I watched the movie, shedding tears as I stuffed my face with wings. This right here would've been the image of a woman needing serious help if I wasn't so happy. As crazy as I looked at this very moment, I'd never been so ecstatic. And it was all because of Syn. Despite the crazy shit happening during my stay here, he somehow made it all worth it.

A knock at the door made me wipe my hands with the napkin before turning down the television and walking towards the door. I frowned, not thinking Syn would be back so soon. He only left an hour ago, which was probably equivalent to three seconds in Hell.

I opened the door, surprise etching my features as I saw Felix looking down at me with a smile. "Queen," he bowed slightly. "May I come in? I'd like to speak to you."

I stepped aside, allowing him to walk inside as I frowned. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Word travels down through the palace quicker than you may think," he said, walking towards the table and gesturing at a chair. "May I?"

"Go ahead," I said. I walked around the oak table, holding on to the hem of the large shirt as I sat down in the chair across from him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I just wanted to check in on you," he said. "I heard that he was keeping you here and I got worried. There was talk about you being here against your will."

"What?" I furrowed my brows. "That's not true. I want to be here."

"Has he placed some sort of demonic entrapment on you?" He whispered, grabbing my chin and moving my face around.

I moved my face away from him and sent a glare in his direction. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm just here because I care about you Queen, truly. You and I are the scraps, you know?" What? "Xyla and Syn are the ones that are going to get married and become King and Queen. What will be left of us?" he asked. "Have you thought about that?"

I frowned, rubbing his touch off of my face and shaking my head. "No," I admitted. These days I had been trying to live in the moment. I didn't want to waste my time worrying about dumb shit, I just wanted to be happy. Syn's reassurance was enough for me.

"What would you do if one day Syn woke up and decided he wanted to be with his wife?"

"Felix..."

"Think about it," he insisted. "There would be nothing you could do because his loyalties lie with his wife and his kingdom."

"Why are you saying this?"

"Because I have a proposition for you," he said.

"What?" He reached into his pocket, placing a black velvet box between us and I furrowed my brows. "What is it?"

"Open it," he insisted.

I let out a deep breath, hesitantly picking up the box and pulling the silk ribbon off of it. I opened the small jewelry box and my eyes widened as they landed on the huge diamond ring inside. "Marry me," he said.

"What?!" I asked in shock. "Felix I-"

"Hear me out," he said. "You and I both want people that won't want us one day, Queen. When they have the entire world in their hands, they won't be with us any longer. When that day comes, you will be the only one to understand my pain just as I will be able to understand yours. We're going to need one another."

"Felix-"

"Queen," he interrupted once again, halting my thought process and forcing me to listen to his ludicrous proposal. "Listen to me. You and I, there is something there. A small flame that I'm sure came blossom into more if we let it. We can learn to love one another. You're a beautiful girl, I'm sure it wouldn't take much effort on my part."

"Does Xyla know you're doing this?"

"Xyla and I broke up weeks ago," he said. "What I do is no longer any of her business." He sighed. "I'm aware of the financial crisis that Eden is in and I know you all no longer have Justin's monetary support-"

"Please don't talk about-"

"I have money, Queen. More money than I'll ever need. I could help you. If you won't do this for yourself, do it for your family." His words were beginning to get to me. If my father knew about this he would order that I marry him. Eden did in fact need the money; my father was an extreme spender and used the Kingdom's savings on unnecessary lavish things.

"Felix I-"

"Don't give me an answer right now. Think about it. This is a big opportunity for you and the people of Eden." With that my words failed me. I couldn't think of anything else to say and he nodded at me as if he understood why I was speechless.

He stood up from his seat, walking around the table to crouch down in front of me. I wanted to back away, but his hands held the arms of the chair, trapping me. "I'd be good for you, Queen." With him this close, I could smell the alcohol on his breath and I scrunched up my nose.

"Can you please leave?" I whispered.

His hand tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, making me cringe as I moved away from him. "We can protect each other's hearts, Queen." I shook my hand, and his face leaned into mine, making me see red as I acted upon my instincts. My hand flew across his cheek before he could kiss me and I looked at him in shock, covering my mouth with my hands. I knew what I did was horrible, but I couldn't let myself regret it. He was stepping over a boundary I had clearly set up after asking him to leave-I couldn't hold back anymore.

