Chapter 4 CHEATER

NAYA’s P O V

As far as I knew, the Stewart family was a wealthy and illustrious one that had extensive property holdings and a long and illustrious history. There were an excessive number of businesses in Las Vegas that bore the Stewart names—business districts, restaurants, hotels, and shopping malls. But I never imagined marrying a member of their family, because I didn't know them. I didn't know Raphael Stewart.

And what did Kelly just say? Unloved and unattractive, the man was. Confusion etched all over my face as I tried to understand everything that she was telling me.

I have to be the substitute bride and get married in Clover’s place to an unloved and ugly man?

No way! No fucking way will I marry someone I don’t even know!

‘‘You know what? I believe that you are doing yourself a favor by marrying that guy named Raphael Stewart...’’ The annoying smile that Clover gave me made me want to reach out and scratch her face with my long nails. Just because Kelly’s not my mother, didn’t mean I was going to allow myself to be used in that way. How dare Clover said that it was a favour to me?

‘‘As the eldest son, he is, of course, the descendant of a highborn family. No, you're still in luck, you bitch!’’ she added, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

The number of times that I had always been the victim of Clover's mistakes was excessive. I was always there to cover up for her whenever she did something wrong, but she was never there for me. She always got what she wanted, but I never did. She went so far as to steal my boyfriend away from me, and she heard nothing from me. And I believe it was time for me to fight for my right.

I took a deep breath, cursing silently before I spoke what’s on my mind.

‘‘You crawled into my boyfriend’s bed, and now you’re forcing me to marry a notoriously poor boy? Absolutely not!’’ I hissed, gritting my teeth as I continued to glare murderously at Clover. ‘‘Why don’t you marry him yourself if it was a nice thing?’’

I moved to the staircase but was taken aback when Clover suddenly grabbed my collar and pulled me closer to her. ‘‘I fell in love with Harlan first, which means, he’s mine before he became yours! And look at us now, we’re happy and I am now pregnant with his child!’’ she roared on my face. ‘‘You’re going to marry that ugly man, and I’m going to marry Harlan, understand?’’

I didn’t say a word. My chest was heaving up and down as I stared at her eyes with my clenched fists. I was so close. So fuckin’ close in freaking out.

‘‘Answer me, bitch! I said, do you understand?’’ when she still didn’t hear any response from me, her hand flew out and she was going to smack me, but I quickly grabbed her wrist and prevented her from doing so, which caused her to become even more enraged. She made an attempt to remove my hand away from her wrist, but I was holding it so tightly that I could see her already wincing in pain.

I couldn't help but remember how those brown orbs lit up when I caught her and Harlan having sex in my own bed. The image was so revolting that I would never, ever forget it in my entire life.

I just got home from visiting Nico in the hospital. I went upstairs, and made my way to the bedroom until I was at the door and lightly pushed it open, nearly walking inside before having to abruptly stop in my tracks by the scene that greeted my sight, slamming into me like a freight train, and with it, the sounds that I hadn’t heard before, sucked the air out of my lungs and filled me with a wave of nausea that knocked me off my feet and made tears burn my eyes.

Harlan, my boyfriend for almost three years was in my bed, naked, desecrating it by having sex with someone else in between those sheets.

With no words coming out of my mouth, I stared at them in complete and utter disbelief. My ears were ringing as if they had been violated by a loud noise, something like a bomb going off in my vicinity and caused me to become temporarily deaf, virtually protecting me from what I was sure were disgusting sounds I didn’t need to hear.

‘‘Harlan… Oh, Harlan…’’ the girl cried out in pleasure, and I frowned when I heard her familiar and annoying voice. ‘‘You’re so fucking good…’’

I took a courageous step forward, despite the fact that my legs were shaking, and I finally had a glimpse of my stepsister's face and she even smiled when our eyes connected. In fact, she appeared to be pleased that I had caught them.

Noticing my presence, Harlan quickly jumped off from Clover, pulling out his now limp dick from her. Clover gasped at his sudden action, but immediately recovered as she stared back at me with a victorious smile before she drew the sheets to cover herself.

Since I was in high school, Harlan had been pursuing me, but getting into a relationship was never my top priority. As a result, I continued to turn him down, and I also wanted to finish my degree before I committed to a relationship. Nevertheless, Harlan continued to pursue me even after I had already started attending college. I was able to witness his honesty, sincerity, and perseverance at that moment, which was why I decided to accept him as my boyfriend during our graduation ceremony.

It was for this reason that I found it hard to believe that he would betray me with my stepsister, and even did it in my own bed! I was shattered, every part of my body ached at the knowledge that I was a pathetic fool and that my boyfriend was a disgusting cheater.

I mustered up all of my might and pushed Clover away from me after I was jolted back to the present. ‘‘He’s all yours! What a treasure it is to keep a scumbag like him!’’ I spat out, my eyes glistening with wrath. ‘‘All I could feel for him is pure disgust! I hate both of you!’’

‘‘You are the one who just played around with a wild man last night, and here you are portraying yourself as if you were a fucking virgin!’’ She retaliated in fire. ‘‘I wonder if the eldest son of the Stewart family would like to fall for a whore like you!’’

‘‘I don’t care! I never wanted to marry that man anyway! And I will never ever agree to marry him!’’ I refused their ridiculous offer, and Clover shut up, stunned in her spot.