“Just think of it as doing me a favor if you will,” Lucien said with a warm smile.
“Fine. I’ll go along with whatever you see fit,” I replied in defeat.
“Great. It’s settled then. Reiner, can you give us a moment alone?” Lucien requested with a smile.
“Sure. I’ll be waiting just outside,” Reiner replied to Lucien before turning to talk to me.
“Ok…” I replied.
…
“Are you happy here?” Lucien asked the moment that the door closed behind Reiner, and we were alone.
“Yes, I’m very happy here,” I replied without hesitation.
“That’s good. You’ll be safe here too,” Lucien said with a sigh of relief.
“Yes…” I replied softly.
“Let me say what I want to say. This will probably sound very bad for your husband to hear so I had him step outside for a bit,” Lucien said before a thoughtful look crossed his face.
“Ok…” I said softly as I waited for Lucien to compose his words.
“Money isn’t everything, but it can and usually plays a role in the balance of power between two people in a relationship. Although I believe that Reiner loves and will take care of you, we never know what may happen in the future. I will not take any risks of putting you in a disadvantaged position where you have lower negotiating power because you don’t or you have less money than your husband,” Lucien said sternly as he kept his beautiful emerald eyes on me.
Negotiating power?
“I don’ think…that I would need something like that with Reiner…” I replied softly but honestly.
“Better safe than sorry. There may be things that you want to do that requires money that he doesn’t approve of. What would you do then if you have no money? Money is freedom, Natalia,” Lucien continued on with his lecture.
I understood him but I wasn’t sure if I agreed with him. At least, in my case with Reiner, I couldn’t imagine a scenario where we wouldn’t be able to talk things out. We’ve been doing our best to make compromises so far…
Fighting this isn’t going to help anyone. Lucien won’t back down from this since his mind seemed to be so made up. Maybe if one day Lucien had children, I can pass this inheritance on to them…
“I understand. I’ll go along with it if that is what you want,” I said in complete defeat.
“Excellent. One more thing. This is a present to you from Zak,” Lucien said as he slid over a small and neatly wrapped box onto the table.
My eyes widened in surprise. Zak sent me a present?
Slowly and carefully, I lifted up the small box into my hands as if it was the most fragile item ever. The box was light as if it didn’t contain much inside, but it made my chest and my heart feel so heavy.
Zak…
“Thank you…very much…” I said before a single tear rolled down my cheek.
“You ended up crying…” Lucien said with a shake of his head but there was a small smile on his lips.
Slowly, Lucien reached over and wiped the tear way with the pad of his thumb. That gesture only made me cry some more.
…
When I exited the study room, Reiner was waiting for me just like he promised that he would. Without saying anything to me, he offered me his hand and we walked back to our bedroom in silence. I spent the short walk to our room thinking of what I wanted to say to Reiner.
“I’m sorry…” I apologized softly when we sat down together on the bed.
“What for?” Reiner asked blankly.
“In the end, I couldn’t turn him down…” I replied with a small sigh.
“I didn’t think that you should turn him down. It’s up to you. I hate to admit it but Lucien’s right. It would be safer for you to have your own wealth. Well, that doesn’t mean that you’ll need to use it if you don’t feel like it. Just as I said, I’ll take care of you regardless,” Reiner said lightly to reassure me.
I debated with myself if I wanted to share with Reiner what Lucien told me about negotiating power and the power balance in a relationship but then I quickly decided against it. Either Reiner already knows that, or it would just make our relationship sound like some business deal, and I would hate that the most.
There was one thing that I wasn’t sure if I should share with Reiner but if I didn’t tell him would this mean that I’ll be keeping a secret from my husband? I still didn’t know what was inside the small box that Zak gave me. It was so small that I had been holding it in my hand and perhaps Reiner hasn’t noticed its existence. What if the present is something that no one else is supposed to see?
“Are you, ok? You should get some sleep, you look tired…” Reiner suggested with a smile.
“Yeah…” I murmured.
In the end, I never got the chance to bring up that present from Zak before we turned off the lights and went straight to sleep.
…
The next morning, I woke up early to send Lucien off. King had arranged for a private plane to send Lucien back. Reiner was there with me to meet Lucien one last time before he departed from the island. After living with Lucien for such a long time, it was strange and extremely sad for me to be separated from him. There were many things that I haven’t had a chance to ask Lucien. More than anything, I wondered how he is doing. Things must be very busy for him at work like always and his relationship with Angela must be very complicated still.
Lack of time was just an excuse that I provided myself with for not asking those questions that I had burning on my mind. The truth was that I was scared to ask him. When I first moved to this island, I had a hard time settling in and letting go of my old life and everything associated to it. I found out that thinking about my old life only made me sick with worry for the people that I had to leave behind. It was then that I realized with much disappointment that my life on this island with Reiner could not truly coexist with my old life.
–To be continued…