Melody
I could find no other reasonable explanation for both of us loving the same man.
Derek was my mate but when he rejected me, he became bonded with Estrella. I probably felt the bond again because Estrella and I shared the same blood.
Estrella loved Dorian but he loves me.... Or could he have loved her too?
It all seems like a puzzle and solving it seems like a difficult task. I don't know what to think anymore.
"It's settled then," Derek finally spoke after staying quiet the whole time. We all turned our attention to him, hoping to hear what he had the say.
"...Since Estrella loves Dorian and they've been together all their lives, I think she deserves him and you....." he raised his head and met my gaze. "....You should be with me. We can raise our kids together."
Really? That's his solution to all this. I shook my head and stepped away from him.
Derek's delusions just keep increasing by the day.
Why would he even think that I'd go back to him after all he's done to me?
Yes. I've agreed to forgive him and give him a second chance in the kids' lives, that doesn't imply that I want him as my lover or mate.
"That's a terrible idea," I stated in my opposition. "Dorian is my mate and Estrella is yours.
There's no changing that."
Derek wasn't pleased with my reply. He was about to speak when Dorian finally stepped out of his shock.
"Your dream of having Melody will always remain a dream because she belongs only to me."
Dorian had a strange aura around him as he spoke. He wouldn't give room for negotiation or any further discussion. He spoke in a tone of finality.
"I love you," he paused and turned to Estrella. "....only as a brother should." He took her hands and squeezed them, locking their gazes. "All I feel for you is brotherly love, nothing more."
"But ..." Estrella tried to speak.
"You were a sweet child," Dorian didn't stop, making her stop talking instead. "Anyone in their right mind would love a child like you."
"The love you showed me was a different kind. It made me....." Estrella looked down at her feet. She couldn't complete what she was about to say.
"I didn't mean to lead you to think that way. I just wanted to shower you with as much love as I could just as my father instructed."
Estrella raised her head from her feet, surprise filling her gaze.
"Why would our father ask you to shower me with love when he was there to do it?"
Oh No.
This has come to the point where I didn't want it to. I knew that Estrella would find out about her true identity, but I wanted it to happen when the atmosphere was good.
Right now, things are heated. It wouldn't be nice if she learned her identity this way. Finding out that you've lived a lie all your life is already a painful experience. I have first-class experience in it and I do not want Estrella to go through such; not at this moment.
Her heart is in pain as it is. I don't want to crush her with this bitter reality.
"Because...." Dorian began.
I signalled for him to stop but he refused to comply. He was ready to let it all out.
"I'm tired of keeping secrets." He said in response to my signal, making Estrella look towards me.
Derek was so stuck on my response earlier that he refused to speak since then.
"The earlier she knows, the sooner she understands everything."
"Understand what?" Estrella looked from Dorian to me. "What are you two talking about?"
"The secret of your birth," Dorian went straight to the point.
"My birth?" Estrella frowned. "What secret is connected to my birth? And why have you brought my birth into the present discussion?"
Dorian gave a silent sign. He wanted to be the one to talk to her.
Well, it seems like a good idea, because Estrella will only listen to the one she's known all her life. I'm just a stranger whom she just met, she doesn't seem to even like me. So, how do I expect her to believe whatever I say?
"Because it's connected. Your birth is connected to Melody and she is connected to me." Dorian replied.
I sighed in submission and crossed my hands across my chest as I listened.
Estrella looked lost. She was waiting for Dorian to continue.
"I am not your brother," Dorian held her gaze. "My father took you from......"
Dorian narrated the entire story to Estrella who looked terrible. She looked like she would pass out at any time.
"You don't...you don't mean that," She stuttered.
"It's true, Estrella, I ...."
"Please, stay out of this...." Estrella raised her hand to stop me before I could complete the explanation. "I have no enmity with you. I bear no grudges with you even though you snatched the two most important people in my life; my love and my mate." She eyed both men as she spoke. "So, I don't understand why you'd set Dorian up to this." She shook her head. "How could you make him say all that?"
Goodness!
She thinks that I made Dorian say all that. She thinks that all this is a conspiracy. One that was set up by me because I was trying to get rid of her as a contender.
Really? Is that what she thinks of me?
"It's true, Estrella, believe it," Derek said, making Estrella turn to him.
"Do you know about this too or are you saying this just to take her side?"
"No, it's true. I don't like Dorian enough to want to conspire with him."
"So...." Estrella sat down and huffed in surprise. "You are not my brother?" She demanded.
"I'm not," Dorian replied with a nod.
"If we're not related, then that's a good opportunity to be together."