The Royal Contract

"Ah!" She whimpered as she opened her eyes. At first, she was confused but then eventually realized what was happening.

She woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat. She just had a bad dream. It had been a while since she last had a disturbing vision. It seemed so realistic that she almost believed it.

She quickly searched the dim room for confirmation that she was only dreaming. When her eyes landed on the figure next to her, sleeping peacefully, she knew that none of what she saw was true.

"Alex." She tried to call his name, but he was in a deep slumber that he did not even stir. 

She stared at him with his eyes closed tight. She wondered if he was dreaming at the very moment. She did witness him toss and turn on his sleep, mumbling some incoherent words before.

Unlike her, he did not shout or wake up at all. He just continued to do so until he calmed down eventually after a few minutes and went back to deep slumber.

"Alex?" She tried again when he did not respond on her first try. This time, he moved and turned in her direction, but still, he did not open his eyes. "Are you awake?"

She suddenly felt the need to discuss something with him. Her recent dream kept creeping in the forefront of her mind as if telling her to do something about it.

She only remembered a portion of the dream. It was about the recent misunderstanding that they had. However, in her dream, she was not so lucky. 

He did not want to hear her explanation. She believed he was about to leave her because he thought she lied to him. He accused her of fooling him.

"Alex." She said, making her voice louder. "Wake up." More determined this time to get his attention.

He finally mumbled something, but it was too low for her to understand. He finally opened his eyes and focused them on hers. "Dani?" His eyes and tone were full of questions as he searched her face for answers.

"Hi! I'm so sorry for waking you up." She muttered under her breath as her courage swiftly left her. She quickly turned away from him, thinking about what she had to say to him.

She began to doubt her plan to discuss what was on her mind. It suddenly felt that it was a terrible idea. But she knew that she had to get it out of her chest. If not now, she would still have to do it soon, eventually.

"Hey, what is it?" He was suddenly awake, seeing the distress in her facial expression. He wondered what was wrong with her. "Did you have another dream?"

It was the only thing he could think of that might be keeping her still awake. But he usually woke up when she had nightmares before. Maybe he was too tired that he did not notice.

He pulled himself in a sitting position, putting his full attention on her. He observed her sudden silence as if she was in deep thought. Her eyes kept moving, but her lips remained sealed.

"Yes." She responded first, but she quickly retracted her answer, "No." Then, she realized her answer was confusing. "I meant I had a dream, but it had nothing to do with why I woke you up."

She knew what she wanted to tell him was not about her dream but something else entirely. Although, it did have some similarities in a way.

She knew she had to look away because his eyes seemed to be penetrating in her soul. She was suddenly feeling guilty when she had done nothing wrong. It did not make sense to her.

"Then, what is it?" He asked, curious about what was running in her mind. It appeared that it was more severe than he initially thought, judging from her action.

He waited for her to answer him, but she only stared at him for a few more minutes before she turned away again. She would seem to be internally debating if she should tell him her troubling thoughts.

"I don't know why I feel so affected by what happened last night. Maybe it had something to do with my dream or our recent disagreement." She paused for a second and inhaled a large chunk of air.

She could see that Alex already had questions in his eyes, but he still kept waiting patiently with her narration while she tried to revise her statement in her mind.

"Edward saw me last night at the restaurant with Gerald." She began, but she stopped again as she rephrased how she planned to tell him about what Edward witnessed.

She knew that if words would go out about that scene, it should come from her first. Alex should hear it from her and not from someone else like Edward.

"So, what about it?" He wanted to tell her that he already knew and had pictures as proof, as well. But he began to think that he wanted to see if she would confide that incident with him.

For the first time, he wanted proof of her loyalty and love. He would not inform her that he already knew because he wanted to see if she would confess.

"Well, Edward saw Gerald hugging me." She quickly said as if she was ripping off a bandage. "But I swore to you that it did not mean a thing." Then, she continued.

She watched him for a reaction, but all she saw was him, thinking. She wondered if her fiance was able to express his anger through confrontation. 

But she did see him beat some men in a pulp. So, she was aware that Alex was more than capable of far more dangerous stunts. But his silence and calm expression were making her more nervous.

"Then, what did it mean?" It was the answer that bothered him since he talked with his cousin. 

Not that he wanted to doubt her feelings for him, but he wished to understand the reason behind it. He could not let the idea that she was hugging someone else festered in his mind, not when there was a logical explanation for it.

"He was only giving me some comfort because of the recent development on our case. I think we are about to lose our case." She finally told him why she felt so down earlier.

She repeated to him the event during her dinner with Gerald and Mr. Bradshaw. She told him about the change in the offer and then how the opposing team had manipulated the law in their favor.

"I don't want you to think that I was having an affair with him. Well, I am afraid that Edward might twist what he saw and add his version on it." She explained to him, hoping that he would believe her story.

He moved closer to her, pulling her in his arms. As he promised to himself last night before sleep took over him, he would listen to her explanation and believe her.

"Edward already beat you to it. He already told me about it last night when he called. He even sent me a picture." He took his phone from the nightstand and showed it to her.

"But one thing, I assure you. I wanted to hear what you have to say first before deciding what to do with it. I am glad that you shared it with me." Alex admitted to her, not wanting to add up to the secrets they were still keeping from each other unconsciously.

"I know that my conscience would not stop bothering me until I tell you that incident. Gerad did hug me, but I did not reciprocate his action." She continued to explain.. "Besides, it was just a friendly hug."