Chapter 1
Everyone said Andrew Charles, the prestigious nobleman in the capital, was absolutely crazy about me.
If he couldn't reach me, he'd lose his mind looking for me.
If he couldn't find me, he wouldn't budge an inch. Even if the subway flooded and he risked drowning, he'd still wait right there.
I used to think he was madly in love with me, too.
That was until I saw his messages with Isabelle Reed.
Andrew: [Just a fling. She doesn't even qualify as your substitute.]
Andrew: [Isabelle, come back to me. I'll marry you.]
That was when I realized I was nothing but a substitute for the girl he'd always loved.
And he was obsessed, driven crazy because he could never have her.
*****
I was about to die.
Floodwater was raging into the subway station, the dirty current already up to my thighs, so cold it hurt.
Panicked screams and cries filled the air as people scrambled for higher ground.
But Andrew was pushing against the crowd, clutching his phone, just standing there as the water rose to his waist.
The glow from his phone screen lit up his pale face as he stubbornly kept dialing my number over and over.
"Emily, pick up, please..." Andrew's voice was trembling, right on the edge of a breakdown. "Where are you?"
Watching him from across the crowd, looking like he was about to lose his mind, I felt this weird sense of calm.
Everyone said Andrew Charles, the prestigious nobleman in the capital, was absolutely crazy about me.
So obsessed that it was almost scary, so crazy that it was unreal.
The last time I turned off my phone for just two hours because of overtime, he pulled every string he could in the city and even called the cops to report me missing.
When he finally realized I was just stuck in a meeting, he hugged me in front of all the employees, shaking so hard that it looked like he might fall apart.
"Don't ever scare me like that again," he whispered, burying his face against my neck, his voice hoarse. "I'll go crazy, Emily."
In that moment, I truly believed he loved me down to my bones.
Just like now, while the emergency announcements screamed for everyone to evacuate and the floodwaters kept rising, he refused to leave, stubbornly staying in the danger zone, just to wait for my call.
"Andrew!" I finally shoved through the crowd and yelled at him. "I'm here!"
He spun around, and the instant he saw me, his eyes blazed with a wild, almost desperate joy. He stumbled through the water, rushed over, and pulled me into his arms so tightly that it felt like he might break me.
"You scared me to death..." Andrew whispered, his words a mess as his cold lips brushed against my skin. "I thought something happened to you. I really thought..."
His phone had gotten lost in the chaos and was now floating on the filthy water.
Seeing him so wrecked and out of his mind for me, that weird calm inside me was suddenly stabbed through by a sharp pain.
If I hadn't stumbled on his chat with Isabelle three hours ago, right now I'd probably be crying my eyes out, believing all over again that he loved me more than life itself.
Andrew: [Just a fling. She doesn't even qualify as your substitute.]
Andrew: [Isabelle, come back to me. I'll marry you.]
Those two lines were like daggers laced with poison, stabbing into my eyes and piercing through every illusion I ever clung to.
"Your phone..." I murmured, watching it sink into the murky water.
"It doesn't matter," he said, pressing my face against his drenched chest, his heartbeat racing out of control. "Nothing else matters, as long as you're okay."
While he held me close, I looked up at the man who was obsessed with me.
He was breathtakingly handsome, so attractive that he could make any woman lose her mind. Right now, his face was etched with relief and the fear of almost losing me.
Water slid down his chiseled jaw, droplets clinging to his lashes, making him look both fragile and hopelessly in love.
What a flawless performance.
Or maybe he was even fooling himself.
The rescue team showed up fast, getting us and the other stranded passengers to safety. Andrew never let go of my hand, like he was afraid I'd vanish the second he did.
His assistant hurried over with a clean jacket and a new phone. As soon as we got in the car, Andrew logged into WhatsApp.
When the page popped up, I caught his fingers hesitating for a split second before he quickly swiped away the chat with Isabelle.
"You must be scared, huh?" Andrew turned to me, wrapping me up in the dry jacket, his voice dripping with tenderness. "When we get home, I'll run you a hot bath, okay?"
I nodded softly against his chest, letting myself lean into his arms.
If this had been before, I would have been completely swept away by his tenderness.
Now, all I felt inside was cold.
The car pulled up to his villa on the outskirts of the city. He almost never brought anyone here. I was the only woman he ever allowed to spend the night. I used to believe that made me special.
Only now did I realize, maybe it was just because this place was close to the art school Isabelle used to attend.
He ran the bath himself, testing the water temperature, treating me like I might break at any moment. Right before I stepped into the tub, he hugged me from behind, his lips pressed softly against my ear.
"Emily," he murmured, his voice rough. "Let's get married."