The day is slowly coming to an end and the guests are saying goodbye. I only manage with an effort to say a sensible goodbye to my parents, especially to my mother, who also holds me tightly in her arms.

I love her, but still, I feel betrayed by her and I can't swallow it that quickly. At some point, I'll find out the reason and then I alone will decide whether it's forgivable or not...

And as if it wasn't enough that I feel bad, Leroy also explains to me that Kelly will stay with us for a few days.

I just don't know what to say to that. After all, it's not up to me, it's not my house, so I don't even understand why he told me that, but still, I have to admit to myself that I don't want that.

She made me feel so uncomfortable all day and I can't shake the feeling that I only have one more enemy around her and I really don't need another tormentor.

But maybe I'm wrong. My eyes wander to her appraisingly, while she is laughing on her phone and has made herself comfortable on one of the garden chairs.

I hope I'm just wrong...

Now that everyone has left, I look around again quietly before heading straight to the room to change. Ben is being carried into a guest room by security because he is too drunk to drive home.

Then my eyes fall on Danny, who is asleep on two garden chairs and is just being taken in Leroy's arms. Just as I'm about to avert my gaze again, he looks at me and comes towards me, whereupon I hurriedly look away and turn my back to quickly disappear, but he's already standing next to me and grabs my elbow.

I grit my teeth angrily and curse myself because I couldn't be faster than him before I slowly turn to face him. I am not in the mood for him now, because I know it will only end in a fight.

"What is it? I want to leave now, so please let me go," I demand. To my astonishment, he does let go of me, but his gaze bores into my eyes in a warning for a moment that makes me realize not to budge. God, he is such an incredible tease!

"Good night," he suddenly calls to Kelly, who looks up in confusion. When she spots Leroy with Danny in his arms and me next to him, she merely raises her eyebrows and leans back again, but Leroy doesn't see that as he's already turning his back on her to leave the conservatory.

"Leroy?" she calls him out as I turn to follow him, whereupon he slows down and waits.

"Are you coming back down in a minute?" she asks, to which Leroy thinks for a moment before nodding. I snort.

He can do whatever he wants, after all, I'd rather he stayed away from me anyway but doesn't that Kelly knows what she's saying?

Let's say that Leroy and I would have got married today because we love each other. She should never have suggested something like that to him, so why is she being so brazen?

Mentally, I sigh. It benefits me because it keeps him away from me, but still, I can't ignore this feeling, like there's real danger coming from Kelly.

As long as she doesn't go after me, everything's fine, isn't it?

"Hello?", Leroy's brisk voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I wince and look up at him. He's frowned and now looks down at me with slightly narrowed eyes.

"You want to grow roots here?" he asks gruffly, to which I swallow blankly and shake my head slightly before letting him pull me along. Where is he taking me anyway?

Sighing, we enter the villa. I see Yang cleaning up with the other staff and their overwhelmed faces, which is why I decide to get out of this dress and go help them. Leroy pulls me with him and leaves me outside my bedroom door before turning his back on me and disappearing into the opposite room.

He leaves the door open a little bit, though, so that I can watch him put Danny to bed, carefully dress him in his pajamas, turn on his night light and kiss him on the head before he sits up.

Shaking my head, I reach for the doorknob and enter the room, trying to hurry a little so that he doesn't realize I've been watching him for a while.

I didn't even know that Danny's room was on the same floor, although I could have guessed it because Leroy naturally wants him to be close to him and this is Leroy's bedroom, which I've been occupying for days...

Sighing, I let my shoulders slump and am already reaching for a cord at my back to finally make it out of this wedding dress when suddenly the door opens. Startled, I turn around with widened eyes and realize to my horror that it is Leroy. What is he doing here?

Without looking at me, he locks the door again behind him and is already slowly unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, perplexed, and struggle to look him in the face. He pauses in his movement and slowly raises his head, a confused spark in his eyes. His fingers rest menacingly on the next button, which would then expose his entire chest.

"Changing," he answers me, though for a moment it sounds more like a question. Swallowing, I rub my arms gently. Leroy seems to smell my fear now because a knowing expression now settles on his face.

"I'm going to sleep here again. Even if we hadn't gotten married today, I would have been back in the same room with you at some point, or you'll run away from me in the night." Nonchalantly, he continues to unbutton his shirt now and I force myself not to look away.

After all, he doesn't need to know how much he intimidates me by doing this...

"I haven't just left in the last few days either, so you're welcome to sleep somewhere else," I interject as he now turns his back on me as he walks to the window and takes his shirt completely off. Sharply, yet quietly, I suck in a breath, unable to do anything about the reddening on my cheeks.

