When I opened my eyes, I was disoriented. I thought I had died already, but then I saw someone who looked familiar. He was standing by the window and I saw a smoke coming from his hand. Was he smoking? I groaned as I tried to get up, but he was fast enough to assist me.
"Are you okay now?" he asked.

"My body aches all over but did you save me from those wretches?” I wanted to know because the last thing I remembered was when they were about to strip me naked while being tied to a tree.
“Not me, but your wolf, Isabella. She took over when you screamed in fear,” he replied.
“Did she? But why can’t I sense her presence now?”
“She’s probably tired and sleeping,” he told me. “Next time, you shouldn’t be impulsive, Isabella. Look what happened! You almost got killed!”
“Are you blaming me for what happened? I didn’t know there were rogues in the area,” I replied.
“I already told you about that! Why do you think your Dad hired me in the first place? Anyway, are you sure you’re okay? I can take you to the clinic now,” he offered.

“No, I don’t want to go there, Luke.”
“If you say so, but I think that wound on your arms needs another bandage,” he noticed.
“There’s a first aid kit in the bathroom, just take it, please. Do you know how to apply a bandage?”
“I’m not stupid, woman.”

As Luke went to the bathroom to retrieve the kit, I decided to check my phone. Since refusing Aric’s proposal, I had turned it off because I didn’t want him to keep calling me.
As expected, I got a hundred missed calls from him. There were tons of messages as well. He begged me to take his call. He begged me to give him a time where we could meet and talk.
As I read his messages one by one, I kinda feel bad about him. Around this time, Aric was a good man, and it was one of the reasons why I was head over heels with him before. He treated me well, and he was always gentle with his words. However, knowing what he would do to me in the future, I had to force myself to be indifferent to him.
But then, should I reply to his messages? I was considering what to do next when Luke came with the first aid kit. Without saying anything, he cleaned the wound, and afterward, put some bandage on it, but suddenly, he applied more pressure on the wound.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I asked angrily.
“Don’t be overdramatic, Isabella. It’s necessary,” he stated.
And then, when he was done, we both heard a knock on the door. I frowned while glaring at the door because I wasn’t ready to face Vanessa yet. When Luke walked toward the door, I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t. As he opened it, I was about to order Vanessa to go away because I was tired, but it wasn’t Vanessa who knocked outside. It was Aric Stormheart!
“I heard you were injured, sweetheart. Can we talk?” Aric asked while ignoring Luke at the moment. He didn’t even spare a glance toward the man who opened the door for him.
“Talk about what, Aric?”
“About us. I still don’t understand why you suddenly don’t want to marry me. We are in love, Isabella!”
“Not anymore,” I replied.
“What do you mean by that? The day before the engagement, you even allowed me to kiss you and –
“Stop it! I don’t want to hear anything about it, Aric. If something happened in the past, it’s already in the past, and I don’t live there anymore,” I told him.
“Why are you talking like it happened a long time ago? Isabella, it was a recent event!”
“If it happened yesterday or the day before that, then, it’s in the past. Can you just honor my decision, Aric? I don’t want to marry you anymore. I have a change of heart,” I lied.
“Is it because of him?” Aric asked while pointing a finger toward Luke who remained standing nearby.
“Does it matter? My hearts knows that I am no longer in love with you, Aric. Can you just move on and look for someone else?”
“How did it happen? A few days ago, you were so in love with me, and now, you are saying that you don’t love me anymore. What’s the matter, Isabella?”
“I said I had a change of heart, that’s all,” I replied, but when he clenched his jaw in front of me, I suddenly regretted my decision to keep lying.
“Are you saying you fell out of love?”
“That’s the right term, Aric.”
“Bullshit, Isabella! Fell out of love? Stupid! You are just saying that because you already fall for someone else!” he said angrily and without further ado, he lunged an attack toward Luke Skywalker.
I screamed before he was able to hit Luke, but Aric’s movement was swift, and his mind was clouded with anger. “I said, stop it! STOP IT!”
When I screamed out loud, Aric stopped hitting Luke. I glared at my ex-boyfriend who dared to hurt my bodyguard. Then, I glanced at Luke. He looked calm as always, and I didn’t see any sign that Aric’s attack had scared him even a little bit.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I got carried away. Anyway, I brought your favorite food,” he said, and as if on cue, someone knock on the door again, and this time, it was Vanessa. “Thank’s Vanessa,” Aric said to Vanessa who carried the tray with food.
“You shouldn’t have bothered at all,” I mumbled, but Aric didn’t say anything. Instead, he just looked at me and his eyes were full of regret.
When I stared into his eyes, I regretted it right away. Aric was a good man before our marriage in the past, and his eyes told me he was hurting a lot. But what should I do? I didn’t want to die under the hands of his mistress!
“I will just call you when I am ready to talk to you, Aric. For now, you have to leave.”
“Then, I will wait for your call, my love.”
When he used that endearment, I wanted to go to him and hug him, but it would just complicate my plans. It was already hard to refuse his marriage proposal, and I didn’t want to hurt him in the process.
“Mmmm, Aric?” I called his name while he was walking toward the door, but before I could say something else, Luke suddenly came to my side and boldly held my hand.