He held his cheek and scoffed at me. "You're really ungrateful, you know? I offer to help your family and you do this?"

"My family will be fine. I would rather work the rest of my life for the money than marry you. I'm sure you'd make a good husband to someone Felix...just not me." I moved to get up, but he pushed me down, catching me off guard.

"Queen, I'm sorry okay? You're right. I have overstepped. But think about it." He smiled. I almost smiled back at his charming grin until I remembered his previous actions. The side he just bared to me scared me and at the flip of a dime, he was back to his normal self.

I found that scarier than anything...even Syn. With Syn I knew what I was getting into from the start, but Felix was different. He was always so kind and sweet-you'd never expect it from him. That made him more dangerous. I had made enough mistakes letting myself be surrounded by people claiming to be who they weren't, and I got hurt over it. It wasn't going to happen again.

"Get the hell out," I said through gritted teeth. "I don't want you." His eye twitched as he looked down at me, but he nodded and grabbed the ring, closing the door to the room as he left.

I let out a shaky breath and rubbed my face at his departure. Fuck I needed to learn how to fight. I hated feeling so powerless around people. I quickly walked to the door and locked it, a feeling of safety settling in as I was alone in the room. I walked back to the bed and frowned at the discomfort left over from Felix at his aggressiveness, but also his words. As much as I wanted to deny it and chalk it up to the ramblings of a drunk man, he had planted a seed of doubt in my mind.

꧁꧂

I tried my best to keep up with the conversation Genesis was having with Jess, but I was distracted. Felix was in his seat for the breakfast, and he wouldn't stop looking at me. I tried averting my eyes to ease my discomfort, but I could feel his eyes burning holes into me.

The doors to the dining room opened and my parents strode in for the lunch they ordered. I furrowed my brows at their mismatched color schemes of clothing and wondered to myself if they were still having issues because of me. They were usually so much more in sync.

My mother rushed over to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she planted kisses all over my face and I cringed. "My baby," she said, squeezing the life out of me. "I'm so happy you're okay."

I smiled, hugging her back. "Thanks, mom."

She crouched down on the floor beside me and I raised a brow as she lowered her voice. "If you need me to bust you out of here just say the word, sweetie." I laughed softly, shaking my head at how dramatic she was being and she grinned up at me, moving her platinum blonde hair over her shoulders. "I'm serious, Queenie." She squeezed my hand. "I'm staying at a villa nearby alone. As soon as you don't feel comfortable here, you come to me, okay?"

"Okay, mom," I whispered. She kissed my head one more time before walking to her seat next to my father and Julius. My father sent a nod in greeting my way, and I looked away from him. I died, and all I got from him was a nod? Crazy.

"Hey," I heard someone whisper from my side as they pulled up a chair. I looked to my side and saw Sebastian grin down at me as he took a seat. "You look pretty," he said.

"Thank you."

"Where is the girl?" My mother spoke up, pointing to the empty seat where Mia usually sat. "I wanted to speak to her."

"She fled after Syn attacked her," Xyla muttered, staring down at her nails.

"Attacked her?" Sebastian questioned. I didn't know if he knew what Mia did, but I hoped he didn't. I wouldn't hear the end of his over-protectiveness and endless prayers for my safety from my parents.

"Mhmm," Xyla hummed.

"Do you know where she went?" Genesis asked her.

"Nope," Xyla answered quickly. Too quickly. I knew her well enough to know when she was lying after years of watching her pull the wool over our parent's eyes. I knew every trick in her book. She would distract herself with anything else, avoiding eye contact as she tried to answer questions with three or fewer words. Just like she was doing right now.

My eye caught Felix's once again and I frowned, looking down at the table. I wanted to disappear when he looked at me, and it wasn't in a good way. He made me incredibly uncomfortable.

"I'll find her," Syn spoke as he walked into the room. The discomfort that had filled my body dissipated as he entered and his eyes landed on mine, making me look down and try my best to conceal a smile. He chose to sit down in the chair directly across from Sebastian and me, but he said nothing to us.

"Finally you're here," Julius muttered, sipping on his glass of wine.

