Raven's Point of view
I settled down on an empty triple seat in the back, taking the window side. My eyes fell on my reflection in the translucent glass; the bleeding hadn't stopped. I wouldn't have noticed his thumb ring if he hadn't slapped me.
An uncontrolled smile appeared on my lips, and tears filled my eyes. His slap hurts. I wonder how it would have hurt Richard's ego. It's good that I took it on his behalf, ending a fight that might have started between the two.
But why did Richard show up there? Why was he following me? I will surely ask him when I return. For now, I must go and meet my father. I wonder if he has any surprises for me.
Just then, I noticed Aidan following the bus in his car; sometimes he would be behind, sometimes he would be beside, racing on the road. It would be best if I didn't pay attention to him.
But my stupid heart and wild mind like to think. How must the old me have reacted? He was acting like a real husband whose wife was mad at him. But I was no longer the same person. Something is fishy.
'He still likes to show off.' I looked away, glanced at my phone, not wanting to be invested in him, and saw a text hovering on the screen, it was from Selena. Now, it explains everything. She must have informed Richard and over exaggerated things.
[Selena: That man was Aidan??!? You didn't tell us!]
I took a deep sigh and ignored, I didn't want to start a drama. Selena knew about Aidan and my feelings for him. She would have reacted weirdly if I had introduced him. She might shout in front of him and make strange faces, confusing him as to why she acted like she saw my crush.
My crush. That…he wasn't. Not anymore.
I was in my reverie when two guys sat beside me, even though nearly half of the bus was empty, I glared at them, but they grinned at me. It was weird.
They must have saw me, a girl with a slap mark, and must have thought I ran away from my home, in their eyes, I might be an innocent prey that they could hunt openly.
"You are bleeding." One of them said, pointing his finger at me which nearly touched my face, I flinched and replied, "My husband hit me." I answered playing along. Pretending to be oppressed.
"Husband…these days they are quite violent." Another one said as he noticed his partner's color draining and he gave him a 'Why are you afraid? He is not here' look.
The first man took a breath, taking his confidence back and said, "What kind of husband would hit a pretty girl like you?" His hands approached my arm, but I jerked him away.
"That…that kind of Husband." I pointed at his car, and moved away to let them see clearly. Aidan wasn't popular, but his car was.
"Your husband is rich?" The two asked, their eyes glittered as if they had hit a jackpot. Kidnapping me and getting a million of ransom would feed them for years.
"Yes, he is from Azure Family." I nodded with a bright smile that took over their glitter.
Azure Family used to be a weak one among the elites, it was even my father who helped them several times, because he had a strong background and many connections. But thing changed over the years. It was when Aidan took over half of the business. He grew stronger, and people began to fear him, because, unlike my father and others, he didn't have a good temper. He would easily restore to illegal means of taking care of thing.
In short, he always stood against the law, walking on his own ethics and morals.
How do I know all this? It took me years to connect the bits of information that would sometimes slip from my father's tongue and conclude this. I later confirmed with his sister, and it turned out to be true.
What a pity, we never talked again after that. She might have been offended by me. I still feel guilty for calling his brother a 'scoundrel' on the chat.
"Madam, our stop is here," The two men stood up and left hurriedly as soon as the bus stopped. I smirked at them, it worked after all. Nobody would believe me that I used a rogue to get out of a situation peacefully.
If he wasn't there, I might have slapped the two men and shouted at them, but this wouldn't have worked successfully, because the bus was full of teenagers and working women, hardly any good man. Nobody would help me if those two decided to fight back with force.
I closed my eyes and leaned back. It would take another hour to reach my father, I had tried calling him all this time and even texting my mother, but none of them answered.
Perhaps, ten minutes later, I got a call from my father.
"I sent Aidan to pick you up…." Before he could finish his words, my hidden anger burst, and I replied, keeping my composure, "Which was highly inappropriate. I am taking the bus as usual and will reach you soon."
"Why would you take the bus? I wanted you to come sooner; that is why I sent him." His words thundered, this gave rise to my anger, and I wanted to say a lot of things but swallowed them back. I shouldn't argue with this man.
"Father, you should have at least given him my number, or the name, it's the bare minimum when you send a person to look for someone. He was standing for three hours in the sun. Hungry and tired. Anyway, I thought I wouldn't survive in his car, because he drove half-asleep." I said what I should. It was not false. It was just not the real reason for why I got out of his car in the first place.
It was him, he was intolerable. His narrow eyes, and thin lips resembled to the main character of the drama I have been watching recently. Out of the blue, he reminded me of that character and my heart skipped a beat.
However, on top of that, the way he advertised me as his wife, and the way he talked to me as if I were some criminal made me furious. I did borrow his name to get rid of those two scoundrels, but it wasn't the same, I would have used anyone, even Richard, if I had to save myself.
He could have chosen to say the truth, 'Hey, I am looking for Raven Rain. She is a family friend.'
I must be over thinking again, he must have said in a fit of rage, after all, the sun did suck a good amount of energy from his lean body.
"Make sure you are dressed well, then. I had asked Aidan to bring you to the Mall. Now, I know, where he ate all that time I gave him. Is it true? He waited for you?" My father sounded quite interested in knowing about Aidan's good behaviour; isn't he the same person who always badmouthed him. He always said Aidan is a scoundrel, sooner or later, he will go to jail.
I hung up the phone. My father is not being cautious at all.
I am curious: why did my father ask and allow Aidan to accompany me to shop for a birthday dress? What right does this stranger have? As a man of my age, it was highly inappropriate.
If my mother were to know that my father is being clueless again, and sending me with a stranger to pick up a dress, she would surely give him an earful. I was not going to tell her about my father sending Aidan to my university. But this thing about the dress. I will surely inform her.
My father sometimes loses his senses in an attempt to become open-minded and liberal. He doesn't know how weird it would be for Aidan to come with me to choose a dress. Perhaps, I am being orthodox, but if he wants to be open-minded, why doesn't he teach me how to drive a car, or let me go to the gym and allow me to go on a solo-trip.
This so-called liberal ideology of his, will surely bring me a huge disaster. Today's Richard incident was just a trailer. For some reason, I can't seem to forget Aidan's words when I see him face-to-face.
'I am her husband. Why do you care?'
A man who has nothing to do with me has the audacity to make false claims about such things in front of people. Identifying himself as the husband of a girl who he didn't recognise until today shouldn't be taken lightly.
Let's say, he has that kind of personality. But then, my father is acting weird too. Why would he send a man he hates to his daughter? He should keep me safe, keep me away.
"I should keep my distance from Aidan. I can't associate myself with him." I affirmed myself and folded my arms. I cannot fall for the person I moved on from. He is, after all, Aidan of Azure. I am no match for him.
"So you are afraid of me?"