Six years ago

It was the day of our engagement. Aaron's father has booked a lake house for the ceremony and we reached there last night. The function was for close relatives only so it wasn't much crowded.

The place was magnificent. Right in front of the entrance, there was a large hall which could accommodate almost fifty people easily. At one side, a spiral staircase led to the second floor where most of the rooms were located. I was given the room adjoining Aaron and I spent the last night watching YouTube videos, even though Mon had advised me to go into his room and try to talk.

In all honesty, there was no common point of conversation between us.

Early in the morning, I took a bath and changed into a yellow sundress, curling my hair to give them volume. Spraying on my favorite cologne, I slipped into my sandals and made my way out of the room.

Everyone was still sleeping but I couldn't, not when I knew I was going to get engaged tonight to the man I didn't like. This was a disaster but I needed to do that, for myself and for my family.

Leaving the house, I reached the lake where the water was glistening under the sunlight. I bent down and picked up a stone, casting it into the water, sending ripples in ever widening circles until they disappeared.

I sat there till 8 am, thinking about my uncertain future. When the sun started to burn my sensitive skin, I stood up to leave but a horn of a car forced me to turn towards the source of the voice.

It was a sleek and shiny car that stopped right in front of the lake house and a masculine figure stepped out of it. My eyes fixated on his hands that were taking the classy sunglasses off, revealing the gorgeous pair of eyes.

I stepped closer to have a clearer look, my eyes trailing over his silky brown hair, the light green eyes, his slightly crooked nose, plump red lips and finally at the blue button up shirt that fitted his muscular torso perfectly.

Wow.

After putting the sunglasses in his black jeans pocket, he ran his fingers through his hair and looked around, stopping when his eyes reached me. Running fingers through my hair to make them look presentable, I walked towards him with a friendly smile on my face.

"Bella!" he said as soon as I reached him. His voice was so silky and deep that it made me blush without saying anything else.

"No. My name is Clara." I pulled my hand out for a shake.

"Bella means Beautiful in Italian." he grinned wide, showing his perfect set of teeth and I swooned internally. My blush seemed to deepen inexplicably under his gaze.

Smiling, I asked, "And you're?"

"Ryan. Ryan Vincent." he said and I immediately backed away.

"Vincent? Are you Aaron's relative?" I asked, assessing him from head to toe. He didn't look like he belonged to him in any way.

"Yeah. I'm his younger brother." he smiled, stepping closer to me. "And you must be the lucky bride-to-be." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice and even though it was really subtle, I picked it up.

Of course. The luckiest.

"Ryan!" Aaron's voice startled me and I felt like I was caught stealing a candy. Sweatdrops appeared on my forehead and I immediately recreated the distance between us. Both brother fist bumped each other with a chuckle after which they turned their eyes to me. "Have yoy met Clara?"

"Yes bro. She's stunning." Ryan said, his eyes fixated on my face and my cheeks once again warmed up. Aaron didn't seem to notice as he was too busy thinking God knows whatsoever.

"Clara let me show you the lake." Aaron said in an excited voice when Ryan bade his goodbye.

I stressed my brain for an excuse because I didn't want to sit with him and listen to him speak about boring things for hours. "I have a headache Aaron. I'll join you later." I excused myself but not before passing a smile to Ryan who was still staring at me.

As I stepped towards the staircase, I heard footsteps behind me. Turning around, I found Ryan walking behind me. "Your room must be the one beside Aaron." I said and waited for him to catch up.

His jaw was really sharp, as if it could slice a piece of granite. I was eyeing with appraisal when he once again caught me. "Careful Clara! It's the other Vincent brother you should be staring at." he teased and I flushed in embarrassment.

Well, there is not much to look at.

"Don't act smart. I was just thinking why haven't I seen you before." I smirked, running my fingers through the prefect curls.

"I had already moved out because I just started college this year." he said, entering into his room. I decided to refuse initially but I guess I wanted to know more about him.

"Which college?" I asked, sitting on the chair by the cupboard as he flopped on the bed. A servant placed his luggage on the floor and left.

"Winston School of Dramatic Art." he told me and I tried my best to look into his eyes without blushing.

Damn! Why am I blushing so hard?

"Wow. You're majoring in drama." I exclaimed loudly. "It would have been my second choice after fashion designing. I'm the head of drama society of my school."

"You have the looks for acting." he said and I pretended that his words didn't affect me but honestly, my heart just started beating harder than usual.

"You aren't so bad yourself." I commented in a confident voice though my insides were shaking with nervousness. There was no such boy in my school with looks of a Greek God and a great personality. He was perfect, in every way.

"Why thank you milady!" he said and both of us erupted in chuckles.

I didn't know how long we talked and how I shifted from the chair to his bed, sitting beside him and hearing him talk about his college adventures. It wasn't until Aaron himself came to call us when I noticed that it was almost 12 and we both missed breakfast.

________________________