I don't welcome her. I don't dare let her see the look on my face.

Instead, I pivot around on my heels and dash up the nearest flight of stairs. The corridors remain empty as everyone remains in the gathering hall, but I do wish there was someone to talk me out of my rush of frustration. Gods, how could that man be so stupid? He's supposed to be the most intelligent man I know but he's a dunce.

"Maureen!" a voice calls out.

Fortunately, it belongs to Annie, because if Cato were to chase me, I might do more than just spill soup and throw lamps at him.

I barrel into my bedroom as Annie latches onto my shoulders and spins me to face her. When those brown eyes notice the flood of tears streaking my flushed cheeks, she captures me in her embrace, wrapping her thin arms around me.

"I didn't expect you to get so emotional over the new headmistress," Annie whispers into my hair. "I know you miss Evelyn. We all do—"

"It's not that," I pull apart and look into her eyes. My fists grip tightly until my knuckles turn white. "He just hired her of all people."

She looks confused. Annie knew I worked at the hospital, but she never knew that Madame Newmister was the reason for all my hatred towards that forsaken place.

"Madame Newmister was my old boss," I explain. "And she made every day a living hell. I quit because I met Thomas, and he..." I'm telling her too much about him.

"Look, I know you've been keeping a lot of secrets from me about your love life, but whatever that woman did isn't part of it. What did she do?"

I sob into Annie's shoulder instead of answering her question. The answer is that Madame Newmister did everything she could to remind me who I am. A worthless daughter of a whore, just like my mother. Except I'm not her. I'll never be her, but she couldn't see past that. When she looks at me, she sees a Harradan.

A nobody in New Aberdeen.

My bedroom door swings open as a third party enters into the room. Annie gasps, followed by the shutting of a door.

"Maureen?"

It's him. Cato.

Annie's arms embrace around me tighter as she whispers into my ear. "Damn, he's even more angelic up close."

"Maureen, are you alright?"

I tear myself from Annie's arms. Am I alright? I bet my disheveled appearance and puffy tear-ridden eyes can answer his question.

"I told you I hated the hospital. I told you," I seethe, wagging my finger at him.

Cato gently clasps his hand around my wrist and lowers my finger. He seems oddly calm considering I'm on the verge of erupting like a volcano.

Those green eyes stare at Annie, who stands awestruck behind me. I bet she's breathing in his scent right now, wishing she could put his essence into a candle.

"Can you give us a moment of privacy, Annie?" he asks.

He remembers her name, unlike last time.

She nods her head. "Yes, Mr. Leveque."

I take one last look at Annie, hoping my gaze is enough to make her stay. Instead, I see her nearly exploding with joy since Cato Leveque acknowledged her, and even called her by name. The other servants will never hear the end of it.

The door closes behind Annie. I wriggle my wrist from Cato's hold, clenching my fingers tightly and raise my fist like a weapon.

It collides with his chest with a small thud, hardly making an impact on his hard body. It's not like I was hitting him to cause pain—only to release the plethora of frustration this man has caused me.

"I hate her," I spit out at him. "You hired the devil incarnate!"

Once again, Cato takes a hold of my wrist and lowers it. "So you will accept my offer then?"

All I see is two blazing green eyes. "I already told you my answer."

"You'd rather stay here with the new headmistress? Am I really that bad of company?"

He gives off one of those mischievous smirks that sends me to the moon. He knew what he was doing when he hired her. He knew that I hated her more than any living being on this earth. I should've asked Thomas for one last favour to make her a target on his hit list. That I wouldn't mind, but I never considered it because I thought I'd never see her again.

Now, she and I will be living under the same roof.

I cross my arms. "I don't recall you being a pain in my ass when we were younger."

He grins and steps towards me, his fingers slipping away from his hold on my wrist to my fingers. They weave with mine until our palms fit each other like a perfect mold.

"Live with me," he whispers in my ear. "Let me bring you home."

