Forbidden Heat novel Chapter 165

**Back to the Present**

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I came to. When I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the sight of a very dark sky with some stars up above. Shifting my eyes to the side, I realized that I was sleeping on Zak’s lap, and we were still on the rooftop.

“You’re awake?” Zak asked as he smiled charmingly down at me. However, I could see worry in his golden eyes.

I knew Zak didn’t bring me here for no good reason. I should ask him now before something else gets in the way…like my attack just now…

“So…what is it that you really wanted to tell me?” I asked a little abruptly.

Zak’s eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of my question before narrowing in seriousness.

“…I’m going to marry Annie,” Zak replied simply.

I see, so this was why Zak had been acting weird all day. Well, it’s not like I didn’t see that coming but hearing it straight from Zak sort of hurts. I take that back, unexpectedly, it really hurts. I felt my face and my lips go numb with shock as I slowly processed his words.

“I see…congratulations…I guess…” I replied while trying my best to keep the mood light.

I really wanted to ask him what that meant for us but above all, I was concerned for Zak. Much more than I was worried about myself or the future of our relationship. Deep down, both of us knew from way back that whatever relationship we had has absolutely no future. We accepted that fact…but we couldn’t move on from each other.

“Worried about us?” Zak asked without beating around the bush.

“Less than I’m worried about you,” I replied honestly.

“What’s with the stressful face? You think you’ll have a problem sleeping around with a married man?” Zak teased as he laughed so carefreely.

From his casual comments, Zak has no intention of ending our relationship…unless I wanted it.

“No…” I replied bluntly.

“Good. Then we don’t have any problems on our hands,” Zak replied cheerfully.

“Why have you decided to marry her?” I asked.

“Because I’m a selfish man who’s willing to put an innocent woman through a hell of a marriage for the sake of keeping the things precious to him safe…literally,” Zak replied as he looked up at the night sky.

“Is Annie ok with it?” I asked with concern. Annie, she seemed like such a nice girl.

“Yup. The girl is sharper than you think. She asked me about you…in a roundabout way,” Zak said calmly.

“And?” I asked in shock. I didn’t think Annie would suspect anything about us.

“I gave her a good executive summary of us,” Zak said proudly as if what he did was crystal-clear the right choice.

I sighed and face-palmed myself. So, Annie knows about Zak and me…

“And…she still wants to marry you?” I asked incredulously.

“Yup. Apparently, she calls it love,” Zak said with a shrug. Clearly, he couldn’t care less.

“She loves you, huh?” I mumbled as if to myself.

I could understand girls falling in love with Zak for his looks. It’s not a rare occurrence but I wasn’t sure if that was the case for Annie.

“She probably thinks I’ll fall in love with her eventually if we get married and all that but...” Zak said skeptically before trailing off.

Zak stroked my hair fondly and we both knew what he wanted to say even without him completing his sentence. There were many questions that I wanted to ask Zak but no matter how much silence passed between us as we stared up at the night sky together, I couldn’t bring myself to voice a single word.

“Natalia. Promise me one thing,” Zak said seriously.

“Ok…” I replied softly. I felt uncomfortable at how serious Zak sounded. It was unlike him and I was unused to it.

“No matter what truth you may unveil, you have to stay strong and remember that I’m always here for you. Ok?” Zak said as he looked down at my face, still resting on his lap.

His head blocked out the light and I couldn’t make out the expression on his face very well, but I got the feeling that Zak knew what was coming.

“…Ok,” I replied as I nodded firmly.

“I’ll take you home. It’s getting really late…” Zak said before his hand stopped stroking my hair.

When his hand left my head, I felt an emptiness deep inside like I had somehow lost a part of myself.

…

During our drive back home, I was somehow able to get a hold of myself. By the time we arrived back on the family estate, my crying had completely stopped. Zak held my hand all the way although we shared few words.

“This car is nice. It’s new, isn’t it?” I asked cheerily as I tried to make conversation to lighten the mood.

“Yea…the other one started smelling like Annie’s perfume, so I got my butler to sell it. So, yea, here’s the new one…” Zak replied monotonously with his full attention on the road.

I pursed my lips into a thin line as I rolled my eyes upwards. Rich boys and how they solve their first-world problems.

“…why do you dislike her so much?” I asked curiously.

“…I don’t,” Zak replied flatly. His face emotionless.

“Says the guy who just got rid of one of his favorite cars because it started smelling like her…” I retorted.

“I don’t dislike Annie, but I hate the idea of anyone…or anything replacing you,” Zak explained flawlessly. His tone left no room for further discussions or jokes.

I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just bit my lower lip and kept silence as I stared out of the car window. We were silent the rest of the way; however, Zak never let go of my hand.

After parking the car, Zak quickly came over to my side to open the door for me and support me out of the car.

“Thank you, Zak,” I said as I put on a smile for him to ease his worry.

“I love you, Natalia. Hang in there…I’ll be in touch. You can call me anytime…and I only live next door,” Zak said reassuringly before kissing my cheek softly.

“I’ll try…” I whispered.

Zak walked me to my house and to my surprise, Reiner was standing in front of the door as if he had been waiting for my return all this time. One look at me and Reiner probably knew that something was off because a frown immediately formed in between his brows.

“I’m back…” I said to Reiner softly as I handed him my bag.

--To be continued…