Chapter 5 Arabella P.O.V

Just ignore my brother, he's always been a bit of a firecracker," a smooth voice said from behind me, as he stretched his hand toward me, and offered to help me up, which gave me the opportunity to get a better look at him, his piercing blue eyes, his blonde hair was perfectly messy, and his charming smile made my heart skip a beat. I tried to play it cool, but my gaze lingered on him a little longer than necessary. He was undeniably handsome.

"Thanks," I muttered, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Good luck with the marriage, I'm really rooting for you," he said with a nod before turning to leave. His parting words left me feeling a mix of emotions. A drop of tears rolled down my eyes. Today was awfully bad. I didn't expect that the man I was going to marry would hate so much to get irritated by my presence. I could hear footsteps. It was my mom that was coming, the sounds of heels made it obvious. I quickly cleaned my tears and rinsed my face in water, in other not to make it obvious that I had been crying not that she cared anyway, but I just didn't want her to see me like this.

"Arabella, where have you been?" she asked, obviously irritated that I was gone for too long.

"Your husband has left, and his father left shortly. I wanted him to take one last look at you before he went, but he was in a hurry." She paused, "Anyway, Arlo is waiting for you downstairs. He'll take you home." she said.

Oh his name was Arlo, I thought

Maybe that's why he was so angry when he drove away, I thought as my mind raced with reasons why he left. Arlo was already by the door, his eyes twinkled as he smiled, and then he greeted me.

"Sorry about the delay," I said, feeling a little awkward.

"No problem, my lady," he replied, his voice low and soothing, as he offered me his hand. I took it, feeling a spark of electricity as he helped me into his car.

As we drove, the silence was comfortable, until Arlo broke it.

"I know you're probably wondering, what the hell have my parents got me into?" he said, his eyes not leaving the road.

"Don't worry, it's not all that bad, my brother doesn't bite... that hard," he added with a chuckle, as he continued

"He can be an asshole sometimes, but he's manageable. That is why I haven't cut him off as my brother yet. And if he dares hurt you, let me know, and I'll shred him into pieces." His serious face made me laugh.

"Thank you," I said softly.

Arlo smiled. "No, thank you for saving the Blackwood sons from being roasted by reporters." His eyes twinkled with amusement.

"We are almost at his house, do you want to ask any questions" he asked

I said no even though my mind was racing with thousands of questions, I just could not bring myself to ask. A few minutes later, we arrived at Asher's mansion, where there were a lot of reporters. Arlo drove the car around the back way to avoid the attention of the reporters who were waiting at the front gate.

He was able to get us to the house without the reporters noticing by using a different entrance. He was trying to protect me from the media attention.

"We've arrived," Arlo said, as his eyes twinkled at the corners. "I would have loved to come in and give you a tour around the house but I'm running behind my schedule, I am already so late. Maybe next time, we can have a proper chat, and I can get to know my sister-in-law better," he said, as he watched me step out of the car, then he zoomed off.

I looked at Asher's house in dread, I barely managed to open the door, and I was welcomed with a warm voice that greeted me.

"Good afternoon, dear. You must be Asher's new wife, aren't you?" she asked

I looked at the woman closely as I admired her silver hair styled in a neat bob.

"Yes, ma'am, I am," I said, my voice struggling to stay steady as my heart raced in fear, this was all strange to me, a new environment, a new home.

"No need for formalities, dear. I'm Thompson, the housekeeper," she said with a gentle smile.

"I'm Arabella," I replied, my eyes taking in the opulent decor.

"You might want to freshen up. The master bedroom is that way," she said, pointing towards a staircase and where the master room was. "Just be quiet, dear. Asher isn't in the best of moods." Her voice was laced with concern.

I nodded, my heart panting, as I grasped my wet hands, trying to calm my nerves and I made my way upstairs. As I entered the bedroom, I found Asher sitting on the bed, a bottle clutched in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale. He didn't look up, his gaze was fixed on some of the bottles.

There was something wrong, but I doubted if I could be of help to him, he despised me and didn't want anything to do with me but I wanted to help, I just stood and stared, then came closer to him, with trembling hands, patting his back.

"is ..go..ing to be okay" I managed to say, still patting his back.

He came closer to me and gave me a hugged

" it is all gone, everything, gone just like that," he said.

I barely knew what he was talking about, I wondered what to tell him, my mom said sorry could heal wounds but yet no amount of sorry I said had made her forgive me, maybe sorry could work for him

"Sorry," I said

Then he looked at me,

" What the hell, do I need your sorry for, maybe your body can compensate," he said as he drew me closer, his body close to mine and he tried to kiss me, I closed my eyes in fear, he just pushed me aside.

" I did rather kiss a buffoon than kiss you, do me a favor and stay away for me," he said before he left