Chapter <b>15 </b>


    Zade


    I quickly rushed towards where Aisha was presently screaming her lungs out, and at the same time, her and Marco’s friends were rushing in as well. We were all standing in the entrance of the kitchen, staring between Addison and Marco.


    Marco was still leaning against the counter, but Addison was standing far away from her, her face red from embarrassment. I looked between the two of them again, trying to figure out if they had been caught making out or something. Disappointment settled deep in my stomach when my eyes fell on Addison’s flustered face this time, just as one of aisha friends Aisha asked.


    “What’s wrong? Did you catch them together?” She asked and Aisha nodded, her hands clenched at her sides in anger, as she pointed over at Addison.


    “I caught her in here with Marco, all alone, and-”


    Addison wast


    was all.”


    one to cut her off this time. “Stop being dramatic, Aisha. We were just speaking, that


    Aisha let out a loudugh as she matched into the kitchen. Marco was still silent and I wanted to punch him so bad right now. When his eyes locked with mine, he arched a brow, then his lips twitched like he was suppressing a grin.


    Fucking bastard. Has Addison opened up to him that as were in a fake rtionship?


    Fucking Addison..


    “You were just talking?? I caught you two in an embrace! You were holding him tightly, and…” Aisha was still speaking when Addison cut her off again.


    “I was just hugging my friend, that was all. Why is that such a problem?” She demanded and t managed to stiffle my snort.


    “You had to do it all alone in here, right? I knew i should never have allowed you to be invited!” Aisha screamed, clearly fuming with so much anger.


    I found her reaction very hypocritical right now seeing as she was just flirting hard with me some time ago, and now she <b>was </b>acting this way? She was a damn good actress, I’d give her that.


    “Why is that a problem? Is that such a crime? I was justforting him cause he was offloading some of his worries to me, that was all.” Addison yelled and this time, I noticed that she looked angry as well.


    48


    “Well, excuse me for not believing you cause I know you’re still in love with my man!” Aisha screeched, then Marco was looking over at me, his lips twitching again.


    Fucking bastard. What the fuck is he implying right now?


    “I already said this countless times, that’s in the past. We’re just friends and I was justforting him. You can ask him yourself!” Addison snapped, pointing towards Marco who shrugged when everyone’s eyes panned towards him.


    “Well…” he began with everyone’s eyes on him, “yes, it’s definitely true that Addison is in love with me, but we weren’t acting on that in here, we were only-” he <b>was </b>still speaking when Adddison was cutting him off, her expression seeming like she was about to faint. Her face was so red, like it was about to go up in mes at any moment from now.


    “What the fuck, Marco? This is serious!” Addison cried out but Marco only shrugged.


    Addison looked like she was about to die from shame and I let out one more sigh. This entire mess


    would have been easily avoided if she had listened to me, but of course she had to go do her own


    thing.


    “See? She’s totally still in love with Marco!” Aisha cried out and I let out onest sigh before pushing through the people standing in the doorway till I was inside the kitchen.


    Addison looked so guilty that she couldn’t


    look in his eyes as he watched me close eat my eyes, and presently, Marco had sat up, a narrowed


    I walked up to Addison and as soon as I wrapped my arm around my waist and tugged her into my side<b>, </b>she visibly slumped against me while exhaling shakily into


    shakily into my side.


    “Addison just cares about people too much.” I began, knowing everyone was listening in closely.


    “She’d have kept her space from Marco, since they’re <b>exes</b><b>. </b>But after they became friends again, there’s no point in dwelling on the past anymore, and that’s why she believes she can act like a friend to Marco hundred percent of the time. Of course, if she knew she’d get used unprovoked like this, she’d have kept her distance. Perhaps <b>she’d </b>have skipped this wedding altogether.” I continued, feeling Addison melt against me even more.


    When I nced up at Marco, I noticed that he was scowling at me, which pleased me immensely.


    “She actually wanted to skip this wedding. She told me so many people from school would be here and it might look weird. I was the one who convinced her toe, especially cause I knew her friend and


    1 my brother, Marco, would really like herpany here, and that’s exactly why she came to this


    wedding.” Marco was full on ring at me at this point and his hands were fisted at his sides.


    Aisha had a confused expression on as she listened, and so did the rest of the people presently listening to me speak.


    I could just imagine how grateful Addison is feeling right now, that I’m formting a bunch of story just to defend her and save her from this situation.


    “So, she’s not a cheat. She’ll never do that. I’m certain even when she and Marco dated back then, she wasn’t the one who cheated in the rtionship, and I’m sure everyone is aware.” After I said this, Marco looked like he was about to murder me, <b>Aisha </b>still looked furious, but she had visibly calmed down, and the guys were all awkwardly clearing their throats.


    “There’s no need to bring up the past.” Marco snapped as he finally pushed away from the ind.


