Four

His smile sent a shiver down my spine, and my mind raced with memories of the past. Memories that I thought I had left behind.

But now, standing in front of me, he looked as charming as ever. His chiseled jawline and piercing blue eyes made it hard to resist his gaze. The way he towered over me, exuding confidence and power, made me feel small and vulnerable.

Despite my anger and hurt, my mouth betrayed me, and I couldn't utter a single word. I felt Sanna’s gaze on me, and her questions seemed to be piercing right through me. Do you know this guy, Laur? Her voice echoed in my head.

“Did I make you speechless, my love?” he said with a smirk. My blood boiled with anger. How dare he say those words to me?

The anger rose against me, wanting to get out. My hands clenched as I gave him my deadly glare. How dare he! It’s as if there was nothing that happened between us. Like he didn’t do anything terrible, his eyes were enjoying my reaction.

I swallowed the bulging anger and pain, taking a deep breath before saying, “Don’t call me that; I don’t know you,” Eyeing him before fixing my composure. I would ignore him with all my best.

Sanna frowned, looking back and forth between the man and me. In my peripheral view, he turned his attention to my friend and eventually recognized her. “Hi there, Miss Fotanyer. Nice seeing you again,” he greeted. Why couldn’t this man just leave right away?

Wait... seeing you again? I looked at Sanna, who was staring at me. Had my friend met this man? Don’t tell me she told him where I am. If she did, I didn’t know what I could do to her. But Sanna wouldn’t do that; I had known her for five years.

“Hello, Mr. La Monte,” Sanna said casually, giving him a tight smile. When did they meet, and where? Why hadn’t she told me?

He took a vacant seat and sat down at our table like he was one of us. I gave Sanna a questioning look.

“It seems like the two of you know each other, Laur. You didn’t tell me,” she started.

I bent down to get the spoon on the floor. I could still feel the looks of a few people, especially the women behind me. Someone even took a picture of him secretly.

"What was he doing here?" I wondered, trying to mask my irritation with a neutral expression. His smug grin made my blood boil, and I wished it would vanish. His air of superiority was as evident as ever.

I looked at Sanna, keeping my sharp gaze on him. Suddenly, the café seemed to be closing in on me, and I couldn't explain my restlessness.

"Actually, Sanna, you know him, not me. I have no idea who this guy is," I muttered, shrugging off the idea of revisiting painful memories.

"He's the one who proposed to you last night," she said, matter-of-factly. I snickered. Why was I laughing when it wasn't amusing? Maybe it was a defense mechanism against the pain that still lingered.

"Are you serious, Sanna? This man?" I asked, pointing the spoon I was holding in his direction.

"Is that how you remember it, my love?" he chimed in, and my smile faded. I restrained myself from tossing my spoon at him.

How could he have had the guts to call me “my love?” Was this how he was saying he did nothing? It looked like what he did to me didn’t matter to him.

He may have looked like an angel, but deep down, he wasn’t—he was so evil! It wasn’t delightful, and those tears of mine were wanting to fall.

I looked away from him and turned my attention to Sanna, who had a question on her face.

“I need to talk to you, Lauren,” the man seriously told me, the man whose name I didn't want to remember.

“Oh, I need to meet someone right now. It seems like the two of you need to talk to resolve something,” Sanna exclaimed and immediately stood up, leaving me alone with the man. I knew she was lying. I wanted to go with her, just to be away from the man.

I was slowly breaking every minute, and I was afraid that if I wasn't strong enough, I would end up bleeding in front of him.

“I'm busy, and I don't talk to strangers,” I coldly spoke and got up, but his long perfect hand touched my arm and pulled me back to sit. I raised my brow. Who was he to stop me?

“Stop running away, Lauren,” he warned.

“I was not running away. And why were you here? What was Sanna talking about the marriage and the company? Damn you, you asked her dad for me to marry you, and how could you do that?” I couldn't help but ask the questions that had been bothering me for days.

He smirked. He took the spoon from my hand, picked up the half-eaten cake from my plate, and ate it.

"I'm not letting you be happy," he said, his eyes boring into mine, devoid of any emotion. "After what you did, you'll have to pay for it." Then he smiled, a wicked grin that sent shivers down my spine.

I couldn't comprehend his words. It was as if he was accusing me of severely wronging him. Was he out of his mind?

"What are you saying, Zevran!?" I blurted out, my anger rising. "You're the one who hurt me, and how dare you say that to me!"

He looked at me with a blank expression, and abruptly stopped eating. The smile that had been on his face vanished, replaced by a hard and intense gaze. I was taken aback when he used his foot to pull my chair closer to him.

Leaning towards me, our faces were mere inches apart. I attempted to move away, but his hands held onto my arms, preventing me from escaping.

"Stop acting like you were hurt, Lauren. Because you're not. Because right now, I see how you enjoy your life. How happy you are. I'll share with you how the angel fell and burned in hell," he emphasized each word.

"How could you--"

"I told you before that I won't let you go," he declared, and I was startled when he licked my lower lip before pulling away.

He stood up on his seat, leaving me motionless and unable to react to what had just occurred. "If you want to save your friend, Lauren, you know what I want," he said in a detached tone before striding towards the door.