Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Not wanting Vivi to hear her cry, she had left their hotel suite to find some private place to have a nice, long bawl when her phone had suddenly started ringing. And then she had seen the sheikh’s name flash on the screen, and she almost had a heart attack.
Good morning, Katerina. I have made arrangements with your college, and your dean has kindly allowed you to provide me with a tour of the campus. You will of course be excused from your classes. I will be at your dormitory in half an hour’s time. I look forward to seeing you again.
The sheikh hadn’t even given her time to think of a reply. The call had ended, leaving her in shock, which eventually turned into full-blown panic. Thirty minutes to shower, dress up, race back to her dorm, and rummage through her drawers for the university’s map, since she still had a tendency to get lost.
In the end, she only had a minute to spare when she hurried downstairs to meet him, and of course the sheikh was already there, surrounded by his usual phalanx of bodyguards, and dressed resplendently in his kingdom’s traditional attire. He cut such a dashing, imposing figure it left every girl in the dorm starry-eyed and dumbstruck, never mind if none of them probably even knew what a sheikh was, much less how to spell it.
The attention they drew was pretty much the same when they started with the sheikh’s campus tour, with girls literally doing double takes upon catching sight of the sheikh. They were so obviously taken with him that they barely spared Katerina a glance, and after weeks of being the most hated girl in school, she had to admit it was a good feeling to be invisible for once.
It almost made her feel normal, almost made her forget—-
Her phone buzzed inside her pocket.
—-until of course she was reminded by the reason she had been hated in the first place.
Malik raised a brow when he noticed Katerina tapping on the screen without even checking who her caller was. “Your phone has been ringing quite persistently,” he murmured. “If it’s an important call—-”
“It’s not.” She then quickly changed the subject, saying awkwardly, “I heard from, umm, Lace about how this whole thing started.”
“Ah.”
“So...” She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
“There is nothing to thank me for. It wasn’t a personal decision, and your qualifications make you an excellent addition to our stable of scholars.”
His choice of words had her shaking her head, torn between amusement and exasperation. “Maybe it’s sexy in your kingdom to compare a woman to a horse, but from where I’m standing...” She made a face. “It doesn’t feel...right?”
Malik grinned, thinking that far few women in this world would dare say such a thing to him. But more than that, the words also reminded him of the reason he had become somewhat fond of the younger woman during their first meeting. She was awfully easy to tease, and it was good to see that part of her had not changed.
“How have you been, Ms. Chariot?” When Silver March had learned he had a brief stop in Tokyo for business, the American billionaire had asked him to check on Katerina Chariot if he could spare the time, and so the sheikh had done so, thinking it would be interesting to meet the young woman again.
The sheikh’s question, having come out of nowhere, took her by surprise, and she stammered, “I’m o-okay.”
His dark gaze swept over her, taking note of her swollen eyes and the dark bags underneath it. “You do not look like it.”
Katerina choked back a laugh. “Umm...thanks?” Was there a proper way of responding to a sheikh’s insult without getting beheaded?
The sheikh’s lips curved in a wicked grin. “Is it because you’ve been pining for me?”
This time, she couldn’t control herself, a laugh escaping her—-
She laughed and laughed until she gradually realized she could no longer afford to stop laughing.
Because if she did—-
“I’m s-sorry.” She managed to choke the words out in between painful laughs. The sheikh’s handsome face was inscrutable, but he was probably only too polite to look at her the way his guards were staring at her. They looked like they were seriously considering taking their precious sheikh as far away from her as possible, and could she blame them? She knew she was acting like a lunatic. Of course she knew. But she also knew there was no helping it.
Last night’s memories were still raw, and the fact that it was over between her and Yuki still hadn’t fully dawned on her. She dreaded the moment it did, though. She was terrified of it, actually-—
She still remembered how it felt, knowing that Yuki wasn’t part of her life.
And to have to go through it again—-
“Ms. Chariot?”
The sheikh’s polite tone yanked her back to reality, and when she found the sheikh offering her a black handkerchief, it had her shakily touching her cheeks—-