Chapter 12: Freedom

“What do you think?” Celine heard him say once again, but her heart had already crashed. Her breathing coming in fast and her eyes shut tight, awaiting the moment he would tell them to send their men to come get her.

“I’m currently in the presidential suite, how could I have seen a woman in a wedding dress?” The sarcastic question he shot at the person over the phone made Celine’s eyes shoot open instantly.

“No sir, o-of course not. It’s just that the CCTV cameras showed her running towards the exclusive hallway, and the only suite around there is…”

“Mine?” He said the word with such coldness that Celine could hear the nervous silence from the man on the other end.

That moment of silence must have prompted the person to think against making the call in the first place, when he spoke next, his voice was quivering,

“I shouldn’t have bothered you about this matter sir, of course she wouldn’t be in the presidential suite. I apologize once again for bothering you over something so trivial. We will…”

He hung up the call immediately afterwards, cutting the words of the man off.

Celine was still rooted in the same position barely able to blink. Her heart had been racing so fast and a few times she had forgotten to breathe.

He…he just covered for her. Celine realized, her eyes widening as that thought sank in.

He had spoken so strictly on the phone just now, intimidating the hotel staff who evidently was a high ranking staff in this hotel into regretting making the call to ask about her in the first place.

He sounded so cold that she didn’t think anyone, even someone who had the greatest willpower could speak to him freely.

The shock in Celine’s eyes as she stared at him changed to gratitude, and relief, she hadn’t even realized tears had pooled in her eyes until she felt the warm trickle down her cheeks. Her knuckles had turned white from gripping the glass too tightly when she was nervous just now.

It was very easy for her to get panic attacks, whenever she was too scared, or too overwhelmed, her breathing would begin to seize and her heart would palpitate repeatedly. The relief she felt in this moment washed away the panic that had begun to well up in her at the thought of being caught by her father or Ian again.

“Thank you…for not telling them I’m here.” She suddenly spoke, her voice a whisper but in the silence audible enough to reach him.

Perhaps it was because he had covered up for her, but Celine felt a lot less nervous looking at him. The urge to sink away under his gaze had lessened significantly.

It was astounding the kind of effect he had on people, or perhaps it was just her. Being in the movie industry, Celine had encountered so many people with intimidating auras before, but none quite like him.

There was just something about him…

He walked back up to her and gently took the glass she had been gripping tightly from her hands then placed it back on the surface of the bar. His scent invaded her space at his proximity, but for some reason, his dauntingly intimidating presence made her feel…safe. As if she could place her trust in him, something she hadn’t been able to do with anyone around her lately.

Ian betrayed her, the most gut wrenching kind of betrayal anyone could experience, with her sister whom she had always trusted. All of it made her wary of everyone around her. She was constantly thinking that someone else would hurt her, someone else would betray her, perhaps it was why she was quick to conclude the man would let Ian’s men find her.

“They have guards, and several skilled people looking around the hotel for you right now. I’m sure you’re aware I know who you are, and you should note that I won’t be keeping you here without knowing if I’m harboring a psychotic criminal. So tell me, did you murder your groom?”

Celine’s eyes widened and she immediately replied, “I didn’t!”

She understood why he would question her. Why would he want to help a total stranger, hiding her in his suite for no valid reason or knowledge of why she had run away in the first place.

And with how adamantly they were after her, scouting through the entire hotel to find her, anyone would assume the worst and wonder if she had committed murder. But they wouldn’t know that it was just Ian’s obsession at work. He would stop at nothing until she became his wife so he could gain the twisted satisfaction he so desired.

The man in front of her smirked, the hard lines of his lips raising alluringly to the side it was quite a mesmerizing sight that caught the eye.

“It sure looked like you wanted to do it.” He remarked.

“I didn’t…do anything, I only ran away from the wedding.” She added defensively.

Celine couldn’t tell exactly how she had looked earlier at the wedding hall. Maybe for a moment, she might have let her anger towards Ian leak enough to make it appear as if she wanted to watch him choke to his death.

“And yes, I’m Celine Roberts.” She said, scoffing lightly at the sound of her own name. He said he knew who she was, but just like everyone in the general public, be most likely just knew her name.

The mention of that name meant the big star to people’s ears, many would go crazy at the mention of that name, many had screamed that very name, but right now, it all seemed like a big joke to her.

Celine Roberts, the movie world’s star, but what sort of star was she if she was unhappy? Probably the dimmest star of all who shone outwardly but lost all it’s lights internally.

She didn’t realize when she reached for the glass he kept on the table, this time gulping it all down. The burning feeling wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.

“And everyone thinks I’m living the most perfect life, about to marry the most perfect groom, some might even envy me…if they only knew.” She scoffed at herself again, once again wanting to get the numbing feeling the brown liquid in the glass seemed to be giving her, but when she raised the glass to her lips, it was empty.

She raised the glass up to eye level, hints of light hitting the glass which showed a reflection of her ocean blue eyes which glistened with unshed tears.

Love…it was just one word, but all her life, it had been the only thing she never had. Not after she lost her mother.

It was said that blood automatically loved it’s own, it was without a doubt that she was her own father’s daughter, yet his love..she had never even smelled it from a mile away, it didn’t exist.

She glanced up at him, her blue eyes shining like reflections of the sky on ice,

“So yes, you do know who I am. Celine Roberts, the movie star, that is who I am.”

Celine Roberts, the whole world loved her but was it truly her they adored or the characters she played in the movies they watched?

In this world, she was nothing but a shiny name and a pretty face shown on screens. No one truly knew her.

He watched her quietly as she spoke, heard every sarcasm and self deprecation in her tone as she spoke, there were tears in her eyes, they were devastatingly painful yet devastatingly beautiful, making her eyes look like the flowing ocean itself, but those tears…she didn’t let them fall.

“Can I get more of this please?” She asked raising her empty glass up to him.

“Why do I see someone else?”

When Celine suddenly heard his voice, low and quiet. It was deep yet soothing in a way she couldn’t describe.

She wanted to ask what he meant, but before she could do so he continued.

“I don’t see that woman everyone calls an idol, everyone’s star. All I see is a woman who needs freedom, from what exactly, only you can tell. But no one else can free you, no one else can fight for you but yourself. The moment you choose to stand up for yourself…you’ll find that freedom you desperately need.” He moved closer, so close his face lowered to hers, level with her height where she was looking directly into his eyes.

“Celine.” He said her name quietly, but it made her heart skip. There was an intimacy in the way he said her name as if he had seen through her, seen the part of her no one else does, seen everything she didn’t dare say.

She didn’t notice when his hand reached up, but she felt it hold her by the chin, a light touch that made a coarse thumb brush across her chin lightly. She went stiff.

“I do not know who you are Celine Roberts, I only know your name, but wouldn’t it be damn fascinating to find out?”

Her body seemed to suddenly explode with electricity at the placement of his fingers around her chin, his nearness, her eyes suddenly dipped towards his lips and she held her breath…

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