The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 360: Ultimatum (2)

At exactly 6 pm, he showed up at Clarion’s porch and when he called her, she sounded surprised.

"How did you find my address?"

"I figured it out, just like you wanted me to." He smiled. He had taunted and annoyed the fuck out of Zeus until he agreed to track her location based on her phone number, but she didn’t need to know that.

"I’ll be right there." She promised.

She made him wait for half an hour.

If it was anyone else, he would have walked away after telling them to lose his number. But this was Clarion, and he knew she was testing his patience. As soon as she showed up, all the impatience he had felt waiting instantly disappeared.

She was wearing an A-line lilac halter dress and he could swear he had never seen such beauty. Her hair was not in a bun like every time he had seen her. She had it down in soft waves dangling off a neat ponytail. Her smile was what made him almost believe he was still asleep and this was a dream. If he was dreaming, he didn’t want to wake up.

Remembering how wondering if things were real was what woke him up from most dreams, he snapped out of it. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." She entered the passenger’s side when he opened the door. Once he circled back to his side and drove off, she said, "I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I had a wardrobe malfunction and spent the last twenty-five minutes freaking out about it."

He didn’t know if she was telling the truth but she didn’t have that smug smile on her face. She looked sincere. Ruling it as the truth, he was puzzled. "Freaking out for twenty-five minutes? That’s enough time for me to figure out a new outfit and get dressed."

"For me too," she shook her head. "I did dress up in a minute after all that. That’s what constant perfomances do to you—you gain the superpower to change at superhuman speeds. It’s just...I have anxiety issues."

It was strange. Everything he knew about Clarion made him admire her. But somehow her talking about her anxiety problem made him admire her even more. She viewed viewwed it as an imperfection if her drooping eyes were any indication. On the other hand, he clung to it like the first sign she wasn’t using the six month thing to blow him off.

"Thanks for sharing that with me." He said, then added, "at least now I know you’re human. I was starting to think you’re a deity and you accidentally dropped into our world."

She laughed. "Then thank you for not using that infuriatingly cheesy pick-up line "did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" She deepened her voice when she said the pick-up line, mimicking how it sounded when she heard it.

He glanced sideways at her with a smile. "Now that you mention it, are you tired? You’ve been running on my mind all day."

She rolled her eyes, reeling in laughter. "Are you a doctor? Because I want to eat an apple when I see you."

"Hey, that hurt." He pressed a hand against his chest in mock hurt.

They retold the cheesiest pick-up lines all the way to Kallistar and just as he handed the valet the keys, she said, "Are you a horse?"

He squinted. When he got it, his gaze heated. "You’re playing a dangerous game, Clarion."

She swatted his hand just as he was about to wrap it around her waist. "You can look, Mr. West, but you can’t touch."

He groaned in frustration. This woman was killing him.

______

"Did your date ditch you?" Clarion asked as they sipped their wine.

He eyed her suspiciously. "What trap are you setting for me this time?"

She laughed at his scepticism . "It’s not a trap. You know how hard this place is to get a reservation in, right? Maybe not for you but most people don’t always get to eat here even if they have the money."

"Let’s just say I annoyed someone." He smirked without elaborating. "And no, I didn’t have a date that canceled on me. You are the only woman I want to take on a date."

She flushed but tried to hide it by taking a sip of her wine.

The date was going well. He had brought her to a reputable restaurant, bought her flowers, and aside from the time in the parking lot when she made a joke about riding him, he had kept his hands to himself and been on his best behavior. Oh, and the flowers were a nice touch. He had gone the safe route and ordered roses, but white ones so it wasn’t too blatant.

It was a win.

Or so he thought, until he said the wrong thing yet again.

"You know, for a minute I thought you asked for six months as a way of getting away from me."

"It was." She deadpanned.

He ground. Why didn’t he keep his mouth shut? He didn’t want her to elaborate but he did so anyway.

"Evan, forget your reputation. You’re a West. Your family is one of the wealthiest families in Olphire but also one of the most dramatic ones. And..."

"I didn’t choose which family to be born into, Clarion." He cut her off. "It’s not fair for you to reject me because of that. And before you give me that ’you’re a great guy but...’ speech, I already agreed to your terms. It’s only fair that you agree to mine."

She frowned but asked, "what terms?"

"First, you cannot see other guys during these six months. I will not see any women either, that’s the whole point, right? This.." He pointed in between the two of them. "Is going to bloom into a relationship."

She gulped, not having expected him to be so upfront. "Second?"

"Second, if you’re going to reject me, you need to give me an actual reason that’s related to me. If you don’t like me, I will accept that. If I’m not the right man for you or you simply don’t want me, that will hurt but I’ll accept it too. But don’t tell me you can’t be with me because I share a surname with a bunch of people I don’t even want to be associated with."

She pursed her lips but couldn’t retort. "Fine."

_____

Crisis averted, he thought.

They had managed to go through the rest of the date without a hitch. He dropped her off and snagged another date. Although he didn’t get to kiss her like he intended to, that was because he didn’t want to push her too fast. The more comfortable she was with the pace they were going at, the less likely she was to flee.

He thought it was over and he was ready to cross off the day from the calendar when the door opened.

He had forgotten all about his old flames. Well, one of them was standing in the middle of his living room, dropping her knee-length coat to reveal what she was wearing underneath—nothing.

"What the fuck?" He instinctively grabbed her coat from the floor and shoved it into her hands. "What are you doing here, Nessa?"

Nessa was still reeling in shock from his reaction. Usually, he would be exploring her body by now. She flushed in embarrassment as she covered up.

"I thought I’d come to pay a visit but..." she blinked her tears away. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. Fuck, don’t cry...I just..." he ran a hand through his hair. "I found someone."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "I see." He thought she had given up but she came back with another retort. "We can go back to how we used to be, right? I won’t come here unannounced ever again, I promise." She purred. "You can lie to anyone but me. You love threesomes, you wouldn’t send one woman away because of another. You’re just mad at me, right?"

He looked up, as if the sky would open up and provide answers. Why was his past trying so hard to ruin it for him? Also, why did this situation have Clarion’s name written all over it?

AN: Time skip coming up soon.

I joined the mass release event and will publish 5 Chapters each on 16th and 18th. Check it out!