Novel Square
Cornered
Cornered
“She’ll need her own rooms,” Hayden replied casually.
“I’ll see to it,” the butler said with a bow.
“Let’s head inside. It’s windy,” Hayden said to me.
His arm was around my waist before I could respond. I found myself being urged into the mansion with
a slight push from the arm that Hayden had around my waist. The interior was decorated with the same
vibe as the boss’s mansion, and it made me wonder if the same interior designer was hired for both
places.
“The boss use to live here,” Hayden explained before I could even ask.
“Oh, I see…” I mumbled.
Well, that explains a lot of the shared preference in decoration and design. The mansion was quiet and
lifeless. I could hear the sound of my own breathing and my heart beating.
“Do you live here alone?” I asked, trying to make conversation because the silence was getting to my
head.
“Yes; however, there are live-in butlers, maids and some gang members for security,” Hayden replied
flatly.
With his arm still around my waist, Hayden was urging me firmly along a long and slightly dark corridor.
The conversation that I had started died a sudden death and silence filled the distance between us
again. After a while or walking, we arrived at the end of the long corridor where a large door loomed in
front of us. Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
Is this Hayden’s room?
Unceremoniously, Hayden unlocked and opened the large door. Despite its size and apparent weight,
the door opened with ease. The room was dark, and I couldn’t make out much until Hayden switched
on the lights. My eyes blinked to adjust to the sudden brightness of the light.
“Is this your room?” I asked.
“The mansion is too big for me. Usually, I just use this set of rooms,” Hayden explained before walking
past me into the room.
Hesitantly, I walked into a large sitting room decorated in shades of dark blue and grey tones. There
was a large set of sofas in the center of the room and a large wooden desk on the side. Thankfully,
unlike the rest of the house that I’ve seen so far, this room appeared to be lived in. I could see books,
computer and monitors, photo frames along with other things that showed that Hayden does indeed
live here.
“I see. This is a nice room. It feels…calm and relaxing…” I said as I started looking around.
“You can wander anywhere in this room and the connected rooms but please don’t wander anywhere
else, ok?” Hayden said before he smiled tenderly down at me.
“Ok…” I replied.
Was it me or was there a hint of a warning in his words just now? I smiled in return as my mind quickly
swept that thought under the rug.
“You should take a seat,” Hayden said inviting as he gestures towards the sofa.
While I took my seat, Hayden headed for the door we had just passed through and locked it. The
clicking sound of the door locking aroused a sense of insecurity within me. Did he just lock us in here?
His words to his butler from earlier had been bothering me a bit but I had been ignoring the nagging
feeling in the back of my mind. He did just tell his butler that I’ll be needing my own rooms, right?
I was hoping that what I suspected would be wrong. The cold look on Hayden’s face when he turned to
face me reminded me of the many encounters that I had with him when we first met.
“Hayden…” I whispered his name quietly.
Slowly, Hayden approached me, and I shifted restlessly on the sofa. He’s making me feel so nervous
and uncomfortable. Hayden stood in front of me while his eyes looked down at me. My body just froze,
and I no longer knew what I wanted to say. Hayden leaned forward and placed his hands flat on the
back of the sofa on either side of my face, essentially trapping me between him and the sofa.
“We’re alone now and no one is going to disturb us here. Is there something that you want to tell me,
Malissa?” Hayden asked, speaking so slowly.
My throat felt so stiff and dry that I could barely swallow. Hayden’s handsome yet cold face stared
down at me from above and my heart started to race even faster. He knows about Ethan’s visit, doesn’t
he?
“Umm…the thing is…Ethan dropped by to see me,” I managed to say; however, I wasn’t able to keep
my voice from shaking.
My voice came out weak and shaky, but I was finally managed to tell Hayden the truth. Hayden nodded
at my honest confession. I wasn’t sure if he was exactly pleased but at least he didn’t start shouting at
me.
“Why didn’t you give me a call?” Hayden asked calmly.
“I…I didn’t think that Ethan…would do anything…” I replied as I stuttered on my words.
It was quite true; I was scared of Ethan but deep down I still firmly believed that he wouldn’t hurt me.
“What if he did…what would you do?” Hayden asked as his eyes challenged me to answer him.
“I…” I didn’t quite know what to say.
“My bad. The correct question would be what could you have done?” Hayden said before he smiled
tightly at me.
I knew that he wasn’t finding any of this funny. I knew that he was worried for my sake. He was right, if
Ethan wanted to do something to me, I couldn’t fight back or stop him.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to meet up with him. He just appeared out of nowhere…” I said softly.
“You asked me for privacy and independence, so I gave you that. Then what happened?” Hayden
asked rhetorically.
“I didn’t want to see him. He just came to see me,” I said in my defense.
I knew that I was partly to blame but this whole thing didn’t happen because I wanted it to. Ethan’s visit
wasn’t something that I planned or enjoyed. It was hard for me too.
“What did he say to you this time?” Hayden asked, his tone icy cold.
--To be continued…