"She loved with so much passion as she loved with ignorance. She did not know whether it were good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary or accidental, eternal or transitory, permitted or prohibited: she loved." ― Victor Hugo

"The only things one never regrets are one's mistakes." ― Oscar Wilde

"No matter how well you know someone, there's still a part of them you won't. You can't. Like, ever."― Rick Yancey

Chapter 26

Several words could describe the decoration and the hall itself where the party was held, the ones that stood out the most being gloomy, tasteless and boring. The most inconspicuous color of them all, the one and only grey, was everywhere, truly, madly and, certainly deeply everywhere. There were only a few little objects of a different color, black being the most dominant among them. Which is quite ironic seeing as black isn't even a color. The atmosphere gave off a well-known and a rather typical impression of narcissism, arrogance and cynicism. I haven't had the "pleasure" of being a guest at an event like this since I moved to this city, and I couldn't exactly say that I felt sad about it or that I was struck by nostalgia. As I had originally assumed, this evening was most likely about to provoke my untimely demise. If so far no case of dying as a result of unbearable boredom has been recorded in history, I am quite sure that I will have the privilege of being the first.

"I knew that this was a terrible idea," I commented after only a few seconds had passed since we stepped into the minefield.

There were, of course, some things that were not as bad, to say the least. The view, when it came to the lustful side of humanity, was surprisingly pleasing. Ladies were admiringly beautiful, dressed in lavish, undoubtedly expensive dresses, paired with heels that were most definitively higher and stronger than my will to live. The men, however, were not particularly interesting, which, as a matter of fact, wasn't that much surprising since I had a reincarnation of a Greek god as my date, who was also pathologically jealous.

"You won't be bored for long," he murmured, pointing forward. I followed the direction and squealed when I understood what he meant.

I pulled him harder by the arm and took quick steps toward the desired destination. As soon as we arrived, I threw myself into the arms of a beautiful girl who had an enchanting smile plastered on her face that enlightened the whole room. Hannah returned the gesture, hugging me so tightly that she probably rearranged the arrangement of my ribs. She was stunning as always. The orange, tight, knee-length dress, with a slit on her left, complemented her complexion and made her look fearless and divine. I didn't know how long we stood in each other's embrace, enjoying the somewhat similar scents of perfumes that seemed to fit perfectly together, until we were brought back from our world by an obviously false cough.

"Mate, I have a feeling that they forget about us the moment they get a glimpse of one another," Leon told Mateo with clear annoyance in his voice. Mateo didn't respond, but he did let out a grunt in agreement.

"That's because we do," Hannah arrogantly said after we separated. I attempted to hug Leon too, but Mateo put his arm around my waist and pulled me to him, preventing me from doing so. Leon rolled his eyes and nodded in greeting. I returned the gesture with a smile on my face. I found it incredibly sweet how the color of his tie matched Hannah's dress.

"Girl, I swear you have new shoes on you every time I see you! You'll be broke in no time if you continue like that," Hannah looked at me in disbelief.

"Not me, Mateo will," I winked at her.

"He bought those?"

"And promised to buy me another pair if I come here with him,"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I feel a bit guilty because of it though, it isn't the duty of men to buy us-" I started but she raised her eyebrow, successfully stopping me from finishing the sentence. "Nah," I turned to Mateo who was watching me with a glint of amusement in his eyes. "Be ready for going bankrupt."

"Yes sis, make his pockets hurt!" Hannah enthusiastically shouted, which made me look at her with longing, and this time carefully. I gasped when I, only then, saw the most beautiful sight in the world. My eyes stopped at one particular part of her body, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before.

"Are you?" I pointed in the direction of her small but still visible round belly. I could hardly understand how I didn't see the tummy when my eyes first laid on her body, especially in that sinfully tight dress.

"Yup, 15 weeks," she said with a huge smile adorning her face. I couldn't help but smile too and hug her once more.

"Congratulations!" I literally screamed, not caring that most people in the hearing distance and beyond probably heard me. This time, I managed to hug Leon, congratulating him too. Mateo complained, but I ignored him. Nevertheless, once again, the things had to go according to his wants no matter what, so as soon as I removed my hands from his friend, he pulled me to his body yet again, holding me so tightly I couldn't move an inch. I rolled my eyes at his behavior.

