CHAPTER 31: ARGUMENT & PROPOSAL

Argument & Proposal

Dinner came to an end. | have to say that the dinner was perfect in every way. The food was delicious,

and Edward was good company. Reiner stood at

a respectable distance away from us throughout the whole dinner. | glanced at him a few times over the

course of dinner, but he acted all cold and

professional. | guess | should go home now before it got any later.

“Edward, thank you for today. | think | should go home now,” | started to excuse myself.

“What's the hurry? | still have a couple of things to talk to you about,” Edward replied with a depressed

look on his face.

“With all due respect, Sir Edward. Miss Natalia should head home now. It is getting late,” Reiner said as

he came to stand by my side.

“20 minutes. Step outside for 20 minutes. | have some things to discuss alone with Natalia,” Edward

half asked and half commanded Reiner to step

outside. Reiner looked at me to seek my thought on the matter.

| have somethings to ask Edward as well in private. | gave Reiner a small nod signaling that | would like

him to leave us alone. Without another word,

Reiner walked out of the room.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” | asked Edward coming straight to the point. | have a few

things | wanted to ask him as well.

“Nothing, really. | just miss you...” Edward teased me with his sugar-coated words again. He was

beside my seat in no time and successfully pulled me

up from my seat before leading me to the sofa.

“Don't sweet talk me. You may not have anything you want to discuss with me but | do have a few

things | want to ask you,” | said as | turned to face

him on the sofa. His face is too close for comfort, his green eyes looking straight into mine.

“5 minutes. I'll answer all your questions in 5 minutes. In return, you'll let me fuck you for the remaining

15 minutes,” Edward replied before leaning in

to kiss my lips. My body reacted to his kiss instantly as my heart beat faster and | felt my face

becoming flushed.

I broke off the kiss, conscious that Edward was a man of his word and the countdown of my precious 5

minutes had already

started.

“Why did you convince Lucien to place a bodyguard on me 24/7?" I started interrogating him.

“Because a random man assaulted you and left a bite mark on your shoulder,” he replied casually by

repeating the lie I told

him back to me.

“What if I told you that I wasn’t assaulted? Will you remove my bodyguard?” I asked him.

“If you weren’t assaulted then it can only mean two things. One, you lied to me. Two, you willingly let

some man bite your

shoulder. Whichever it is, I have more than enough reason to keep Reiner as your bodyguard. To make

sure that you can never

lie to me again or to find out who you willingly allowed to bite your shoulder,” Edward replied with

surprising calm.

What should I do? If Reiner guards me, he will come to learn about my secrets in no time and if he

learns of them then so will

Lucien and probably Edward as well. Lucien and Edward must not find out about my relationship with

Zak. Lucien must not find

out that I slept with Edward and vice versa. I need to convince Edward and Lucien to remove my

bodyguard...but how?

“What will make Lucien remove my bodyguard?” I asked Edward. I have to solve this one step at a

time.

“hmm...me telling him that you no longer need one might work?” Edward replied with a smile after

some thought. Shit.

*“So...what do I need to do to make you tell Lucien to remove my bodyguard?” I pressed Edward

further for answers.

“My girl is so smart. Finally, you’re starting to get this. As I told you before, if you keep me entertained

and in a good mood,

things will start going your way,” Edward answered as his fingers grabbed my chin gently before he

leaned in to place a slow

and soft kiss on my lips. His kiss was warm and teasing but my mind was elsewhere as it tried to figure

out my next move.

“You’re evil...” I spat at him. He’s playing games with me and the more I struggle the more I get tangled

up in his webs.

Edward just shrugged without a care in the world.

“What will you do if Lucien finds out about us?” I asked. I’m running out of options and ideas. I have to

try using this against

him. Of course, the last thing I want is for Lucien to find out that I’ve been sleeping with his brother but

if hypothetically it

could remove my bodyguard, it was worth using as an excuse.

“T’ll marry you,” Edward replied casually without a thought.

“What?!” I exclaimed in shock. His response is the furthest thing from what I was expecting.

Edward turned to me and placed a warm hand on the side of my face. His emerald green eyes looked

deep into my own.

“T’ll marry you. If Lucien finds out all I have to tell him is that I'll take full responsibility by marrying you.

He’ll probably be Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

furious but there is no reason for him to refuse our union. You and I are not really related. I’m not your

real uncle and you’re

not my real niece. Everyone knows this for a fact. Our marriage would cause some uproar in the press

for a while but gossip

dies down fast,” Edward began to explain in a detached voice.

“I don’t want to marry you!” I retorted loudly.

I almost screamed at him.

“Who do you want to marry? Lucien? You’re worried about marrying your uncle but you’re fine marrying

your father?” Edward

retorted back mockingly.

“I...” I couldn’t think of anything to say back to him. This is so frustrating, and I feel like crying or just

blacking out around now

would also work out fine as well.

“Think about it logically, Natalia. I’m actually a fine choice for a husband. I’m as wealthy as Lucien is, if

not slightly more. I’m

famous with valuable global connections in and outside our company’s business. Most importantly, I’m

quite independent from

the main house. I would say marrying me would be much better than being used by the elders as a

pawn to strengthen

business ties. You’ve seen it often enough in our family. Most of your cousins have already been

married off for the sake of the

business or are engaged to do so in the near future. When will it be your turn?” Edward continued to

explain slowly. His facts

are accurate and I cannot disagree.

--To be continued...