Free Web NovelChapter 155: Who are you?
"Excuse me?" Cixi’s voice came out sharper than she intended. "Who are you? And What are you doing here?"
The girl walked toward Cixi, her gaze moving from the scarf draped around Cixi’s neck to her pregnant belly. The stranger’s eyes had a captivating blue-green eyes which were bright and open, radiating warmth that contrasted sharply with the cold elegance of the Palace. Her face was striking, with soft features, pale skin, and full lips pressed together in surprise.
"I could ask you the same question," the girl replied, her voice calm but her chin lifted with the poise of someone accustomed to holding their ground in unfamiliar spaces.
"This is Cassian’s private floor," Cixi stated, stepping further inside. "You are not supposed to be here. Didn’t you see the warning sign?" She didn’t understand why she felt so territorial about this place. It wasn’t hers.... it belonged to Cassian.
Yet, perhaps that was the reason—Cassian cared deeply about his privacy, and the thought of him seeing another woman right now filled her with unease. As she pondered, a troubling thought crossed her mind: Was this girl one of Cassian’s exes?
"I am Titiana Romanovs." The girl’s brows rose. "And you are?"
"I am Cixi McLore. Cassian’s fiancée."
The word left her mouth and landed between them like a grenade with the pin already pulled. Cixi heard herself say it and wanted to bite her own tongue off. But she had committed now, and retreating would look worse than the lie itself.
The girl blinked. Once. Then twice. Then her lips curved — not into a smile, but into something dangerously close to amusement.
"His fiancée," she repeated slowly, as though tasting the word for flaws.
"Yes." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Cassian Crown’s fiancée."
"Did I stutter?"
The girl folded her arms and leaned her hip against the bookshelf. "Interesting. Because Mrs Crown did not mention any fiancée during our meeting earlier today. And do not tel me that your swollen belly is the result of night with Cassian?"
Cixi’s confidence faltered. Only for a second, but the girl caught it as her eyes sharpened the way a cat’s do when it spots movement in the grass.
"Meeting?" Cixi echoed. "I do not know you. And i would prefer you leave for now. I am tired and want to a take rest."
"Then you should know. My family is here as guests of Tamara Crown. We had tea with her this afternoon in the east parlour." She paused. "She spoke about her son at length. Not once did the word ’fiancée’ come up... that dead Cassian has fiancee... "
Cixi’s jaw tightened. "Perhaps she is saving the announcement for dinner."
"Perhaps," the girl replied with maddening politeness. "Or maybe you’re the one who’s lying."
Cixi stepped closer with determination in her gaze. "I don’t know who you are or why you are wandering through my fiancee’s private quarters, touching his belongings, but I would appreciate it if you left."
"Your fiancee’s things," the girl repeated, standing her ground. "Old lady, he is dead, and from what I have heard, he wasn’t even acknowledged by his own family... FYI I will be marrying Rafael Crown soon, and all of this," she gestured broadly around the room, "will belong to me. You will need my permission to remain here, so you better show some respect. The first thing I am going to do is remove you from this floor; it rightfully belongs to me and Rafael."
"This place belongs to Cassian, and it always will," Cixi said sharply. "If I were you, I would be cautious about what you say. As long as Tamara and Michael Crown are alive, no one is above them and their rules. And You — do not know anything about me!"
"Looking at your clothes looks like you are no one."
"I don’t need a verification stamp for who I am from a spoil brat. Get OUT!"
Titiana straightened her back. She stood at full height now, and Cixi realised they were almost the same — same build, same complexion, same shade of blonde catching the lamplight in exactly the same way.
"I was exploring the Palace," Titiana said evenly. "The staff told me guests were welcome on all floors."
"You will be always stranger to Cassian."
"I am not a stranger. My name is Tatiana Romanovs." She said it without arrogance but with the quiet weight of someone whose name once carried more than syllables. "And my family has a longer history with the Crowns than your engagement ring — which, I notice, you are not even wearing."
Cixi’s left hand instinctively closed into a fist at her side. No ring. She had no ring. Because the engagement was fake, the pregnancy was fake, and the only real thing about her presence in this Palace was the red coat on her back and the ache beneath it.
"Well I don’t need a symbol to show that I am his finacee." Cixi said flatly.
Tatiana tilted her head. Her eyes dropped briefly to Cixi’s stomach, the visible curve beneath the dress, and then rose back to her face. Something unreadable passed through her expression.
Tatiana said quietly, "Someone who claims to be engaged to one of the most powerful men in this country, you seem remarkably... unclaimed... Officially you hold nothing..." Titiana gaze roamed over Cixi’s fake belly. "Apart from that."
The word hit like a palm across the cheek.
Unclaimed!
As though Cixi were a package left at the door that nobody had bothered to pick up.
"You don’t get to speak to me like that," Cixi’s voice lowered but it was laced with authority. "How dare you? How old are you, twelve? You’re acting like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. I am asking you to leave, and instead of doing so, you continue to insult me. You stroll into this room with your designer dress, perfect hair, and your aristocratic surname, believing you can judge me? I don’t remember ask for opinion neither wanted to have this useless conversation."
"I am not judging you."
"Then what are you doing? Because from where I am standing, it looks like you came up here to see if the rumours about Cassian’s fiancée were true, and now that you have seen me, you have decided I am not good enough.
I think you should leave," Cixi said.
Tatiana held her gaze for three long seconds. Then she uncrossed her arms, smoothed the front of her dress, and walked toward the door.
She paused when she was beside Cixi. Close enough that the same perfume of their shared blood though neither knew it existed drifted between them.
"I was not here to judge you," Tatiana murmured. "I was here because this floor has a view of the east garden, and I wanted to see the sunset." She glanced toward the tall windows where, indeed, the sky was bleeding orange and pink across the horizon. "That is all." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
She walked past Cixi and through the doors without looking back.
Her heels clicked down the corridor and faded into silence.
Cixi stood alone in Cassian’s living room, her chest heaving, her fists still clenched, her pulse hammering in her ears.