"How? I mean I'm happy for you guys, but I don't think it was that long since we last saw each other, was it?" I asked her. My lips were so stretched into a sincere smile that it almost hurt.

"To be honest, even I wasn't aware until about a month or so."

"How is that even possible?" I asked in disbelief. It was hardly believable that that amount of time had passed and that she hadn't noticed that she had a baby in the oven.

"Well, I didn't really have symptoms, and my period is usually irregular-" she started, but Leon interrupted her.

"Ew," he whispered, his face contorted in disgust. I shot him a dirty look, but he didn't notice, he was too busy trying to think of the most painless way out of the situation he got himself into.

"I'm going to slap you so hard the hit will send you directly to hell if you dare to think something like that again," she glared at him with such fire in her eyes it made me gulp in fear. However, Mateo chose the perfect moment to put his lips on top of my head and I was eternally grateful for that.

After receiving a satisfactory answer from her boyfriend, she turned to me with a sweet smile on her face. The horror flowed through my body again.

"Like I said-" she emphasized, shifting her gaze to Leon for a moment. "There were months when I skipped my period so I didn't put much thought into it up until I started to gain weight way faster than what's normal."

"And? How do you feel about becoming a mother?" I asked her curiously.

"I don't know how to describe it. I didn't plan this, but the feeling is amazing, I can't wait to have that tiny bundle of joy in my hands," her face lit up even more.

"I am so happy for you, really! I'm sure you'll be amazing mother," I took her hand in mine and squeezed it lightly in support.

"I'm sure you'll be too."

"Yeah, no. That's not on my bucket list," I nervously chuckled. Mateo's hands around my waist suddenly tensed.

"Why? I mean I get it now, but later on in life?" Hannah looked at me questioningly, an obvious trace of confusion on her face.

"No, that's not for me," I responded with wide smile. The smile that was clearly fake.

"Why?" this time Mateo was the one who insisted on the answer. I felt the weight of his gaze on the back of my head, but I didn't dare turn around.

"I don't think I would be a good mother, Mateo. I will never have children," I murmured, barely being able to stop my voice from cracking. I felt a tinge of bitterness and sadness because I was suddenly faced with memories of my own childhood. I had a huge fear of eventually becoming just like my parents. Sometimes, I would catch myself not feeling the slightest bit of emotion in some situations where it was necessary to feel at least a minimum of something, anything. The last thing I wanted in this world was for a completely innocent being to get an unfit, unstable and completely emotionally handicapped mother. I believed with every fiber of my body that it was better to deny myself that wonderful gift of life, than to destroy the life of a child I gave birth to.

Too engrossed in my own negative thoughts, I gasped when Mateo grabbed my chin firmly and turned my face to his.

"We'll see about that," he told me seriously, looking me straight in the eye. He did not allow me to look away, wanting me to know that he meant every word he said with one hundred percent certainty.

I didn't know what to say to that and, fortunately, I didn't have to. The very next moment, someone cleared their throat, obviously seeking our attention. Mateo let me go only after he gave me one more warning look. Afterward, I turned in the direction of the person who was obviously crying out for our faces since they had not yet moved away. I let out a surprised breath when I realized who it was. Right in front of me stood Paul, his father and another girl, whom I recognized as the same blonde who tried to flirt with Mateo that day on the trip.

"Sir, my pleasure," Adam, Paul's father, addressed Mateo, who only barely nodded in greeting. He then turned to me and uttered through his teeth, "Miss." He looked at me with hatred in his eyes, that much was obvious. If he could kill me with his eyes, my funeral would have been held right at that moment. Yes, maybe I was rude to his son a couple of times, but it wasn't like he hadn't deserved it. They had tried to arrange a marriage in the twenty-first century. And, to top it all, one of the parties involved hadn't even agreed on the whole insane ordeal. If anyone is supposed to hate someone because of that, it's me. He would most definitely have continued to give me dirty looks till the end of time if Mateo hadn't let out a growl in warning. Hearing that, Adam quickly took his eyes away from my face and transferred it to him, however, he did not have the courage to look him directly in the eye, but he did not want to lower his head either and thus humiliate himself. He opted for the middle ground, looking behind Mateo, somewhere in the distance.

"Why are you here?" Mateo asked him arrogantly, looking down on him. I hated when he behaved like that, as if he was better than everyone, but at the moment, my intolerance towards the man in front of me, who thought he had the right to decide my future, was much greater.

