Chapter 40: Chapter 40

"Never love anybody who treats you like you're ordinary"

-Oscar Wilde-

***

Phoebe's P.O.V

"Good morning, Ma Cherie." I flutter my eyes open, only to find myself laying on a strange bed, I turn around to find Henri sitting beside me in the bed, he is half naked, and he is holding a tray of what looks like some croissant with butter and a glass of orange juice.

"I brought you breakfast, you should eat first." I immediately sit up and I look at him, and then I turn to look at myself, only to find my semi body, only covered in my underwear and bra, wrapped with blanket.

"Henri, what is going on!? What happened, don't tell me, you... you raped me!?"

He looks at me with a confused, and accused expression, then he sighs and put down the tray and moves his hand to take mine.

"Mon Amour, I would never do something like that to you, Je t'aime, et je veux ton coeur, mais, je suis un homme avec du character, thus, I will punish myself if I do something as low as that toward you."

That is such a lie, he has zero character when it comes to treating women with respect.

"I love you, Phoebe, and I promise I will make you happy if you will just marry me, I have always loved you from the moment you entered my home, only you could understand me back then, you were and still are everything I have ever wanted, so give me a chance to prove it" he grabs my hand and moves it toward his lips and he gives me a kiss on the back of my hand.

"No, Henri, this is not what I want, I only see you as a friend, please, take me back to my apartment." I say in a pleading tone.

His face turns grimace, and he has a rather scary expression plastered on. I know right away, this man is crazy bipolar, I never would have guessed that he will be this kind of man, he was always nice to me when I was still living with his parents, but now, he just has a creepy vibe around him.

"No! I can't allow that, you will just try to get away from me and run back to that mafia bastard, you are mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!" He is literally shouting right now and he is acting like a mad man.

"Henri, you are scaring me." I whisper slowly, hoping he hears me and will snap out of it.

He finally comes down a little bit as our eyes meet, he sighs and sits down again on the bed.

"Sorry for scaring you, it's just, I can't bear to lose you again, you were my everything Phoebe, you still are, just marry me, be my wife and be the mother of our future children." He slowly raises his hand to caress my cheek, he turns and grab a piece of croissant and put it in front of my mouth.

"Now you have to eat, say ahhh..."

I have no other choice but open my mouth, and as I take a bit of the croissant bread, his lips curves a satisfied smile.

"That's a good girl." he shoves more into my sight and I can't help but to eat them until nothing is left.

"You should take a shower, we are heading out today to get your wedding dress fitted in, I already made a reservation at a high-class boutique, you can choose with ease so."

I remain silence, and he passes the orange juice to me and I gulp it down in one shot because all of these talk is making me thirsty.

Henri has finally lost his mind, and it's best if I keep my mouth shut for now and wait for a chance to escape.

"I will accompany you there, don't worry." he says with an assuring smile, but it makes me feel really uneasy.

***

I look at the array of wedding gowns, all of them are indeed beautiful. You have everything from the simple and sophisticated plain white gown, to one of those big flowy gowns, perfect for queens on their wedding day, they also have some vintage gowns and mermaid styled wedding dresses.

"Take your time, ma cherie, don't worry about the pricing and all, you know your future husband can buy whatever you want."

I shrug, i seriously don't want to be here right now, I wish I can take this chance to escape but at the same time if I do so, I wouldn't be able to go back to my old apartment since I don't have the key and he is the one holding the spare key, and I also didn't bring any money, so running away is not a very wise choice to be done.

"What type would you like, ma'am?" A friendly looking blonde woman approaches me and she gives me a warm smile, I turn to look at her, and smiles back.

"I don't know, everything here is just so beautiful." I tell her truthfully, and she moves to help pick some of the gowns for me.

"I think one of these four gowns will look stunning on you, would you like to try all of them?"

"Yes, please." is what my lips speak, but I really don't want to.

I try on the four gowns and end up with the last one that I tried, it's a simple silver and white gown with some pearl accent on the top of the dress. It's the least luxurious amongst the four, and even though Henri wanted the first one for me, I insist on buying the simple one because I have no will to marry him seriously.

As soon as we arrive home, Henri approaches me and make me wear the gown he bought, because he told me he wants to see me wearing that gown once again even though I don't really want to, but I know if I refuse his expression will darken again, thus, I obey him for the sake of not getting hurt.

"Now, this is what I was talking about, you are so beautiful, Phoebe, perfect for me."

We are standing in front of a large mirror, and he circles me, I feel nervous and uneasy, I look at my own reflection, yes, I do indeed look a bit different wearing this gown, prettier even, and what I am grateful of about myself is the fact that even though my face is bare without makeup I do look just fine.

"Henri, I don't want to do this." I whisper slowly, letting out my mind.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I can't, I can't marry you."

"No, you will marry me."

"No, I can't, I don't want to, Henri, why can't you understand?"

"Phoebe, you are testing me." His eyes darkens and I know right away, he can snap in a blink of eye.

He grabs my shoulder roughly and turn to stare at me with angry expression.

"You. are. going.to.marry.me." He emphasizes each one of his words.

"You are hurting me!" I shout out loud, and just then, I hear the door slams open, and I turn to see who it is, and my eyes widen in surprise.

"Edgar." I whisper. It's really him, his long blonde hair looks like a mess and grey eyes are piercing sharply at Henri, but softens at me, and when he sees Henri's hand on my shoulder, his fury rises.

He quickly run toward me and throw a punch toward Henri, and he lands a kick on his stomach that cause him to fall, and he keeps on beating Henri who has fallen on the ground.

At this rate, Henri could die.

I come in between them and I quickly touches Edgar's shoulder and when I manage to get him off from Henri, I touches his chest as I try to soothe and calm him down.

"Edgar, stop it, stop it, it's okay, I'm fine." I tell him and Edgar is still panting but he has calmed down a bit.

"How dare you try to hurt her, you piece of sh*t!" Edgar says in a low, dangerous tone.

I look at Henri who is now bleeding all around his face.

"Someone has called the police, it's better if we get out of here right now." I tell Edgar, and he nods.

I turn and glance at Henri once more time, and even though I pity him, I can't do anything about it. If only he would just listen, then maybe none of this would happen.

He grabs my hand and quickly bring me toward his car to drive us where his private jet is located.

"What are you wearing? Is that a wedding gown? Was he trying to get you to marry him? You aren't married to him just yet, right?" He shoots so many questions at me at once as soon as we get inside the car.

"Calm down, one question at a time.”

"Okay, did he marry you yet?"

"No, we just got back from wedding dress shopping."

"Tch, when we get back home, I am going to rip that dress and burn it to ashes."

"Edgar, what are you doing here anyway? wait, it's more like, how did you find me?"

"Uh, well... it's complicated, I will explain it later, I promise" He says as he focuses his sight on the road.

When we reach the jet, he holds my hand so tightly and carry me bridal style inside, because I am still wearing this long wedding gown, and it's a bit hard to get on the stairs with this gown.

When we finally sit down, and I sigh. He approaches me, and he remains silence, he has a longing gaze as he stares at me, he observes my body from head to toe and with a lightning speed, he presses his lips toward me and he is seeking for an entrance, which I give him.

Our tongues dances with each other, before he pulls away for a moment.

"I miss that."