I close my eyes and pace my breaths. Cato stands close, and I can feel those teenage hormones arising within me. "I'm at home."

"My home," he conjures. "Our home."

"Gemma," I quickly say to break the tension.

"Her name means nothing to me anymore," he whispers as his leans towards my cheek. His lips dance over my skin. "She's gone modeling across the globe right now, and neither of us give a flying fuck about each other."

"Cato," I breathe his name on a whim of weakness.

Cato only chuckles, and presses his lips to my neck, kissing longingly down a throbbing vein in my neck. His kisses now are so unlike the ones earlier this morning. This morning was about innocence, but this? This is about desire.

The air in the room thickens as Cato latches his lips near the base of my neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. My thighs clench, and my breathless moan fills the silence of the room. He pulls away, bringing his fingers up against the mark on my skin.

"You're the only star in the sky I need," he whispers to me, his green irises darkening. "Gemma will never compare."

I exhale, my breath heavy as it fans against Cato's cheeks. "We can't do this. You can't love me. Not when you're engaged."

"Fuck the engagement," he answers.

"Cato, you're being irrational. Think this through—"

"I have. A million times over."

"This will never work. Us. Don't you think you've already toyed with my emotions enough?"

He frowns as I say this, releasing me for only just a moment before finding comfort in holding my hands again.

"Is that why you won't work at my estate?" he asks. "Because of this?"

Maybe I was a fool to call our relationship a friendship. Maybe we've already crossed borders and can't find our return. Our feelings have gone to far past the line, and our emotions have dug themselves deep within our hearts.

I nod my head. "Unless you can guarantee that nothing will happen between us."

Do I even want that? Of course Cato and I are madly attracted to each other, but I'm keeping us safe. As a famous astronaut, it's no secret that he might have a few mistresses already hidden up his sleeve, but I don't want to be another one of them. The other option is to be his public partner or spouse, but that would only ruin his reputation. Cato and the whore. The publications and media would go wild over that story.

"Do you think you can do that?" I ask again.

"We keep this—" he points to me and then back to him. "—strictly professional. Nothing will happen."

"You swear by it?"

He smiles. "I swear."

"Then I have one more request that I need you to comply with."

He raises a brow. "This is new. The demanding side."

I lift my chin, almost proud of the statement. "Annie moves to your estate too."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

He extends his hand to me as if we just agreed on some fancy business deal. "Done."

I said yes. I let myself agree to move from the Leveque Estate to Cato's own estate across New Aberdeen. Although I can feel our boundaries of innocent friendship weakening, I know I am strong enough not to cave into Cato's allures... or perhaps need a little practice on my defense.

He flashes me a boyish smirk. "You know this means you can't share a bed with me."

"I know," because if we shared a bed, it would only be a handful of nights until that bed would receive more action than just sleep. We both know it too.

"You can revoke that rule any time," he takes a step back from me with a seductive wink.

It's time to put my guard up. Not just now, but forever. My reconnection with Cato only fuelled a desire between us that I try so desperately to reverse, but the wheel only keeps spinning.

Cato begins to leave the room, but stops as he meets my doorway. Those green eyes find mine, and I lose myself in those forests.

Our story should've ended long ago. It should've ended with him running away to the space academy, with him making a name for himself in the skies while I stayed behind. Yet, we keep finding each other, and we write another chapter, and another, and another.

Our love is like the world's longest romance novel—a mess, yet we're like magnets.

I could've ended that story today. In this bedroom.

But I cannot stand to be dictated by Madame Newmister.

So I decide to write another chapter in our story, one where I run off with him to his estate with a vow to never let ourselves entangle with one another.

Cato Leveque. The man who first stole my heart.

The man who is slowly becoming my heart's greatest weakness.

-----

Pack your bags! Maureen's moving out!

Place bets on how long you think Maureen will resist Cato, or if you think they'll stay apart forever. Remember that Thomas exists... just saying. I'm not spoiling anything :)

vote & comment & share & go to sleep at a reasonable time!!