"I wanted to greet you," he responded in a barely audible voice. Mateo raised an eyebrow.

"Is this man crazy?" I slightly jumped when I heard Hannah's voice right next to my ear. I hadn't even noticed when she came to stand by my side.

"Define "crazy" because yes," I also whispered, to which she laughed softly.

"Oh, I wanted you to meet someone. This is my son's fiancée, Angela." Adam grabbed the gentle blonde by the forearm and not so gently pulled her forward, setting her to stand in front of us. At that moment, I remembered Emma's words about this girl's past and I automatically felt bad. I was feeling sorry for her, the girl had barely survived the abuse she suffered daily by her ex-partner, and now she had to put up with that family. I couldn't look into her eyes to make sure she really wanted this wedding since she was staring at the floor with her head down, but I hoped from the bottom of my heart that that was indeed the case. As much as I could not stand Paul, who also didn't dare to look in our direction and who stood silently behind his father with an obvious scar on his face from Mateo's fists, maybe he could make her happy and save her from that monster that almost destroyed her.

"So, he's not gonna put a ring on it?" Hannah whispered in false surprise, pointing down to my ring finger.

"I know, I'm disappointed too. I don't know how to keep my tears from falling," I told her in an overdramatic voice.

"You still have time to stop the wedding. Fight for your love, sis, the one that you two share happens once in a lifetime!"

"I'm just now thinking about how to do it. Maybe I should barge in church on a motorcycle when the priest comes to the part "If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace" and confess my undying love for him?" I let out a breath and ran my hand through my hair. I wasn't sure how the others didn't hear us, but I was also happy with that little fact. I didn't need another one of Mateo's scenes.

"Is that why you're wasting my time?" Hannah's and I's laughter was interrupted by Mateo's sharp voice directed at Adam, who started to tremble. With a speed of light, so as not to get into trouble, he bowed and hurriedly run to the other side of the room, Paul and his fiancée hot on his tail.

Mateo turned around to face me with the intention of telling me something, but at that moment, two young men appeared, who looked more like a human versions of bulldogs, going by how strong-built they were. As soon as he saw them, he removed his hands from my body and walked a few meters forward to meet them. They exchanged some words in a whisper. Whatever they told him clearly wasn't a good thing, seeing as his permanent frown deepened. He hurried back to me and sent Leon a pointed look, who immediately started walking towards those same guys. He grabbed me by the back of the head and brought me closer to his face, his hot breath giving me chills.

"I have to leave for ten, fifteen minutes tops. Stay with Hannah and don't leave her side for a second. I will find out and I swear you won't like the consequences," he threatened me and, without waiting for my answer, he turned around and left.

"Come on, girl, let's get a drink." Hannah grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in the opposite direction, while I stared blankly at Mateo's back as he walked out of the hall.

-

"What would you two beautiful ladies want to drink?" Hannah and I were standing at one of the dozens decorated tables when she called the waiter over to bring us a drink. The party was, as expected, deadly boring and one thing that kept us entertained was commenting about every person who was in our line of sight.

"Whiskey, double," Hannah answered automatically. I looked at her in confusion, surprised by her choice. Why would a pregnant woman drink alcohol?

"Of course," the waiter gave her a charming smile and then turned to me. The same smile automatically disappeared. Instead, he wore a completely new, reserved and businesslike facial expression. I blinked at him in confusion, especially because I accidentally noticed drops of sweat on his forehead. I knew that I was not exactly the best and most innocent person in the world, but his nervousness due to my presence, and not the good one, definitely hurt my ego. "And you, miss?"

"Same," I replied, to which the drops of sweat on his forehead turned into real streams.

"I'm-I'm sorry, miss, but I can't bring you alcohol, how about something else?" He stammered. I shoot him a glare, trying to hide my surprise.

"What do you mean you can't?" I asked him, trying to keep my anger at bay.

"Please, miss, don't-" He started to explain in a trembling voice, but Hannah interrupted him.

"It's okay, bring her two glasses of orange juice or something," the waiter looked at her with gratitude and literally run away, practically flying in the opposite direction. Still confused, I looked at Hannah, but she just shrugged. My ego was definitely hurt.

