Hellbound Heart

"There is no one who can stop this wedding from happening today either, unless one of us backs out." Sebastian added before Izabelle's relieved breath could even escape her lips. The great tension that was about to leave her because of his earlier remark had suddenly been pushed back into her the moment he uttered that latest sentence of his. There he goes again…

Izabelle could not help but feel like she is a balloon he was playing around with, filling her with air, lifting her up to the heights before depleting her the very next second, sending her plummeting into the dumps. Was he trying to tell her that he could still back out right now? Her overthinking and pessimistic mind kicked into high gear and tendrils of fear unfurled secretly within her. What if he really suddenly wanted to back out? He would not treat her like this, right? There was no reason for him to suddenly back out…

In the midst of her chaotic thoughts, Elle felt herself being yanked and collided against a hard and sturdy body – Sebastian's of course – as the car suddenly made a sharp turn. She winced and had goosebumps travelling up her skin as she heard the car's tires screech piercingly.

Elle's eyes turned wide as she clutched her fists tightly on his shirt. Then in the next second, the car was speeding up just fine again that Elle could not quite tell if they've been involved and closely avoided a car accident or something.

His scent, his warmth, and the feel of solid muscles just under his suit distracted her senses so badly that she had a hard time pulling herself up to look at him to ask what just happened.

But as soon as she lifted her head, she heard something that had her insides freezing again. "Hello? Seb? Did something happen?" It was a pleasant voice belonging to a woman coming from his phone that was near her ear.

He removed his arm that was wrapped around her shoulders and placed the phone to his other ear. "Give me a moment, I'll call you back." He said on the phone, waited for a moment before uttering an "Mn" sound before ending the call.

When did he even manage to call someone? It seemed as though she was too preoccupied with her thoughts again a moment ago that she did not even notice!

"Are you okay?" he asked, his gaze searching her body as if to check for any visible injuries.

"I'm… I'm fine." she replied, finally pulling away from him. "Thank you. What just happened?"

"Just a reckless driver on the road. Lucas avoided it, thus the sudden sharp turn."

Elle blinked. "Oh… I see…" she looked outside the window, but she could not see any cars around anymore. It also finally came to her notice how fast their car was moving at the moment. The speed was… it was just too fast! How could a crown prince's driver drive this fast?! Does this country not have any protocol on driving a royalty?

When she turned back to look at Sebastian, she saw him busy on his phone, tapping swiftly on his keypad, seemingly texting someone. Elle's thoughts were immediately pulled off from the driving issue back to the woman's voice she had heard a while ago. Who was that woman? Was he texting her right now?

The stunning woman from yesterday came to her mind, followed by the thought of him backing out of today's wedding.

Her fingers moved, itching to clutch onto her white elegant dress. But she held back making any sort of reaction until the car finally reached the city hall and slowed down to a stop.

"Wait here, Izabelle." Sebastian told her, his gaze lingering on her face for longer than necessary before he stepped out of the car and closed the door. The sound somehow felt full of finality in Elle's ears, and she could not help from gulping in nervousness.

She watched him walk inside the city hall until he disappeared from her view. Elle let out a long deep breath. They were finally here at the City Hall and Sebastian did not say anything about backing out. Everything should be alright now. But her heartbeat was racing too fast. She could not relax nor calm down no matter how much she tried.

Taking another deep breath and holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling out slowly, Elle shifted on her seat when some papers fell on her feet. She had noticed a brown folder sitting on her seat when she entered the car earlier on and had moved it securely to her side.

Elle quickly bent to pick up the papers which appeared to be official documents, when she saw it was actually divorce papers. Their divorce papers to be exact. Her entire being stilled for a few breaths before she continued picking up the rest of the documents. The other papers contained an agreement. Their agreement.

For an immeasurable amount of time, Elle just stared at it blindly until Sebastian returned to the car. He walked around the car and opened the door on her side for her. Staring down at her, Sebastian regarded her with that seemingly scrutinizing gaze again.

Bracing his hands against the car, he asked, "Still no change of mind?"

Their gazes held. Both of them seemingly trying to read each other's thoughts. He offered her his hand. "This is your last chance to back out, Izabelle. Once you…" Sebastian trailed off when Elle placed a folder in his hand.

"As promised, I've already signed on both the agreement and the divorce papers, Prince Sebastian." she said in a serious tone, holding his gaze firmly. No way was she backing out of this. She was counting of this marriage to escape her fate from being tied with Brandon Haze.

While Elle turned to gather her clutch, Sebastian shot a peculiar glance at Lucas, causing the red-haired man to frantically shake his head, as if denying something.

"I will never back out, Prince Sebastian. So if you're waiting for me to do so… I'm sorry to disappoint you." she told him stiffly as she lifted her hand for him to take it. "I'm keeping my word, so I hope you will keep yours too."

Sebastian chuckled under his breath, a look of wonder and disbelief gleamed across his eyes for a moment.

He accepted her hand. "You really just don't cease to amaze me, princess. Now I can't help but wonder how you would be once you learn the worst parts of me." He whispered that last line as he bent close, placing his hand above her head to protect her in case she bumped her head against the car while getting out.

"If and when that happens, please be rest assured, I will keep every single word I said." Was all she replied.

"We shall see when that time comes. We shall see, Izabelle."

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