Chapter 111 - Grand Royal Wedding?
"Should I trust you to keep your word about the marriage?" Liam asked with a conflicted expression.
"Are you scared that I will back out?" She asked with a teasing smile glad she finally saw him show an emotion. "I don't think you should be scared after all you could easily force me to marry you if I refuse when the time comes. It won't be a hard task for you."
"What makes you think I will force you to marry me?" Liam asked with a frown and an arched brow.
"Everybody knows you always get what you want regardless of the method used," Rose said with a slight smile. It felt really good to see him show his emotions on his face it was like watching an interesting show.
"I am not desperate," Liam said coldly although he knew that was only the irony of the real situation.
"Were you desperate when you killed a man and took his company?" Rose asked. She heard it from Wayne although Wayne said he does not believe Liam killed the man.
Liam's fist clinched tightly his fingers almost digging through the skin of his palm but he remained calm although his frown deepened. "Well then, you just gave me the permission to force you to marry me by any means possible if you ever back out," Liam informed her.
"Don't worry you won't need to force me because I will marry you willingly. I want something you can give me. I trust you to give it to me because of the deal we have made. Don't get yourself worked up. I will be back in Star city by next month then we can get married," she told him calmly.
"Don't most teenagers dream of marrying someone they love?" Liam asked the question that have plagued him for days.
"Love? I don't believe it exists. I am very powerless and I won't pretend to be otherwise. I am going against the most powerful set of people in the world. I won't survive a second with my powerlessness. I need a human shield.
"You will be my human shield and pillar. I have done absolutely nothing in all these years after I got my memories back. I made no progress and that was frustrating enough. I want vengeance and I want to be crowned the Queen before I turn twenty five. You seem to have all I need to achieve that.
"Love will not make that happen. It is just a useless deceitful feeling someone feels towards someone else which will either fade away as time goes on or end in the most painful way with a betrayal. My mother loved my dad so much but the man she loved so much did not defend her when her name was dragged in the mud.
"I do not believe in love and I will waste my time searching for love when I don't know when someone will stab me to death. You can protect me and you are will to do that because without me, you can't become King. You will become the King in return for helping me. That way, we won't betray each other because we share the same goal.
"Without me, you can't become King and without you I might never become the Queen and I will most likely be dead now," she narrated and sighed thoughtfully when she was done. She wondered why she sounded as though she was warning herself not to fall in love with him since she had a crush on him.
Liam listened patiently and he felt a strong sense of pity towards her. She must have suffered a lot that she was willing to get married to him just for vengeance.
She was a joyful little girl even after the traumatizing event that took her mother from her although that was mainly because she lost her memories. After a few years of living in the orphanage, it seems that the orphanage changed her completely.
"I can remember you said you liked me when you woke," Liam found himself telling her no matter how hard he tried to keep those words off his lips.
"Like I said earlier, those feelings fades away as time goes on," Rose reminded him. "It has long faded away. A crush never last long and a teenager's fantasy does not count in reality."
"You are really . . .," Liam began but when his gaze fell on her face, he stopped his words. It was best he remains calm till they get married. He did not want to tell her something that might discourage her. He was yet to understand her well, his next word might sabotage his plan.
"Mr. Hale, I am not the least disappointed. You are definitely not a bad choice. I heard you have been rated 'perfect bachelor' repeatedly. I got someone a lot of girls will kill to have." Rose said told him sincerely.
"What do I get in return for giving you such an opportunity?" Liam asked with his earlier coldness and frown gone.
"The throne as king," Rose said looking down away from the teasing look in his warm looking grey eyes that seemed to lost the icy look they always had. She wondered how something could have the color of ice and yet look so warm.
"I hope we get along well because it seems you and I will be spending a lot of time together in the future," Liam said sincerely. He could give his all to live harmoniously with Rose just for a few years.
Rose gulped. Why did she not think of this for all these while? "I don't think so, Mr. Hale," she refuted immediately remaining calm. "If I find someone who will help me and I prefer the person, I will work with the person," she told him.
"If I find someone else who can give me the throne without you, I will work with that person too," he told her.
Rose's eyes widened. Was that how it sounded when she told him that? "Prepare the contract."
"Sure," Liam agreed immediately.
"When will I leave tomorrow?" she asked feigning impatient.
Liam chuckled at her pretence and leaned his back on the backrest of the sofa. "As early as eight tomorrow morning," Liam replied.
"Oh . . . That early?" she murmured looking down at her fingers.
That was just the perfect response to ease Liam's heart of the heavy burden that pulled his mood to the lowest when he heard what she had to say about love. He was a strong believer. He believed in love and he believed love was very powerful.
It was the reason he was here despite what science and philosophy had to say about where he was now, how he got there and why he was still alive. He did not have enough time to stalk but he believed he had enough time to make her believe in love.
He could still remember the words of his doctor but he believed he could survive it all since he had so much to accomplish. It was a miracle he was where he was at the moment and the miracle happened because of love, because he loved Rose, his Rosaline.
"Who was behind what happened to me?" Rose asked.
"I am not certain yet but I will find out before we get married. If you want a grand wedding befitting for a princess, I will make it happen," Liam said when he remembered what Charlie told him about girls dreaming of very grand royal weddings.
"I know you have the money to make that happen but I almost got killed earlier I don't think I want the whole world coming after my head because I got married to a very ruthless man," Rose replied shaking her head at the thought of it.
"I am not ruthless. I am respectable businessman," Liam argued with a serious expression.
"Oh really. Why do people call you a Mafia boss?" Rose asked knowing fully well the nickname he created for himself since he left his family.
"Point of correction, people don't call me a Mafia boss but a Mafia King," he corrected proudly. "There is definitely a difference between a boss and a king."
Rose chuckled at that. She never knew that beneath the cold Mafia King everyone knows lays a jovial narcissist. It seems she did not make a bad choice in choosing him as her partner.
Liam felt warmth spread in his chest when he heard her soft elegant laughter. He hoped to get more of her laughters and none of her angry words and sad tears.
"For the wedding, I have never dreamt of getting married so I have no dream wedding. All I wanted ever since I got my memories back, was to see the Queen die in the most miserable manner and to return the former glory of my mother's name," Rose told him sincerely as she raised her head to look at Liam.
The look of pity blended in the warmth that filled his grey eyes as he looked at her made her chest tightened and her eyes sting. She bit the inside of her cheeks to hold back the tears that began slowly clouding her eyes.