Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 265: Making It Public

“I hope it helps that I’m here to share your pain,” I muttered sarcastically.

“If you keep on talking, this event will surely get less boring,” he said before chuckling softly.

“Is that so?” I replied back while making sure to keep my voice down so that no one would overhear us.

I kept staring straight ahead although I could feel the prince’s gaze resting on my face. He clearly wasn’t paying any attention to the presentation and he didn’t even bother to put on an act.

“Of course. It’ll get even better if I can hold your hand,” he replied before reaching his hand out for mine.

I moved my hand away from his at the last moment and the prince ended up laughing at my attempt to get away from him. He was clearly enjoying himself and that meant that he had made the right decision in bringing me along with him. After what I thought was an excessively long presentation, the main part of the event finally came to an end. However, it seems like the role of the prince at the event wasn’t yet over.

After the presentation, there was a networking event where I had to stand next to the prince while he socialized with some nobles and important businessmen involved in the tourism industry. Obviously, I felt so bored and also so out of place.

“Excuse me, there will be a commemorative photo taking session over there. It would be a great honor to have your presence, Your Highness,” one of the staff came up to tell the prince before he bowed and respectively.

“Of course,” the prince replied with a warm smile.

I felt the warmth of his hand hold my elbow as he led me through the crowd to where we were supposed to get our photos taken. I wasn’t looking forward to it but I was eager enough to go home that I was willing to put up with it just so that everything would come to an end soon.

“Come along, Dahlia,” the Prince said invitingly before he showed me a sweet smile.

I decided to follow him silently while I prayed that this better be the last part of the event.

“We can go home after this,” the prince whispered right into my ear before smiling at me as if he could read my thoughts.

I nodded my head and tried my best to smile back at him. To be truthful, the conversation that we failed to complete in the car continued to bother me and nag me at the back of my mind. Although this part of the event was labeled as a commemorative photo taking session, what it really meant was that everyone wanted to take photos of me together with the prince. Instead of taking group photos, most of the photos were all of the prince and me posing as if we were a couple. I could already imagine how those photos were going to be taken out of context, but there was nothing that I could do apart from smile at his side while the camera’s flashes bathed us in bright lights as they took our photos.

“Focus, Dalia. What are you thinking about?” the prince whispered with his lips close to my ear.

I snapped out of my daze at his words when I realized that I must have been spacing out even with everything that was happening all around us.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered softly.

“If you keep on spacing out like that, I’m going to have to kiss you,” the prince said teasingly before he smiled sheepishly at me.

I was about to laugh at his joke when I felt his arms around my body before he pulled me close. Suddenly, his face was so close to mine and I felt myself being sucked into the death of his gray eyes as our eyes met. Perhaps I was so stunned at the sudden development that for a moment I forgot about everyone and everything around us.

He’s not really going to kiss me right here, is he?

Before I could complete that thought in my mind, the prince’s lips came closer until they were on mine. My entire body froze in contrast to the way that my heart began beating rapidly in my chest.

The Prince is really kissing me...

My eyes widened in shock as he applied even more pressure from his lips against mine. The warmth of his lips against mine and the heat of his hand against the small of my back told me that this was real. The kiss probably lasted only a few seconds but it felt like a whole eternity had passed by in my mind. When I came back to my senses, the rapid flashes of cameras were there to greet me and remind me that more than enough time had passed for everything to be captured on camera.

When the prince finally released my lips and broke our kiss, I glared at him as I demanded silently for an explanation for what he had done.

He better have a good reason for this or else I’m going to kill him...

The prince smiled nonchalantly at me before putting an arm around my waist and pulling me to his side. I had never seen a smile that felt so teasing and so guilt-free at the same time.

... 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Why did you do that?” I whirled around and snapped at him the moment that we were alone inside the back of his limousine.

Since no one else was around, I didn’t have to hold it in anymore. I didn’t think that I was so angry until I heard the malice in my voice as I addressed the prince. I glared at him so intensely that I felt heat burning in my eyes.

“I thought you wanted an answer,” the prince replied as if it wasn’t at all his fault.

“What on earth are you talking about? You’re not making any sense!” I spat back as I felt my anger overwhelming me.

“Did I do something to displease you?” The prince asked as if he truly didn’t understand what I was so furious about.

–To be continued...