Chapter 752: Dilemma
Kael closed his eyes on the airplane, trying to escape the relentless torment of his thoughts. The images from his past and the agonizing memories of the previous night seemed to swirl around him in an unending loop. Among all the people Dora could be linked with, why did it have to be Rafael? The realization gnawed at him. Things between him and Rafe had barely come to an understanding as the two of them had buried the past without ever talking about it, just to come to a truch. And now this.
The truth was he did trust Dora. He’d learned his lesson the hard way after believing Kit’s lies about her and then being suspicious of her over Cai. He had come to realize that Dora was genuine, her loyalty unshakeable. That she was too honourable to cheat him or even lie to him. And yet if she had been involved in the rumours with anyone other than Rafe, he might have been able to overlook it or deal with it much more easily.
But it was Rafael. Rafe was someone who was used to getting things his way. As the crown prince, everyone had to heed to his whims, even his own younger brother. And yet, even as their parents had tried to maintain a balance, things had not always worked out, which had lead to the two of them becoming too competitive. While Rafael was the favoured one, Kael had proven himself to be better in everything. While Rafael worked hard to learn things, things came to his younger brother easily, sometimes without even havign to try.
Slowly, they’d started to compete over everything from academics to sports to even women as they entered teenage. It was the last that had almost damaged their relationship forever.
The fact that they’d fallen for the same woman, a gold digger at that had almost destroyed them. She’d played them against each other using their rivalry for her own gains. And the worst part was neither of them had really ’loved’ her. But that was a matter of the past. From there on, he’s started to steer clear of any women that Rafe might have an interest in and vice versa.. until the matter of Master’s daughter had stood between them.
That thought took him back all those years and now images of the past started to overlap with images from the news that he had seen, seemingly sucking him into a sickening vortex.
Kael’s thoughts were pulled back to the present when the airplane lurched suddenly, jolting him from his spiraling memories. His eyes snapped open as the turbulence shook the plane, a stark reminder of how fragile his mental state had become.
Determined to escape the relentless swirl of his thoughts, Kael pulled out his cell phone. He needed something to distract him, something that could anchor him back to the present. Scrolling through his messages, he found the ones Dora had sent from the island last night, messages that hadn’t been delivered until this morning when he’d almost lost himself in despair.
Yes. The truth was that he’d been unable to sleep last night with the thoughts of Rafe with Dora torturing him and Rafe trying to seduce her. He might trust Dora but his own brother was another matter...
The first message was a picture of her pouting at the camera and a caption, "I’m marooned here on an island and yet, you are not here. We should be together."