A ton of notifications hit my phone at once and I was stunned. What the hell was going on?
When I opened the app that was bringing all this buzz, I realized I was played once again.
All that time I thought we were having a moment by the pool, Jace had someone take pictures of us. He posted it on his social media page with the a heart emoji as the caption. Now the press had something to feast on. And what made it worse was the fact that he tagged me. Now I had a ton of followers I had no idea what to do with.
It broke my heart that he was simply toying with my emotions for personal gain. I hated him even more now and I was very pissed.
The text from Charlotte telling me she enjoyed the pastries I baked as usual was the only thing that could uplift my mood just a bit.
As night came, Jace did not sleep in the same room. I wasn't sure I could let myself call it our room just yet. I still felt like a stranger here but I doubted I would ever be anything more than that. I'd always be the stranger he picked up and got married to in a week like the maniac he was. I would always be that girl he felt he could do anything he liked with because she was always going to be his property.
I didn't realize I was crying until the thoughts started to hit hard one after the other and the hot tears rolled down my cheeks.
On impulse, I got on my feet and walked out of the room. Strangely enough, the hallway was quiet. There was no guard in sight.
I walked towards the end of the hallway where I saw a door with the 'Do Not Disturb' sign boldly imprinted.
I typically assumed he was in there and wanted to turn back, not wanting to speak to him after the stunt he just pulled. But there was a part of me that was curious regardless of his presence so I twisted the knob.
Surprisingly, it wasn't locked. Then I went in and saw that it was...empty.
Why would someone like Jace leave this place opened? A man like him kept his cards close to his chest so it was surprising that he would leave it unattended to. Or maybe he was closeby but I didn't care to think about that.
The room looked like every other home office or study. Books lined the shelves all over the place and his desk was piled up with files, there was a desktop computer, a mug filled with pens. Basically everything that would be in a normal office was in there. The only difference was that it was at home.
I walked further in and slowly shut the door behind me so it wouldn't make a sound. I went further into the room, taking a look around the place.
My fingers trailed over the books with curiosity until my eyes fell on a particular portrait on the opposite side of the wall. It was similar to the one I had seen in Rome. I guessed I was right to assume this was Jace's father. There was no other reason why this man's photograph would be in his office.
Once again, I saw flashes of this man's face from a distant memory. It felt vague and vivid at the same time. It confused me so much, I was beginning to feel a headache. I held on to my head and sat down on the couch trying to gather myself.
I got on my feet again after a couple of minutes and went to the shelf under the photograph. Maybe I could find out something about this man in there, I thought.
I pulled out the first drawer and saw a book. Its pages were empty but something fell out of it. A letter that had been ripped open.
I dipped my finger into the envelope and brought out the letter. I was about to open it when Jace's voice thundered from behind me.
"What hell are you doing in here?"
I flinched so hard, I dropped my phone and the letter along with it.
He looked so enraged, I was actually scared.
"I asked you a question Mirabel."
"I, um-, I-"
I was a stuttering mess stumbling over my words because I could not think of a possible explanation to give him. He had caught me red handed and even though I thought I would not care if he caught me in the beginning, I obviously did.
He came closer and I took steps backwards for every step he took towards me until I was pinned against the wall. I held in my breath as he placed his hands on either side of me.
"Don't go looking for what isn't looking for you." He said against my ears like it was a warning he needed my brain to register.
I shivered as his breath touched my skin.
Then he stepped back, picked up my phone and handed it to me after checking if any damage was done.
My eyes stayed on the letter as he picked it up as well.
"These things are kept private for a reason. I do not appreciate you snooping around my things." He said coldly. There was an underlying warning in his tone to never try it again.
I nodded, feeling strange chills all of a sudden.
As he led me back to bed, I could not help the gnawing feeling in my chest that he was hiding something deeper than I imagined from me. There had to be a reason he was holding me hostage. It ran deeper than the surface.
Also, there had to be a reason why the picture of his father was messing with my memory.
Maybe it was the red string theory or I was just overthinking things but something strange was going on and I needed to find out what it was and soon too.