me for not telling him.

"She's going to kill me," Delilah whispered to herself.

I could clearly see a handful of women talking about Delilah while staring at her. They looked over at me, quieting down a bit, but clearly not enough. I sucked a frustrated breath through my teeth. "People should really find better things to do. Talk is cheap," I mumbled, turning my body to Delilah's. I held one side of her face, forcing her to look at me before looking away from the girls and at Delilah, leaning down quickly.

She blinked in surprise right before my lips crashed down on hers. Her hand grabbed onto my forearm of the hand that was holding her jaw.

I slid my other hand down to her waist as she kissed me back while I heard some gasps and louder whispers. I smiled against her lips before pulling away and she stared at me for a minute before scoffing softly.

"You love putting on a show, Spencer," she mused while reaching up and running her thumb across my lips, wiping off her lipstick.

"It's necessary when you have all eyes on you," I smirked, lifting a brow at her.

She hummed, "Well, I don't like all eyes on me."

The crowd simmered down a bit, chatting among themselves now, the attention and spotlight off of us for the time being.

"Well, you have my eyes on you," I smiled. I stumbled back and Delilah's eyes widened and she bit back a smile while Julian grabbed my suit, pulling me back. I huffed, rolling my eyes and turning to face him.

He leaned forward, smiling at Delilah. "I'm very sorry, but I'm going to borrow your fiancé for just a minute, okay? I promise to return him in good health."

She stared between us, biting back a laugh.

Julian turned to me. "On second thought, maybe not."

Willow walked up to Delilah and pulled her aside too as Julian grabbed my arm, pulling me in the other direction. I guess it's about time I explain everything to him. I think of him as my brother more than I ever did of Nico. I trust him. I'll tell him the truth.

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 18

Ig ya'll might be getting more than one update a day because I'm writing while I'm in class lmao

next chapter: motive