Chapter 407 Paying the Price
It was hard. Much harder than I thought.
Although I knew that it was going to be hard, I never imagined that it would be this hard or this painful. I had no idea how I managed to convince myself that I was going to be fine. It was such a thin line between acting courageous and acting like a fool, and in that moment, I had no idea which side of the line I fell on.
I could have escaped this situation or partially evaded it, but instead, I chose to face it in the name of maintaining my professionalism. The stinging pain in my chest made me doubt the correctness of my decision; however, there was nothing that I could do about it anymore at that point. There was no way that I could turn back time to undo my decision, and even if I could, I was sure that I didn’t want to do that. It was just unfortunate for me that it would hurt and bother me this much.
Just as Elizabeth had told us, if we wanted to act then we had to act fast while we still had the media’s attention. That was exactly what we did after getting back to her that we would go along with her plan of faking their relationship. Within two days, which wasn’t at all enough time for me to prepare myself mentally, a formal press conference was arranged to announce the ‘hidden relationship’ between Elizabeth and Ace.
As his secretary, I stood to the side in the large function room in one of the most luxurious hotels in the city where the press conference was taking place. I could have avoided joining this event, but I chose not to. As his personal secretary, it was only right that I attend to help out where I could. As his real girlfriend, it felt like a must that I be here to support him even though I couldn’t go up there on stage and be right at his side. Even if it meant that I had to see and hear things that I didn’t want to, I didn’t hesitate to attend the press conference.
“Thank you everyone for your time today. It is time for the event to start now. Thank you for your patience, I now invite Miss Chase and Mr. Hills up on the stage,” the host spoke through the microphone to get the attention of the reporters and everyone else in the room.
All the noises in the room died down immediately as everyone’s attention turned to Ace and Elizabeth who were seated next to each other on a sofa in front of the room. As for me, I have always had my eyes on them even though it would probably be better for me if I looked away. It was probably just my imagination, but I couldn’t help but feel that they were sitting way too close to each other. It also did not help my poor heart and bruised spirits that the two of them looked very well-suited together. The tightness in my chest worsened but I still wouldn’t pull my eyes away.
Ace stood up from the sofa first when they were urged by the words of the host to get up on stage where they would make their announcement. I watched with a slightly sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as he turned to offer his hand to Elizabeth. Although I was standing quite far away to see everything single detail clearly, I could see in my mind’s eyes the way Elizabeth smiled alluringly at him before placing her hand into his. Once again, I could have looked away, but I didn’t. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was my way of taking responsibility for the decision that I made. If it wasn’t easy for me then I had no real reason to believe that it was easy for Ace.
With my eyes glued to Ace and his every movement, I couldn’t help such a public place with so many people gathered.
“Ace…” I called his name while sounding quite tired and sleepy.
but recall the brief conversation that we had in bed a few nights before after a few rounds of passionate lovemaking. I caught myself before I would recall the intense pleasure from when we shared our bodies and soul with each other in case it would make me blush in such a public place with so many people gathered.
“Ace…” I called his name while sounding quite tired and sleepy.
After a few rounds of rough and heavy sex, I laid in bed with my head pillowed comfortably on his arm as he held me naturally. My body felt heavy and lazy from the aftereffects of our wild lovemaking, but I had nothing to complain about that.
“Hmm? You sound tired, why don’t we call it a day?” Ace replied with a hint of teasing in his tone.
I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep from exhaustion in his arms. Then perhaps I would wake up and everything would just be a nasty dream that wasn’t connected in any way to the real world. I knew well enough that that was nothing more than wistful thinking and that I had to face my problems head on. The best way to start with that was to make sure that Ace and I had an agreement and that we were absolutely on the same page. After that, I could reward myself with some peaceful and restful sleep in the warmth of his embrace.
“Ace, I think we should go ahead with Elizabeth’s plan. I know that it’s not going to be easy for us, but I still think that it’s going to be for the best,” I said as I stared deeply into his eyes.
Ace’s face had an unreadable expression on it, and I could tell that he had very mixed feelings about the decision that I had reached. After clinging on to him so desperately during our passionate session, I knew that it was time for me to be less greedy. I didn’t want to share Ace with anyone but if I considered that it wouldn’t be for real, then maybe I could somehow find a way to live with it.
--To be continued…
