Chapter Fifty-five Estera Roberts’ POV (Ten Years Before)

Evan leaned forward to press a kiss on my forehead and then he dipped his head by the side of my face and murmured, "Remember back in Paris when you refused to let me tattoo your name on my back?" I giggled. His fingers, interlaced with mine, tightened against mine, and his thumb gently stroked my skin.
"Yes--" I whispered back.
"Then I bought you a promise ring instead, asking if you would love to be my wife--"
"And I said I want nothing more--" I said in a barely audible voice.
"Yes, my darling. This is me trying again to pledge myself to you. In my bid to fulfill that promise I made to you, to be yours forever. Now I want to do that again in front of God and man--"
"Evan--" I called in an emotional whisper, making him free my hands and I reached into his suit to wrap my arms around his middle, pressing my face to his chest. His heart thudded under my ear.
"I promise when we do this for real--When we do it again, it's going to be the talk of the country," he whispered into my hair. I nodded.
He drew back from me and cupped my face. His image was blurry in my sight now. My eyes were filled with tears. But I could see him smiling down at me and his fingers stroked my face. I could hear the pastor reciting the usual words I have seen said in movies at weddings but it didn’t quite make any meaning to me. What mattered was that Evan was doing this special ceremony to make his intentions super clear and I was blown by it. And when he prompted, "Will you be mine, Estera — forever?" I said yes. I asked the same of him, and he pledged himself to me in a way that made tears well in my eyes continually. I was overwhelmed; it was quite an emotional experience for me.
Evan Sterling, the love of my life, was pledging himself to me, promising to love and cherish me for the rest of his life. The woman in the black suit gave me a polite smile and offered me a pen to append my signature in a couple of papers neatly lined in the folder she held and I quickly scribbled my name and signed them without bothering to see what it was about.
I figured It was some pre-wedding pledges Evan had talked the pastor into creating for us. They evidently seemed to know each other.
"Do you at least have rings, Evan?" the pastor asked in a teasing tone.
"Oh!" Evan said and everyone laughed as he fished out two rings in his suit. He slipped one in mine and gave me one to slip in his finger. I noticed it was different from the regular wedding bands and thought he was pretty committed to this pledge thing. I smiled up at him and I was certain he could see the adoration for him in my eyes. I love him so much and I said it to him.
He pulled me close, lifting me up into his arms. I clung to him.
"Thank you, sir, I will never forget this," Evan said to the older man over my shoulder.
"It's okay, Evan, you have always been a good boy. You deserve all the happiness you can get. Congratulations. And to you too, young lady. You two take care of yourselves," the man said and I nodded.
Evan carried me all the way back to the car. The parking lot was still empty and he placed me on the car bonnet, framing my face, he kissed me with an impassioned urgency that got me breathless.
"Can we please spend today at the Condo? I want to spend the entire weekend with you. Don’t say no.”
"Yes,” I breathed. I swear if he had asked me to give him one of my kidneys at that very moment, I would have said yes too.

The week after that weekend was quite an eventful one. I was jittery waiting for the reply to my applications to Harvard, and Stanford School of medicine.
The waiting was driving me nuts, even the preparation for my graduation was not enough to distract me from my anxiety. It meant so much to me to get back on track for me and my parents. Aunt Sophia said she was so proud of me and the fact that Evan was hundred per cent supportive of my future plans made her like him the more.
But a week before my graduation, my aunt Sophia suffered a mild heart attack and an ambulance was called to take her to the hospital.
The Sterling’s office handling the servant quarters notified Charlotte Sterling about sending a temporary staff. Evan got wind of it and called me to ask if I wouldn't mind playing kitchen assistant for a few days till he returned from a business trip. I told him, okay, thinking I could use a distraction anyway. He came to get me later one evening and drove me to the main house, ushering me inside and up the stairs to his mother's private quarters.
It was the first time I would be entering the house and the show of wealth was intimidating.
My heart raced in an unnatural way with the reminder of just how wealthy Evan was. He gave me a warm smile when we got to an elegantly decorated living room on the third floor, asking me to hold on, he hurried down a corridor and shortly after I saw him, literally dragging a beautiful, tall older woman towards the living room. I couldn't help chuckling at the way he urged her forward with the woman protesting in a laughing voice.
"Evan what has gotten into-- oh!" she said and came to a sudden halt when she saw me. I knew then where Evan got his beautiful eyes from. His mother's blue eyes were strikingly beautiful. And right from the French-styled, knotted blonde hair to her slippers-clad feet, she exuded class and elegance.
"Good evening, ma’am," I said in a small voice.
"Good evening, darling," she said and although the southern accent was not pronounced in her diction it was evident in the slow drawl in her enunciation.
"Oh, my, you beautiful child. Look at you!" she said, closing the distance between us to cup my face and then she took my hands.
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Evan said, coming to wrap his arms around his mother's shoulders. The older woman rolled her eyes, patting him on the forearm.
"Why do you want her assisting in the kitchen though?"
"Just so you can help keep an eye on her while I'm away and her aunt is at the hospital…"
"But Evan…"
"Mommy, please," Evan said and I chuckled, enjoying the way he manipulated his mother so easily and it was quite easy to see they were quite close.
"Fine! But I hope you will not regret this… you know how your father…"
"Mom--" Evan said, cutting the woman short. His voice had a cold edge to it now.
His mother sighed and nodded, directing her attention to me, she said, "Okay, Estera, you are welcome to stay in the chalet and pretend-work in the kitchen like your boyfriend demands. I will ask the office to put your Aunt's temporary replacement in the servants' quarters," she said.
"Thank you, ma’am," I said.
"Thank you. Thank you," Evan said, planting kisses all over the side of her face. His mother chuckled.
"You are such a fraud, Evan Sterling!" Charlotte Sterling said.