Fortunately, there was no reason for me to get even more annoyed and slightly angry and make a scene in the middle of the hall with most important people in the country inside at every corner. It didn't take long for the guy to return. This time he didn't dare look us in the eye, which apparently wasn't rare occurrence for the night. He clumsily handed us drinks and again flew away, not even hearing our responses. Maybe I became a medusa overnight. That would certainly be nice and helpful.

"Here," before I realized what was going on, Hannah took both glasses of juice from my hands and replaced them with a glass of whiskey. For the thousandth time tonight, I looked at her questioningly at what she shifted her gaze from my face, completely avoiding my eyes and bringing one of the glasses to her lips, tasting the liquid. It was only then, when I witnessed that obviously well-calculated action that it dawned on me what this was all about.

"Mateo?" I asked her using only one word. There was no need for a longer sentence, the meaning was clear.

"'Mhm."

"When did he even manage to threaten the staff?" I threw up my hands in disbelief, almost spilling the dark liquid.

"Mateo is always prepared," Hannah pointed out.

"True, but still unbelievable," I muttered in annoyance.

"Better get used to it and think of some plan if you want to ever drink alcohol again. I won't always be there to get it for you," she stared at my eyes with such intensity that made me feel like there was some hidden meaning behind those exact words.

"What if I put castor oil in his drink? He won't be able to come out of the bathroom for at least couple of hours," I suggested to which she put her finger on her chin, thinking about it.

"I'm not sure that that is going to work. He would literally drag you to the bathroom with him if you two were separated for more than ten minutes."

"You think he would go that far?" I asked her, and in return, she looked at me as if I had regressed to the concrete operational stage in cognitive development.

"You really think he wouldn't?" she raised her eyebrow.

"He probably would," I confirmed, nodding.

We continued to chat casually until Mateo and Leon came back. Before they fully entered the line of vision where they could see us perfectly well, Hannah quickly took the glass of whiskey from my hand and pushed it into the hands of some older lady who was passing by right at that moment. The woman frowned at her and she was clearly about to start an argument with her, but one of Hannah's icy glances made her change her mind so she just walked off. After that, Hannah handed me the other glass of juice and I couldn't help but laugh at her well-thought-out plan. Note number one: Never get on the bad side of a pregnant woman.

When the two most handsome guys in the room finally approached us, Mateo wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to his chest. I doubted he was aware of how his timing was perfect, at least for Hannah and me. I felt inexplicably proud because I managed to outsmart him at least once. Although it was mostly Hannah's work, nothing was stopping me from taking credit for it in my own mind. I even thought of maybe telling him about it once, in a couple of years, when we were dying, milliseconds before our deaths or something. I put my arms around his neck, standing on my tippy toes in an attempt to kiss him which I failed miserably. Seeing that, he lowered his head and finally, our lips connected into a perfect kiss full of sparks. I will never understand how every kiss we share is even more perfect than the previous one.

"What were you two talking about?" Leon asked, after Mateo and I parted following a few minutes of heavy make out session, undoubtedly putting a show for the nearby spectators.

"About you. Gossiped to be precise," I jokingly but also a little arrogantly answered him. He laughed at my words and waived me off.

"Of course you did," Mateo whispered and started nibbling on my earlobe.

"But we really did."

"I know," he winked when he pulled away for a bit.

"So, what conclusion did you come to?" Leon continued to question us.

"That we absolutely don't need you two in our lives," I answered him, to which he rolled his eyes and Mateo let out a threatening growl.

"Princess, don't ever say that, not even as a joke. I'm not going anywhere, deal with it. You're mine."

-

"Okay, out of so many weird things that happened tonight, this one definitely wins the first place. What is the dean of my university doing here?" I asked no one in particular. I followed the movements of a middle-aged, but still an extremely good-looking man. He moved through the hall as if he were a detective on a mission. He looked rather strange. He was wearing an elegant, maroon suit, but the dark circles under his eyes and tousled hair certainly did not give the impression of sophistication. He was looking hysterically in all directions, even stealing a drink from some of the guests a couple of times, smelling it, but never returning it. He seemed upset and probably mentally unstable as if he was in a room full of mines and he needed to find out which one was the most disastrous. No wonder he got mocking, but also kind of scared side glances.

"Where?" Hannah asked me. I subtly pointed in his direction, as much as I could, since Mateo found it apparently amusing to be the one to rearrange my ribs this time around.

