MY UNEXPECTED MARRIAGE TO THE LOVELESS CEO

Chapter 18

Les Jolies Eaux | Mustique

"Ah, there she is"

My only aunt, Evelyn exclaims excitedly as she spots me making an entrance into her beautiful beach house. "Darling love," she mutters before diving in to brush kisses on my cheeks. "Oh god," she sighs when I pull away, standing preferably two steps away from her.

"How long has it been since we last saw one another?" she inquires. I smile. "Well," I shoot an eyebrow upward. "I'm convinced that it has been only a week," "A week?" a dramatic gasp escapes her throat as her hand trails to clench her chest. "Oh please, what an eternity!"

My frame rattles again as I laugh. Aside from the two girls, I laugh the most with Aunt Evelyn too. She is mama's younger sister; a royal princess by birth - only without the prospect of ascending to the throne. All her life, Aunt Evelyn has been struggling. Not financially since her sister is the monarch but more to finding her true purpose in life.

People say I will never understand her. People say, no one will be able to understand her. But I somehow do. She's no villain. She's the sweetest person you will ever come to know and be blessed that you know her. She's sharp with her judgement, speaks her mind even when she knows it's trembling the fragile royal house. "Anyway, before we begin" my aunt says, pulling me back to Earth.

"I think I shall do this," she lifts the tropical long dress she wears lightly and performs a royal curtsy. "It's been a pleasure to host you, Your Royal Highness," her wit kicks in and I shake my head while laughing. "You do know you're the least person in this world that I'd require to do that in my presence,"

"Practise makes perfect,"

She grins. Then, her butler appears with a tray bearing two tall glasses half full with bubbly liquid. I think Evelyn must have them ready at her disposal. "Champagne?" I glance at the woman and she nods. "Don't tell my doctor. They report straight to my sister, your mother, the queen nowadays,"

"It's for your own health too, Aunt Evelyn"

I take a sip, low - key enjoying the way Mustique salty wind is blowing straight to my face before tousling my hair. "Let's face it, my health has always been a major concern but let me tell you one thing," she pauses - pointing one finger to herself - before mouthing "I'm explicably healthy,"

"I know you'd say that," I return the empty glass now back to another butler that passes by. "I guess, we're all just worried," I fix my cufflinks to ensure they are still there. "After the first stroke, I don't think we all want to go through that again,"

"You really are your mother's daughter"

She chuckles. "Before you nag anymore, let's go inside. I might have asked the chef to prepare something so that we can sit down and eat while enjoying the breeze,"

"Sure," I say, letting her navigate me around before my feet pause as I recognize a set of wooden swings at the eastern side of the courtyard. "Did you just install that?" I ask and my aunt beams. "My friend," she springs her story. "Anne Spencer came one day and said, 'Ma'am, I think I've found something perfect for your courtyard because you kept complaining about not having the right stool to sit while watching the sunset,'"

"It really is a perfect addition," I inspect it from a distance. "And if you notice those on the wall," she refers to a draping perennials on the eastern wall at the eastern side of the courtyard. "Oh, I never realised that before," I narrow my eyes to see. A bunch of purple, lilac flowers bloom. "They are beautiful,"

"Thank you," my aunt sips her content empty. But, instead of passing the tall glass away, she clings to it dearly. "Probably the only thing that's beautiful from my marriage," she jokes and a faint memory of her collapsed marriage comes to my mind.