Husband With Benefits
Chapter 264: An Elephant in the Room

Chapter 264: An Elephant in the Room

Once the credits started to roll around, Evangeline was already prepared to make a quick escape. "I’m too tired. I’ll just turn in for the day. Since you invited yourself, you can see yourself off also. Good night."

Just as Evangeline was sure that she would make a successful escape, Lucien spoke, "Wait. I have something for you."

Evangeline paused," I don’t want anything other than to sleep so..."

However, even as she denied wanting anything, Lucien had already walked off, leaving her standing there confused.

Just as quickly as he’d gone, he returned, handing her something white and fluffy...

Confused, she looked down at the large stuffed elephant and then at him," What is this?"

"It’s an elephant, Evangeline." Lucien pointed out helpfully.

Evangeline glared at him, her patience towards him almost at an end," I can see that, Mr. Obvious! I meant just why are you giving this elephant to me?"

"Because we need to address the elephant in the room. You are avoiding it. So here he is." Lucien grinned mischievously.

Evangeline was speechless. The man was totally..."You’ve got to be kidding me..."

"No, I’m not. I really need you to talk and stop avoiding the topic." Lucien pointed out.

"I don’t want to talk about anything, Lucifer. What is past is in the past. Can’t you get that through your thick head?"

Just as she would have stalked away, Lucien spoke, " An hour."

Stopping mid-step, she turned," An Hour?"

"Hmm. An hour is what I need from you tonight, Angel. And if you are willing to give me that, I promise I will not bother you again."

Evangeline stood there unsure of how to react. She’d been avoiding any sort of talking with Lucien and yet, she’d already realized her folly. She couldn’t escape him, no matter how much she tried...

"Can’t we talk tomorrow?"

"Not really. I don’t want to delay things longer."

"Fine. What is it?"

"Angel... we are engaged for the time being."

"My name is Evangeline! And we are not engaged. We are pretending to be engaged."

"Fine, we are pretending to be engaged. But that pretense needs us to be together in front of everyone and make public appearances. From tomorrow onwards, the negotiations for the resorts will start and at that time, we have to put on a united front. If you keep frowning at me, then it will not work."

"I know that. And don’t worry. I won’t frown at you in public. Now can I go?"

"No. I still have about fifty-six minutes with you, Angel"

Evangeline frowned at that. She should have argued for the time to be reduced. An hour was too much.

"Fine." She muttered through clenched teeth. "And my name is Evangeline."

Lucien clenched his hands. This girl had her walls too high and trying to talk his way through them wasn’t going to work. He needed a sledge-hammer.

Narrowing his eyes, he walked close to her, observing the way she tried to lean back and even hugged the elephant tighter so that she would be able to maintain her distance from him.

Caging her in between the couch and himself, he leaned down and spoke," Angel. I know your name very well. I’ll make it a point to check that is correctly filled up when we apply for the marriage certificate."

"M m marriage certificate? What are you talking about?"

"Now, I have your attention. Good. Evangeline Sterling, listen carefully. You are my Angel. And I’ve told you before that I like you. But you do not believe me. So, from here on, I am going to make you believe that I like you and this is not some kind of a guilt trip or an attempt to assuage my conscience."

"As a matter of fact, I have nothing to feel ashamed of. I came there with the sole purpose of finding and using someone who had hurt my family. But when I found you, and relaized you were not what it seemed, I did my best to not hurt you. The second thing you need to know is that this engagement might be pretend but that is only temporary. I don’t intend to let it continue for long."

Evangeline, who had been considering believing that he might really like her, straightened and glared," I know the engagement is not for long. You don’t have to remind me! In fact, I can call it off right now."

Lucien stared at Evangeline before gently rapping her head," Angel, what am I going to do with you. Listen to me carefully, this time. The engagement is not going to last long because I intend to let it culminate into a marriage! So, the end of the engagement is going to be us getting married. Do you still want to end it now? I can apply for the wedding license right away."

"You want to marry me?" Evangeline asked, only to blush a minute later, feeling extremely stu*id. The truth was that she couldn’t believe that Lucien would want to marry her. He’d been the person she had admired for so long. The prince she had hidden away in the depths of her heart, not daring to show him to anyone. She’d not even dared to dream of being with him.

"But we need love for marriage! And there is no love between us."

She wanted to say that he did not love her. Liking was a passive feeling. She did not know what he liked about her, but someday he might stop liking her. Where would that leave her then? She’d seen marriages like that where the man moved on and the girl was left with only the remains of a broken relationship.

"You are right. There is a lack of love between us. But I’ll make you fall for me, Angel. So, my suggestion to you is stop fighting me at every turn and let me love you."

"What about you loving me? For a marriage to be successful, both of us need to be in love. One-sided love..." Evangeline blurted out.

Lucien smiled at that, and quickly pecked her cheek, "Of course, one-sided love is dangerous. It is why I’m going to try my best to make you fall for me. And while we still have about thirty minutes on the clock, I’m going to take a rain check."

Evangeline blinked as she watched Lucien walk away. What did he mean... From what she could understand... did he mean that he was already in love with her?

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