His well-trained body is decorated with black ink. Several tattoos face me and I have to admit that I would have liked to look at them longer, but at that moment he turns to me, so I avert my gaze.

Damn, now I have done it after all!

But if I hadn't averted my gaze, he would know that I had been staring.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice him reaching for a top that was placed on the bed, before putting it on, and when I hear the soft pop of his belt buckle, I turn my back on him completely and sit down at the dressing table.

Totally agitated on the inside, I don't let it show on the outside and take off my veil. I realize that he won't respond to the previous conversation and leave it at that for now. Let him sleep here then, but I certainly won't share a bed with him.

"I'm going downstairs again. I want to help the others because they have so much to do," I explain to him after a little while of silence in which one could only hear him changing his clothes.

I hear his footsteps until he leans against the wall next to the dressing table and just stares at me without saying anything, whereupon I cautiously look up at him. With his arms folded, he looks down at me. I avert my gaze again and undo my hair.

"There's no need for that. I'll pay them for it," his voice finally rings out. I reach for a wet wipe and now slowly remove the make-up from my face.

"I still want to help...", I begin, but he interrupts me.

"No!"

Furious that he can only deny it, I look up at him again with narrowed eyes.

"Why not? Why do you always deny my questions?" I ask reproachfully. Why does he have to treat me so unfairly all the time? Can't he be nice to me at least once? Instead of offering me his help, he doesn't even want to let me help, it's hard to believe! I wonder what is going on in his head.

"Why do you make so many wishes, but never bother to give anything in return?" he suddenly murmurs, tilting his head in mock confusion. Irritated, I blink. What does he mean by that? As if he has read my thoughts, he merely raises his eyebrows.

"If you want something, Katrina, do something about it first," he explicates as if he talks to a child. Ignoring the shiver that crawls up my spine as he says my name, I shake my head in perplexity.

"What more do you want me to do, Leroy? I'm already doing everything you want! I married you today, I mean, what do you want-" I begin, upset, but pause as a thought flashes through my mind. I hold my breath as the corners of Leroy's mouth twitch as if guessing what I'm thinking about.

He's just teasing you!

I nod to myself. Yes, that must be it, because anything else doesn't make sense. He hates me, so why would he want me close? Something I will never give him...

"So what exactly do you imagine by that?", I add to my previous sentence, pretending I hadn't thought about it for seconds, which made Leroy smirk briefly.

When I look him in the eye again, I get nervous. Uncertainly, I nestle my bracelet and bite the inside of my cheek because Leroy's gaze is crystal clear. He knows exactly what I was just thinking about and when he shakes his head with a diabolical smirk, I'm afraid for a moment that that's exactly what he's about to say.

"You can come up with that if you want," he replies, looking at me challengingly. I swallow and return his gaze. What the hell, I think to myself, before the words are already gushing out of me.

"What is this all about? You hate me! So why would you want-"

"I want? Keep talking."

"For me to come closer to you," I sigh, biting my lower lip uncertainly before lowering my gaze. "Because you want to expose me, don't you? You want to break my will, that's why. You men even want to be close to someone you hate. You can do that," I whisper hoarsely.

"Your words, chica. I didn't say anything of the sort. I just told you that if you want something, you have to do something about it. So what was it again? Freedom, to study, to be allowed to talk to my son, to meet your friends, to visit your parents regularly... Anything else?" A sneer spreads on his lips as I think through whether I could really do anything for it. The answer is no. Never in my life could I give him anything of mine that was that intimate.

"I'll make an exception about Danny. You can talk to him from now on, I permit you," he says suddenly. Surprised, I lift my eyes and immediately discover the dark veil that covers his eyes. "But if I hear that you have harmed him, I will not hesitate for a second and I will brutally chop your head off your shoulders."

I wince hard and open my mouth in horror, but can't bring a sound past my lips.

"And... What if he accidentally hurts himself?", I breathe fearfully. Maybe I should stay away from Danny after all. Leroy smiles mildly at my reaction.

"Danny is not a liar. If he hurts himself, he'll say he hurt himself, and if you hurt him, he'll say you hurt him."

"Okay," I whisper, wetting my dry lips. I just hope I never accidentally hurt him.

Leroy nods at the door without taking his eyes off me. "And I'll make an exception here as well. Go and help the others, if you want it so much. For all your other wishes, you must first give me something that will convince me and make me agree. But remember that this is your freedom and I cannot give it away so easily. For that, you would have to come up with a smart idea."

With these words, he disappears.

☼ ❅