Just like every night before, I dreamed of being intimate with Javier again.
Always the same dream — of how my body was touched and explored by him, without mercy.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Just like always, I couldn’t shake the feeling that none of it had been a dream at all.
It felt so real — the memory of Javier’s hands beginning to touch me, of those broad, powerful hands roaming every curve of my body.
But that was clearly impossible.
The bedroom door was locked tight from the inside, and my nightclothes were still fully in place.
And yet my body had already answered that fantasy with a mind of its own — I was drenched in sweat, and I could feel the damp heat low in my belly.
Damn it.
I really needed to see a specialist, but I was far too ashamed to admit this strange affliction to anyone.
After cleaning myself up and steadying my nerves, I stepped out of the room, dragging my small suitcase behind me.
I wanted to go home right now.
I couldn’t stand being in this place a second longer.
But my steps were forced to a halt in the lobby of the inn when three of Adriana’s friends suddenly blocked my path.
“Well, well, look who’s finally come out — our little drama queen.”
”I actually thought she was innocent, but turns out she’s quite the performer.”
”Exactly.
Faces like that, all sweet and saintly — they’re always the sneakiest.”
I stopped walking, my hands clenching into tight fists at my sides.
I had no idea why they were suddenly attacking me with such cruel words.
Had Adriana told them something awful about me last night? Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” I asked coldly, looking each of them in the eye.
“Because of you, our entire vacation has been ruined! Adriana wants us all to go home today, and it’s all because of you!”
I furrowed my brow, refusing to accept the blame.
“Why is that on me?
If you still want to continue your vacation, then go right ahead!
Why should I be blamed for your decisions?”
”Because Javier is insisting on going home today too!
And if Javier goes home, of course Adriana goes with him!
You’re just deliberately stirring up drama to get attention, aren’t you?
A mere adopted daughter, acting so high and mighty!
Remember — you’re nothing but an orphan living off someone else’s charity!”
I looked back and forth between Adriana’s friends, my chest heaving with a storm building inside me.
I couldn’t even remember their names properly, and yet here they were, speaking so cruelly, tearing apart my social standing without a second thought.
“I never asked anyone to go home.
I always intended to go home on my own, from the very start!”
”Same thing, you leech,” one of them sneered, before turning and walking away, leaving me standing there alone.
I could only stand still, watching their backs grow smaller until they disappeared around the bend in the corridor.
Beneath the sting of being insulted, a sudden curiosity crept into my mind.
Why was Javier so insistent on going home today?
Wasn’t their vacation supposed to end tomorrow evening?
“Let’s go home.”
My eyes blinked slowly when I found Javier already standing by his car outside the inn, waiting for me.
I swept my gaze across the villa grounds, but there was no sign of Adriana anywhere.
Why would she let her fiancé be the one to drive me home?
What kind of scheme was that woman planning now?
“Why are you just standing there? Are you coming home or not?” Javier asked flatly, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I nodded quickly, of course.
I hurried into the car and took the front seat, right beside the driver’s side, before the man who kept haunting my dreams could change his mind and leave without me.
Silence.
For the first several minutes of the drive, only a suffocating quiet filled the cabin of the car.
Until finally, unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, I was the one who broke it.
“Where’s Adriana? Why isn’t she going home with you?”
Instead of answering, Javier only kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, pretending to be absorbed in the increasingly congested intercity traffic.
Seeing his indifference, the irritation in my chest flared up again.
“You should be going home with her, Javi. You’re her fiancé. Why are you going out of your way to drive someone like me home — I’m nobody to you.”
Screech!
The sleek black car came to an abrupt stop as Javier slammed on the brakes, jolting my body forward with the sudden force.
A second later, Javier turned to face me fully, his sharp, hawk-like eyes piercing straight through me.
I held his gaze, trying to mask my nervousness.
I hadn’t said anything wrong, had I?
Everything I’d said was the truth.
Who was I, really?
Just an adopted younger sister no one at work would even acknowledge — while Adriana was his official, rightful bride-to-be.