"What are we going to do about this mystery woman?" My father asked.

"We throw her the party." Syn shrugged. "My father thinks he knows who it is and he said the best thing we can do is just follow her instructions."

"Can't he just tell us so we can track her down and take her in?" Julius asked.

"No. He wants to be sure before everyone is worried. So he will confirm if it's her at the party," he said slowly.

I couldn't focus on the conversation at all. The chatter fell into the background and I was absorbed in the way Syn's long fingers tapped on the table. The way his black hair would move when he slightly turned. The way his green eyes would swirl when someone said something stupid.

I thought back to early this morning and I began to smile as I remembered every kiss, every touch, every-

I was slammed back into reality when Sebastian tapped on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he grinned down at me.
"They're talking to you," he said.

I looked around and saw everyone's eyes on me and I grimaced. "Sorry, can you repeat what you asked?"

"Do you have any idea who the woman is? Did you see her when she helped you?" Julius asked.

"No. I don't know who she is and I didn't see her face." I admitted.

Julius nodded, pushing his chair away from the table and standing up. "I suppose I have a party to plan. Did she give us any rules to follow?" He asked excitedly. Julius seemed to like decorating and having parties and I wondered why. It didn't seem like much fun to me. Maybe being King was just super boring.

"Just a guest list," Syn mumbled, his voice oozing the boredom we all seemed to be feeling. "Everyone except for Jess and Sebastian, are on the list."

"I am thankful for that," Sebastian muttered and I laughed at his words. I turned back to Syn to see his eyes on me and I looked away from him before I became hot and bothered again.

"Okay, I can work with that," Julius said. He took out his phone and quickly walked out of the room, leaving us all at the table.

"Well, I believe we will be taking our leave as well," My father said, making Xyla and I nodded in response.

My mother came to me and kissed me on my head. "I love you."

"Love you too," I responded with a small smile. They walked out of the dining room, turning towards the exit and I looked around.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Sebastian spoke. We all turned to him as he leaned toward the floor and picked something up. He lifted a gift bag from the floor and passed it to me. "Happy early birthday, Queen. I might be here for your birthday, so I figured I'd give it to you now."

"Thank you so much!" I said excitedly as I took the gift and gave him a small hug.

"No problem," he said. I peeked into the bag to see what it was, but he stopped me. "Open it later."

I gave him a smile and nodded as I placed the bag on the floor by my side. I looked in Syn's direction to see his arms crossed and him looking down at the table.

"When is your birthday?" Jess asked.

"In three days."

Genesis gasped. "That's the day of the charity date auction," she said. "I completely understand if you can't attend-"

"It's fine," I assured her. "I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway."

"We totally need to do something after," Gen whispered, tapping her chin. "Ahh! This is so exciting!"

"Charity date...?" Sebastian looked between us in confusion.

"...date auction," Jess finished for him. "A line of women... and eligible bachelors bid for the opportunity to go on a date with them," she explained. "You should come. Maybe you can save Queen from the possible creeps that may want to take her out."

"I'll try to be there," he said, "with my checkbook."

He and Jess laughed at his words and I tensed, my eyes slowly looking towards Syn who still had no reaction to it. His eyes were still glued to the fabric in front of him.

"Queen, how old are you turning?" Gen asked.

"Twenty-one."

"That's all we need to know." She and Jess looked at one another, communicating something in their eyes before standing up and locking arms. "See you all later."

"I should uhh...get going too," Sebastian said as he glanced at his watch. "I have a flight to catch, but I'll try to be back in a day or two. If I don't make it, have a good birthday, Queen. I'll call you when I land." He planted a kiss on the corner of my lips, catching me off guard and making my eyes widen. My head snapped up to him and he shot me a wink and turned to leave the room.

I knew Syn's eyes weren't on the fabric after that. I could feel his eyes shooting daggers at me, making me not dare raise my eyes to look at him. If I couldn't see him, he simply wasn't there. Except, Syn wasn't the type of person whose presence could be so easily ignored.

I heard his chair screech as it moved backward, and in my peripheral, I could see him walk around the table until he was directly in front of me. His hand outstretched in front of me and I took a deep breath.

"Come. Now."