    I gave him a mock grin, watching as he walked up to stand beside Aisha to pull her into his arms and


    kiss her.


    “Are you sure about that? You seem to enjoy everyone assuming that your ex is still in love with you, I mean, you basically said that as well in here before everyone. Why is that?” I asked, watching as he scoffed and rolled his eyes, a scowl still prominent across his face.


    “I was clearly joking, everyone could tell. Right, guys?” He nced over at his friends who instantly nodded in agreement.


    “See?” He turned back to face me, then he nodded towards Addison whose face was still buried


    chest.


    I


    “I mean… even Addison is aware of this. She knows she’s no longer my type, or someone I can ever go for again. I only dated her in college cause I wanted to test out something, that was all. Presently, we’re friends and can’t be anything than that.”


    I rolled my eyes, wondering if Marco really thinks always acting this way towards her in public was really concealing the fact that he still loved her. It was almost funny to be honest, cause I could see right through him without any effort.


    Too bad Addison couldn’t, which is a very good thing.


    “That’s good, <b>cause </b><b>that’s </b>exactly what she wanted to hear you say as <b>soon </b><b>as </b>your fiancee began to throw usations at her, but <b>you </b>conveniently remained silent.” I drawled and when he remained silent, his jaw clenching snc unclenching, I knew I had gotten him good.


    I’ve just done a very great job. I really am the <b>best</b>.


    After that, I walked out of the kitchen, bringing Addison along with me<b>, </b>and they all moved away from the doorway while exchanging nces and avoiding my gaze.


    Wed, 3 Sept


    48<b>% </b>


    I led her outside the house, heading towards the sea. Once I was certain we were at a far distance, I let go of her, and as expected, she was too embarrassed to meet my gaze. She exhaled shakily, running her fingers through her hair as she mumbled.


    “Thanks for defending me in there.”


    I rolled my eyes behind her, then I grabbed her arm and spinned her around.


    “Why didn’t you listen to me? It was what? Just two hours after I gave it to you, yet you still agreed to him when he asked you to apany him somewhere private so you could both speak.” I think I did a terrible job at masking my frustration and irritation, cause her face crumbled and she was wrenching herself away from me to cover her face and sink into a crouch, sniffling quietly.


    “I really am pathetic, I know it! I tried harder to resist him but it was too hard. I feel so, so stupid… and listening to him talk about me like that was just so heart wrenching.”


    She started to sob quietly and I looked into the sky in resignation. This wasn’t what I had in mind when I brought her out here. I sucked atforting people, and now I can’t be as blunt as I’d have liked to be, cause I need to coddle her, deceive her and make her fall for me.


    Who knew it was gonna be this hard?


    I exhaled slowly as I stared down at her shaking shoulders as she cried. I wasn’t even mad at her anymore, cause now I’ve confirmed that she didn’t fall into Marco’s bed, and that they’ve definitely not talked anything out, which means my n is still on board, so I wasn’t mad any longer.


    However, I was frustrated, cause weirdly, I didn’t like that she was crying right now. Usually, watching people cry used to annoy me, but with her…it wasn’t, it was just frustrating, cause clearly she doesn’t know what she’s worth. Of all people she wants to cry over, it’s Marco??


    Alright, here goes nothing.


    “You’re indeed pathetic.” I blurted, then quietly swore underneath my breath cause that wasn’t what I intended to say. When herrge, tear filled eyes blinked at me, I had to nce away while quietly


    swearing.


    “I meant–yes, you might be pathetic like you said, but the key is working on yourself to be less pathetic.”


    When she blinked at me <b>again</b>, I face palmed <b>myself </b>internally. I was really fucking bad at this.


    “Look, what I mean is that: sure, you like <b>him</b>, that’s not the end of the world. A lot of people have unrequited love.”


    11:49 Wed, 3 Sept IDA


    Her eyes lit up. “Really?” She whispered.


    sunmy‘


    ‘No, dummy‘ was on the tip of my tongue, but I ended up nodding anyway.


    t


    Then I grabbed her shoulders as I continued. “But you’re not here to chase Marco, do you understand? Since you have me now, I’ll help you get noticed by him, you just have to trust me. At the end of the day, you’re not gonna have to chase him<b>, </b>cause he’ll be the one to chase you.”


    <b>13 </b>


    As I kept speaking, she kept nodding slowly till she sniffed onest time and wiped her cheeks with her palm, then she was nodding.


    “Okay. 1- I promise to listen to you on moving forward.”


    I grinned at her as I helped her up. “Good girl.”


    She shivered at that moment, and truly, I didn’t know where that word came from.


    When we were returning back to the house, we walked past Aisha and Marco making out heavily on


    the couch, his hands underneath her shirt, fondling her tits as they kissed deeply.


    When I nced over at Addison, as expected, her facepletely crumbled.


    ?