**21: True Lover

Once Kai swallowed his beverage, his lips parted with a straight lip. "I ate earlier."

"You've been drinking a lot," I say, to notice he has a drinking problem.

"So what! I can drink as much as I desire." Kai exclaimed without care.

"You expect me to want to marry a man with a drinking problem?" I hissed.

Kai grinned sinisterly with a hint of sexy, yet he responded crudely. "Indeed, I even expect you to wipe the vomit off my naked body every time I come home from a long night of partying it up with a bunch of hotties just at that legal age to take a bite out of."

In a burst of laughter, Rome commented. "Let me know when, Kai. I'm in on that one!"

"I will never marry a disgusting pig face like you," I snarled. "Go ahead, be with other young attractive women, and party it up, and once you're done. You can clean yourself up from your own putrid waste!"

Hearing me, Kai chugged whatever wine was left in the glass, and then he picked up the bottle and pulled the corkscrew. He passed me this wicked grin and then chugged a mouthful of wine and swallowed it down in one swig. Some blood-looking red wine rolled down the crease of his lip, but he licked it up seductively. As I knew he was staring at me through those shades, I knew he was taunting me too.

"That's enough, Kai!" Mr. Collin scolded his son from far down the table.

But Kai didn't care, as he declared. "We'll go tonight, Rome, since I have permission to see all the hotties I want." He cocked his head at me grinning larger. "Even after we are married?"

His words came out like a question, so I tactlessly answered. "Whatever keeps you from touching me. Then I don't care who you are with. I love Orlando, so you best remember that."

My words came out severely cold. Colder than I ever knew I could be. That expression on Kai's face went void, and then he stood, taking the bottle with him, and just like that, he left. At the moment, there was an apprehensive silence in the room. The homey atmosphere went bleak.

"Well, let's not waste a good meal," Mr. Collin chuckled, breaking the gloomy cessation.

Though I couldn't help but shed another teardrop. As I continued to eat, Veronica leaned in, telling me. "Kai didn't mean anything he said."

"I did," I curtly told her since I didn't care. Orlando was the only man I loved. Orlando is my true love.

By the next morning, I woke up, and got ready to go shopping with Veronica for any supplies I might need. Since I told Kai off, I haven't seen him after yesterday's dinner. Rome drove us downtown to an expensive shopping center. I knew this plaza well, because Crystal and I came here often. It's where the high-class affluent people shop.

"I'm going to use the restroom, so I can change Ethan," Veronica told me and strolled her son inside.

"I'll be here shopping," I say.

"Don't you want to come in?" she asked, holding the door open for the stroller.

"No, I'm good," I informed her. "I promise I'll be right here."

She has that look to say she didn't trust me, which, yes, she shouldn't. The second she went in, I ran off. I manage to sneak around Rome. He was too busy flirting with some ladies, which gave me the perfect opportunity to dash for it. I left the plaza and found a random man with a phone.

"Excuse me, sir, may I borrow your cell? I lost mine, and I need to call my fiance so he can pick me up." I tell this older gentleman.

"Why sure, but do you need help?" he asked, seemingly worried.

Of course, I need help, but I didn't want to involve this nice older man. "I just need to call my fiance."

He smiled at me as I dialed for Orlando, and it rang several times untill I heard his voicemail. "Hey, Orlando, it's me, Victoria. Meet me at the community park and pick me up. Please come quick." I left a message and hung up.

"Thank you," I told the older man and handed him back his phone.

Before he could speak to me, I ran off. Luckily, I was wearing a pair of black shoes, jeans, and a spaghetti-strap black top beneath my long-sleeve shirt and black zipper jacket. I purposely picked this outfit in the hopes I could escape.

I made it to the park, and hid around trees, and watched out for Orlando. The sun was rotating into a sunset as the hours passed. My heart sunk into brokenness. Orlando must have never read his messages. I gave up waiting, and started hiking the streets. My heart was hurting, and tears began to pour out of my eyes. Vroom! I heard this loud engine roar, so I turned around and saw Orlando's red Ford Mustang. He pulled up right beside me, and I got in.

"Orlando," I whispered, and we hugged each other.

"Next time, babe, call Crystal. You know I am horrible at checking my voicemail," He advised and kissed my temple. "I thought you were dead."

I kissed his lips powerfully. For a brief moment, he and I swallowed each other's tongues.

"You know what happened?" I questioned after kissing him as he brushed his thumb on my wet cheek.

"Mr. Collin told my father you were murdered." The second he revealed this to me, his eyes swelled before tears started to roll along his cheeks.

I wiped his tears away while telling him. "Mr. Collin lied. I was locked up and accused for the murders. I was going to be executed until Kai Collin bailed me out. But he kidnapped me, and he's trying to make me marry him. Orlando, I'm frightened. I've never heard of Kai Collin, but he's strange. I don't understand what's going on."

"Don't worry, you're safe now, but we need to talk to my father," Orlando said. "Kai won't take you from me."

"What's going on?" I inquired to know as more tears flowed from my eyes.

"My father will explain everything," Orlando replied, and then he revved up the engine. He took off speeding down the roadway. Normally, I would yell at him for speeding, but not today. Today, I wanted to be far away from the Collin family. Mainly far away from Kai. Within a half-hour, we made it back to his father's mansion, and I was welcomed with warm hugs and tears. Crystal and I balled like crybabies. She truly believed I was dead.