"Aah!" A scream of terror echoed inside the bedroom.
Rena almost fell out of her bed the moment she opened her eyes. This had to be another nightmare, right?
She stared unblinkingly at the man dressed in white, that neurally annoying smile still plastered on his face.
"Calm down there Rena." He spoke, his voice deep yet vibrant.
Rena stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. But she eventually spoke, but it wasn't what she or the man expected.
"Don't call me that."
The man raised his brows in surprise, the smile never leaving his face.
"And may I ask why not?"
"Only those I like are allowed to."
"Understandable." He shrugged.
"So what should I call you then?"
"How about we start by you leaving the room first?" She said acidly.
"I would, but do you even know where or whose room you're in?" He teased, leisurely strolling around the bed.
He was right. She had begun an argument with a stranger without even realizing her surroundings.
In the end, she concluded that this must be another one of Darien's houses. But then where was he... And more importantly, why was this person she'd grown to disdain there?!
His surprisingly pleasant laugh echoed out.
"Stop looking at me like I'm going to murder you."
"I can't really trust that, can I?"
He gave a wicked smile.
"No." He said slowly.
Rena frowned. She couldn't be sure what he was capable of...
"Xander!" A delightful, female voice called.
"Stop nagging the poor girl already."
Xander turned, his smile growing.
"Nagging? I would disagree. This is just how we talk."
The woman entered, giving Xander a look only he understood.
"Fine, fine." He sighed in resignation.
"It was nice meeting you, Irene." He winked, then strode confidently out the door.
"Sorry about him dear. He can be quite a handful sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Rena wondered.
"I would think it's his whole personality. Troublesome." She added half-jokingly.
She was relieved that another person could see Xander. She had thought she was going mental for a moment.
The woman chuckled pleasantly.
"Someone else would agree with you on that." She beamed.
"I'm Angel, by the way, Darien's mother."
Rena couldn't believe it. How could this woman, who looked to be her age, possibly be anyone's mom? Especially a grown man!
Looking at her closely, Rena had to admit that she had a calming and mature aura about her.
Her long jet-black hair was loosely tied from behind, letting loose a few strands. Her emerald green eyes matched her uniquely designed dress almost perfectly.
"I wasn't sure what you'd like to have, so I brought everything we had." Rena heard Angel say.
Angel walked to the entrance, taking from a maid a surprisingly large tray filled with almost all kinds of breakfast food.
"Oh... Thank you but I'm not hung—"
"Nonsense!" Angel cut her off, smiling sweetly.
"You didn't have your supper last night, so it only makes sense you would be starving right now."
Rena thought about it and she wasn't actually starving.
To not be rude, she had a few bites of toast and sausage nonetheless.
"May I ask where Darien is?" Rena inquires after having been done with her breakfast.
"He's—"
"Right here."
They both turned and saw Darien as he walked toward them. He came to a stop beside Angel, stopping to plant a kiss on her head.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"It's fine." Angel gave him a warm simile.
"I'll take my leave now. Take care of yourself, dear." She turned to Rena, lightly caressing her cheek.
She gracefully picked up the tray that still had some food on it, then promptly left the room.
Rena felt a sort of motherly love from the woman. She couldn't help wondering what her life would've been like if she had such a mother.
The sound of the door closing snapped Rena out of her thoughts, and she turned to find Darien seated where his mother had been.
"Your mother is very lovely." She told him.
"Thank you. That's the nicest thing you've said to me since we met." He smirked.
Rena was unable to understand the guy's personality. One moment he was cold and the next, he was teasing her.
"It was for your mum." She told him.
"Are you saying you have nothing nice to say about me?"
His question caught her off guard. She wasn't sure what to answer, so she changed the subject.
"Why did we suddenly leave the other house? Or are you kidnapping me? And what about Sandra and... My mother?"
"Always with a series of questions," Darien said, more to himself than to her.
"Well? Aren't you going to answer?" She implored.
"Don't worry. Sandra and Felicia are fine. Lewis will make sure of that."
Rena sighed in relief, but then realized that he hadn't answered her first question.
"What about my first question?"
"We'll talk later." Darien suddenly stood.
"No." Rena ran and stood in front of him, arms crossed.
"You're not leaving until you answer me Darien."
At this, he smiled.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because I'm your wife!"
Rena caught her breath. She'd said those words without thinking at all...
Her whole face flushed with embarrassment as she avoided his gaze. The worst part was that she could see his contented grin from the corner of her eye.
Oh, how she wanted to vanish into nothingness at that moment.
The few seconds of silence felt like agonizing decades to her.
"Fine." He replied.
"We left because..." He paused, trying to find the right words.
"It wasn't safe."
"What do you mean by that? What danger are you speaking of? And why—"
"I think that's enough for now." His voice carried finality, which only irked her more.
"Your answers aren't good enough. WHY bother answering in the first place?!"
Rena found herself getting frustrated again because of this man.
Rena felt his hands on her shoulders as he gently moved her out of his way. She wanted to protest but at that moment, she suddenly couldn't speak.
The feel of his warm hands on her sent unforeseen chills through her.
She looked up at him and froze. Darien was leaning closer, closing the few inches of space between them. A few strands of his jet-black hair fell out of place. She barely resisted the urge to run to put them back in place.
Rena was fully taken in by his masculine but strangely familiar scent. Her body relaxed, and her defenses crumbled like they never existed in the first place.
Just as she thought he was about to kiss her, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, his warm breath making her skin tingle pleasantly.
"Because I am your husband Irene."
Her heart seemed to have skipped a few beats... But then sudden sharp internal body pain made her flinch, but she didn't move away from him.
Instead, he abruptly moved away from her, as if he'd committed a great mistake.
He left immediately after, and Rena didn't get to see the guilty look on his face.
...
