Unwanted Suitor

Chapter 6

Mirabella

My spine tingled with anticipation and I looked around to see to check for something unknown. I don't even know what I was looking for.

"Mirabella?" Lucia tugged at my arm, bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah." I nodded warily.

"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

"Yeah. I think so." For an uncomfortable moment, my scalp and skin felt tight and flushed like I was being pummeled by heat directly from a burning furnace. Even now, I was feeling the aftermath of the unexpected sensation.

"Do you think it's possible for me to get my heat flashes at this age?"

"No? Maybe? Why do you ask?"

"I just feel strange. Like my insides is very hot."

"Does it feel like your dynamic is emerging?" Right, my dynamic, a great reminder that I don't belong anywhere.

"How am I supposed to know that?" I asked her, getting itchy and annoyed.

"Oh. Sorry, totally insensitive of me to say that."

I just nodded accepting her apology.

"Are you sure?" She didn't look convinced.

"I don't know. It felt as if someone was watching me. I don't know." I wasn't sure what that was, but I shrugged it off.

"Someone watching you?" Lucia turned around to check cautiously. I was already feeling tired and just wanted to go home.

She removed the empty flute from my hand and placed it on a passing server's tray.

"I think that I have found the culprit." She sniped, turning my attention to the person behind us.

The crowd cleared, and I saw Beta Astrid Dowager staring at me with a creepy look on his face.

"Damn, I forgot that he was going to be here." I groaned, looking away. Any further eye contact with me would be perceived as a signal of interest, prompting him to come here. And that was the last thing that I wanted.

"Let's move. Oh my gosh, he's already heading over." I closed my eyes striving to get patience.

"It's already too late." I murmured. I sighed, now I have to be extremely polite to someone that I don't want to talk to.

It would look bad if we rushed out because the people already knew what was going to happen. Beta Dowager had never hidden the fact that he fancied me and I knew it wouldn't be long till he summoned the courage to ask for my hand in marriage. And with Cornelius as the temporary patriarch of the Weatherwoods, he wouldn't even hesitate to sell me out.

The problem that I had with Beta Astrid was that he was an old creepy man that lusted after women old enough to be his daughters and granddaughters. He was a government official who was very corrupt and powerful with a lot of women in his life and children too. And it was still apparent that he wanted more to add to his collection.

"Mirabella, you look beautiful." Beta Dowager smiled at me with straight white teeth. He was a tall and wiry man with an almost athletic build. I resisted the urge to scrub my skin after the unwanted caress from his slimy gaze.

"It's Miss Weatherwood." I corrected him, narrowing my eyes. The audacity he had to call me by my first name was like we were on good terms and familiar.

"I see that you are still high-spirited and hotheaded." He chuckled, which only annoyed me further. If this man ever had hold of me, he was going to break my spirit. The women who had been with him were perfect examples. The empty looks in their eyes are like their souls and happiness has been sucked out.

"Your father is not here." He observed.

"Cornelius is not my father."

"Well, that's a pity. I had been looking for him and wanted to discuss some things regarding business with him."

"Well he's not here." I shrugged, already tired of the conversation.

"And your mother Pearl, it's a pity she is secluded from society. It's been quite a while since she has graced the public with her beauty." He smiled coldly.

That was clearly a barb. He knew about my mother's illness, everybody in Town six knew.

I didn't respond, just stared to let him know how stupid that was.

"Would you like to have a drink?" He waved a passing server.

"No, thank you. I already had a drink."

He nodded and took one for himself.

"What about we stroll the Oxford's garden, or go to the balcony? I heard that they have an incredible view of the waterfall." He suggested, calculation gleaming in those dark eyes.

"No."

Inside my head. I shuddered in revulsion. I knew what he was trying to do. Suggesting that we go to a private place so that he could be alone. I have heard rumors about his shortcomings and atrocities, which could be my reality if I was not careful.

"Why?''

"And it seems like you didn't see me Beta Dowager. But I do understand that at your old age, your eyes must been failing you." Lucia brushed in with a totally fake smile.

"Oh my bad, Beta Vetta. I didn't realize that you were here. Maybe it might be because you are not significant as you might think." He replied, a devious spark in his eyes.

I winced on her behalf. I have to admit that comeback was savage, but Lucia took that insult with pride like it was nothing. I knew that because she was the queen of comebacks, and she proved me later on.

"I'd rather be a small spark that ignites a flame than a dull ember that will surely fade away." Her smirk was a contrast to the look on Beta Dowager's face. The way that his smile dropped had been comical.

The look of triumph on his face a few seconds ago was replaced with loathing. He didn't find this funny when it was addressed to him.

"Next time be more creative with your insults, you dug yourself that hole." She winked and looped her arm through mine.

"It was nice seeing you, Beta Dowager." I concluded, walking off with Lucia.

"Wow, that was fire." We laughed together.

I couldn't wait to be home.