Substitute Wife for the Mafia King R18-Chapter 312: Comfort and Warning

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I cocked my head slightly to the side while I kept my eyes on his face.

“I’m the one who should be asking you that and not the other way around. What’s wrong, Dahlia?” He asked with true concern in his voice.

Perhaps it was because I wasn’t used to having someone worrying about me apart from my sister that I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions as if a floodgate that had been locked up inside of me had started to slowly open up.

“I’m fine...” I replied, although I had to say that I didn’t sound so convincing or sure of myself.

“Don’t let their words bother you...” Bradon advised as if he could see through me.

That was what I had always been telling myself all along. I told myself that if I let people’s words bother me and get to me, I would always be the victim and it would end up breaking me and driving me crazy. Despite that, I had to say that sometimes it became difficult especially when I came face to face with those people and when I heard those accusing and malicious words directly from their mouths.

“Don’t pay their words any mind. Also, what’s in the past is in the past,” Bradon said quite calmly as his arms tightened slightly around my body.

I didn’t know how to respond to him when he suddenly pressed his lips tenderly against my shoulder. I wanted so badly for him to comfort me, but instead, it made me realize that he must have been one of those people who believed in what happened in the past. Although it shouldn’t disturb me what he thought, I found myself feeling very troubled and uncomfortable inside. Even though I told myself that it shouldn’t matter, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering and then worrying about what he thought of me.

I was reminded of Bradon’s seemingly forgiving words when he told me before that he didn’t care about my past or what I had been through, but instead of being filled with reassurance, it felt like that was a huge lump of ice sitting in my chest. Suddenly, I could no longer bear to be in his arms as if it felt so wrong for him to be showing me such care. It felt like I was taking advantage of the kindness that he was showing me, and for that I felt so guilty to the point where I felt that I couldn’t bear to be near him. Once again, the consequences of the actions and decisions that I made in the past were catching up to me and it just felt like there was no chance of escape.

“Please let go of me,” I said as I tried to untangle his arms from around my body.

Bradon’s refusal to follow my request was clear when he kept a tight hold on my body before pressing his face closer to the side of my neck. My heart beated loudly in my chest as I struggled to free myself from his embrace. I felt so frustrated that my efforts to get away from him proved to be so useless, and then I decided to stop struggling completely. It felt like I was about to burst out crying, and I didn’t want him to see that. Instead of struggling, I focused on holding back my tears instead as I stilled in his arms and let him hold me. After a moment of silence, it was Bradon who was the first one to speak up.

“You do realize that this is a very stupid idea, not to mention that it is a very difficult one,” Bradon suddenly said to me.

“What are you talking about?” I asked as if I wasn’t sure what he was referring to.

Even though I had a very good idea about what he was referring to, I didn’t want to bring up the topic. However, I also knew that Bradon wasn’t about to let it slide without lecturing me about it. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“This is a stupid idea because you can’t play the role of two women at the same time,” Bradon pointed out as if that was something that I didn’t already know.

“Tell me something that I don’t already know. Acting as Diana when I’m with you in public and then also as Dahlia when I’m with Desmond, I mean the king, is going to be difficult but I’m willing to give it my best shot,” I said without letting my determination waiver.

I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to work out, but I figured that I would figure something out when the time came.

“It’s not going to be as easy as you think,” Bradon warned me again.

“I guess you happen to know that very well from personal experience,” I pointed out tauntingly while referring to how he was also taking his brother’s place.

Once those words slipped past my lips, I immediately regretted them. Just like how he understood me, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t understand his situation. There were various reasons why I had to take my sister’s place and none of those reasons were ever easy. Although it might have been fun at first when we were kids and our actions were for innocent purposes, things surely got a lot more complicated as we grew older and our actions were intended to fool and take advantage of other people. Even though Bradon never explained his situation to me, I was certain that there were disturbing and difficult reasons why he had to take Anthony’s place.

“Don’t say that I didn’t warn you...” he said coldly.

“What’s the point of warning me, if you’re not going to give me a helping hand?” I asked as I took a step forward towards him. Our eyes met and I didn’t feel the urge to look away from him.

“I’m always offering you a helping hand...” he said, and I had to admit that it was true.

I let out a long sigh before stretching my arms as I turned from side to side. Despite the various obstacles, I had to say that it gave me comfort that he was still on my side although his reactions and actions were pretty much uncontrollable and unpredictable at times. It was like optimizing for the right way of life with an unknown variable in it.

–To be continued...