"Mateo, you're going to kill the girl," Leon told him at what he just rolled his eyes. Expectedly, he didn't take his hands off me. He was constantly kissing my neck, his lips not leaving my skin for a second. Even if he was uncomfortable with the public display of affection, that didn't stop him from enjoying it.

"He looks good for his age," Hannah commented. I mentally agreed with her, but I couldn't express my opinion out loud because of a certain jealous guy who was currently holding me.

I really wanted to continue studying the currently most interesting specimen of the human race, however, my physiological needs, unlike Mateo, had a completely wrong timing. It took me a good ten minutes to convince my man to finally let me do something in my life on my own, even if it was as simple as walking two hundred meters to the restroom. He insisted on coming with me. Whether the reason for that was his obsessive need to spend every moment of his life in my presence or the fear that something might happen to me in a place full of hyenas, he himself did not know. It was probably a combination of both reasons. Yet when he finally relented after a million different ways in which I tried to persuade him to agree, I couldn't help but feel proud. As crazy as it sounded, winning an argument with Mateo was equal, and maybe even better, than climbing Mount Everest. Truthfully, I couldn't be exactly sure about that comparison since I would never, never even think of trying to do anything remotely similar to climbing a mountain, so my conclusion was, thankfully, based on a simple hypothesis.

Bearing in mind that Mateo is probably counting seconds before he barged in into the women's bathroom at the end of an extravagant hallway that was tastelessly "decorated" with more gold paintings than in many museums around the world, I did what I came for at a speed that was never seen before. The Guinness Book of Records would proudly contain my name if such a discipline existed. After thoroughly washing my hands, twice, fixing bright red lipstick on my lips and taking a few photos of the, literally speaking, golden restroom, so that I could later make fun of it with Emma, I decided I should probably go back. I was hoping I could convince Mateo to leave this poor excuse of a party and invite Hannah and Leon to our apartment for pizza. However, before I further elaborate the hellish plan, strong, rough hand wrapped around my wrist and pushed me back against the wall.

I let out a loud groan since I hit my head a bit hard because of the force the Nomen Nescio used. It took a few moments for my vision to crystallize. After I somehow managed to stay on my feet, and the blackness in my consciousness disappeared, I let out a gasp when I saw who pushed me so hard and who was still gripping my wrist painfully.

Adam.

"Wha-" before I could finish, he came uncomfortably close my face and started shouting in a voice that Moaning Myrtle would surely be jealous of.

"You ruined my son's life! Are you happy now?!" A few drops of saliva that came out of his mouth ended up on my face as a result of his barking. I had an indescribable need to wipe that filth off my face, but in the meantime he grabbed my other wrist, pressing with his disgusting claws the delicate skin that adorned that part of my body. It was inevitable that his actions would leave bruises at best, if my wrists didn't start bleeding earlier, of course, since he hadn't cut his nails for minimum seven months.

"What are you talking about, you freak?" I tried to push him away, but he was much stronger than me, which wasn't that hard to achieve. He pushed me back against the wall once more, but I was prepared, since there was no element of surprise this time around. I leaned forward to prevent my head from being slammed once again. He didn't care. I wasn't sure if he even noticed what I had done. He was so filled with rage that I was certain he wasn't aware of his own actions, let alone mine.

"It's you! Because of you my son has to marry that whore! You destroyed him, damn you!" he continued to shout. I was surprised by his words, not understanding why would he blamed such thing on me. However, I was way too busy trying to escape his harassment to put much thought into it.

"How am I to blame for actions of your son? I turned him down, yes, but I didn't forcefully take him to her and make him propose with a rifle against his temple! Get away from me, you bastard! Go get help for your sick brain!" I yelled. The music was so loud it wasn't exactly strange that no one heard what was going on in the restroom, but how was it possible that of so many people no one came to do their business since I've been inside? Didn't those people have physiological needs? Curse my luck.

"You know I'm not talking about that! It's your fault! Because of you he is forced to-" Suddenly, in the middle of his sentence, a loud, deafening scream from the hall reached our eardrums. That distracted him for a moment, and fortunately I was sober enough to notice and use it against him in time. I raised my knee and with all strength I could muster, kicked him in one particular organ which would surely feel the aftermath of the blow long after this day. I pulled my hands out of his grip as he fell to the floor in pain. I opened the door to the gaudy restroom, and ran back to the hall from where hordes of screams could be heard.

What the hell is wrong with this world?

A/N

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