Betrothed to The Devil (Devil in Disguise Duet #2)

Chapter 3

《Selena Arabella Calos》

I don't like taking pictures, but I am not someone who can go places without having her photos taken. I am the CEO of a fashion empire, the heir to Calos Industries and friends with some of the country's most influential people, which means I have been in the spotlight since I was born and have had dozens of photos of me published in the news or some trashy magazine. I wish I could say I hate this life and all the glamour and attention that comes with it. I want to believe that I hate this life, but secretly, I know I will always love it- at least parts of it.

I mostly love the attention I get because my parents never gave me the attention I crave, so it makes me feel valid when others do. I don't care if that makes me an attention-seeker. I wanted my parents' attention but will settle for everyone else's.

I always hope my parents will notice me if they see something bad about me in the media. Saying that, most of the time, I cannot let bad rumours spread about me because it would harm the image of both of my family companies, and I cannot afford that- monetarily, I can, but mentally I cannot. Instead, I try to work very hard and make sure I always remain what society deems perfect so the media says good things about me. I hope my parents start to believe those things one day so I finally have validation from them and can move on with my life.

I keep all important newspaper/magazine articles about me in a box. Anyone with the box would know of all my accomplishments and important things to me. On days when I feel depressed or anxious, I take out the box and look through it to remind myself of happier times and convince myself that everything will be fine. Today is one such day. Earlier, I received a call from my mother herself- which shocked me because she barely ever calls me herself; most times, she contacts me through her assistant. I did not even have the woman's number saved, so when I heard her voice, I froze in shock. Of course, I started comprehending what she was saying a few seconds later, and a feeling of dread settled over me. She told me I would finally meet my fiancé today- but that is not what made me panic. No, what made me freak out was that the Castellos will be at dinner tonight. Mother hung up before I could ask her why.

Before I started to overthink the dinner, specifically a certain Castello's presence at dinner, I started looking through my memory box to calm down. It was helping me until now- when I reached the end of the box which contains clippings years ago when I first started collecting these things- shortly after my kidnapping.

I am sitting cross-legged on the floor, looking at a magazine clipping of me and the Castello I am trying not to think about. It was the first time we went to an event together. The picture in the article shows us dancing together, and the whole article is about what we were wearing and the implication of the two of us dating- what it would mean if two of the most influential families in the country were to merge. I don't really care much for the article, but the picture of us dancing makes me nostalgic and miserable. I just wish I could go back to that time- I can deal with my messed up mind again; what I cannot deal with is my messed up reality.

My head snaps up, and I look around the room, remembering I still have the shirt Daniel wore that night. I spot it in a pile of clothes by my closet and lean over to get it. I sigh, rubbing the shirt against my cheek.

I know it is probably creepy that I still have my ex-boyfriend's shirt and am rubbing it against my cheek, but I don't care, nor can I help it. The shirt is one of the things that calms me down.

I remove my shirt, throw it in the dirty pile of clothes across the room and slip on Daniel's old shirt. Some days I miss him as much as I hate him, which hurts so much. I wish I never loved him because then I would never hate or miss him as much as I do now.