Kaya had almost started to question reality at this point. Unless, how would a girl like her, who had nothing until this morning, not even a place to sleep and food, now was entering into a luxurious apartment complex in a luxurious sports car? It felt like something out of a fairytale.
But she never believed in Fairytales. People with money had always made things bad for her.
"You live here?" Kaya asked quietly as they exited the car and the valet of the building took the keys to park the car while they walked toward the elevator. The whole way, none of them had talked. Mostly because Kaya didn't feel like talking, and Sylvian didn't start any conversations.
"Yes," Sylvian answered briefly, and the silence stretched between them again as they got into the elevator and he pushed the penthouse button.
"Who else knows I'm moving in with you?" Kaya asked, softly clutching her small sling bag with all the belongings she managed to save so far.
"Just me and my assistant. We are not ready for the world and my family to know it yet," Sylvian replied, slightly glancing at her.
"Yeah, you are right, we need to know everything about each other, so they can't poke holes in our stories," Kaya said, nodding seriously. "Or that we don't get into situations like we did in front of your Grandma."
"Knowing everything might be a stretch, but I get what you mean," Sylvian said, looking away.
"Well, ok, I get it, we are still strangers," Kaya didn't push it and went quiet.
A moment passed, and Sylvian looked at her back, slightly surprised.
"You are upset about something," Sylvian said, more like a statement than a question.
"What? Why?" Kaya asked, looking at the elevator buttons. They were only halfway up by now. Her stomach was in a knot with nervousness.
"Is it about you moving in with me?" Sylvian asked, crossing his arms. "I have already explained how beneficial it is for both of us. I assure you again that I will not touch when we are alone, and this arrangement doesn't cha–"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, Sylvian," Kaya said, cutting him off, a bit irritated. "You already said all of it. That's the only reason I agreed. That and the fact that you had it in the contract," she sighed. "It's just weird for me, ok?"
Sylvian stared at Kaya for a moment, and nodded slightly.
"Any sort of change can be uncomfortable for people." Sylvian paused, holding Kaya's gaze for a moment. "I understand."
Kaya's stomach flipped at Sylvian's piercing gaze. There was something different about his look at that moment.
"What?" Kaya asked sharply.
"I just realized something about you," Sylvian said mysteriously.
"What did you realize?" Kaya asked, surprised.
The elevator door opened at that moment, and Sylvian quickly walked out, and Kaya followed him. There was only one door on that floor. Sylvian punched in a code, and the door opened.
"The code is 040546. Grandma's birthday. Memorise it," Sylvian said and stepped in.
Kaya looked around the living room, and the spacious, stylish penthouse was exactly like the ones she had only seen in commercials. However, before she could say anything, Sylvian strode deeper into his house and called after him. "Follow me."
After looking at the clean, pristine tiled floor and the clean carpet, Kaya decided to take off her shoe at the entrance so as not to dirty up the floor, before following Sylvian into the house barefoot.
The living room opened into an open space with a kitchen and dining table on one side, and the other side had stairs and a small hallway with two doors.
"That's the kitchen. There is a pantry on that corner," Sylvian pointed towards the kitchen area before turning to the other side. "That's my home office and a spare guest bedroom. There are two more rooms upstairs. The biggest one is mine. You can take the other one."
Sylvian moved and started climbing the stairs. Kaya was still looking around, so she almost ran to follow and ran straight into Sylvian's back in the middle of the stairs.
Kaya stumbled back with a surprised yelp, but Sylvian's arms quickly shot out, and turning, he caught her sharply. Her hands quickly grabbed Sylvian's suit jacket. Kaya's eyes widened, and she froze as Sylvian pulled her up towards himself. Her heart hammered as he stared at her, standing still like that.
"Kaya, do I need to put a clause in our contract about you not hurting yourself? Because at this point, it's like you want to get hurt at every corner," Sylvian said, still holding on to her.
"Sorry!" Kaya said, flushing red in embarrassment.
"New rule. No running on the stairs," Sylvian smiled, almost amused as he let go of her and turned around to start climbing the stairs again. "I had Oliver put some clothes in the closet in your size. But since I'm not sure about your style, you can go shopping with him anytime you want. He's very helpful."
"You didn't need to –" Kaya began, but Sylvian stopped and turned to her as they reached the second-floor landing.
"Kaya, listen to me very carefully. This is not a charity. You are here in this penthouse, and everything expensive you are going to wear and use from now on is here because it's part of the deal that we signed. You need to be presented as my fiancée and someone I love. Do you think my Grandma would believe this lie if you are homeless and working while sick? Do you think my family would believe you – the world would believe you if you wear an old, simple dress at our engagement party?" Sylvian didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. His calm voice was clear and straight to the point. He hardly minced words, exactly what Kaya needed to snap out of her self-pity.
"No," Kaya answered, meeting his eyes.
"Exactly, so don't forget that it's not a charity or just goodness out of my heart. Yes, I'm solving your problems with money, but I'm demanding something far more valuable from you. I'm making you live an expensive lie, and I want you to do it perfectly," Sylvian crossed his arms over his chest. "So am I clear?"
"Yeah, very," Kaya said, nodding. "I am just not used to all of this yet. But I will try."
"Good," Sylvian said before turning towards the second-floor room doors. Two doors stood on the opposite side of the hallway. Sylvian gestured towards the room door on the right. "This one is yours. Get settled and freshen up; we will talk at dinner. I have ordered simple pasta and garlic bread for dinner, is that ok?"
"Huh? Yeah, more than ok," Kaya said, a bit distracted as her eyes caught the glass door at the end of the hallway.
"That's the terrace. Perks of the penthouse. I barely go there, but you can if you want," Sylvian said, following Kaya's gaze. "That's all for now. Find me if you need anything."
And without another word, he walked to the other room door – his bedroom and disappeared inside.
Kaya stood there in the hallway for a moment, watching the glass door leading to the open terrace before her. Taking a deep breath, she entered her new bedroom.
The room was spacious, but to say it looked like a hotel room would be an understatement. Grey completely bare walls – except for one clock and a random painting on the wall, white bedsheets, and pillows. Now that she thought about it, Sylvian's entire penthouse looked like a hotel or a model house for a magazine. In fact, a hotel's decor might have more personality than his penthouse.
But then again, it's been so long since Kaya had ever lived in a normal home, let alone somewhere so luxurious, so what did she know about how rich people lived?
Kaya slowly dropped her bag on the floor before quietly walking over to what she assumed was the bathroom, but it turned out to be a walk-in closet, and the door beside it was the bathroom. Kaya groaned in frustration as she felt ridiculous standing there. Half of the closet was filled with designer clothes, and she didn't even know if any of them would fit her. Her stomach tightened in anxiety just thinking about the amount that must have gone into buying so many designer clothes. With a sigh, she rubbed her temple and decided to just go into the bathroom and wash her face. Maybe that would calm her down. Unfortunately, the bathroom made things worse. Not only was it bigger than all of the apartments she had stayed in over the last few years, but it was also filled with a bunch of handles and switches. Why were they there? Kaya had no idea.
The last straw was when she couldn't find the way to turn on the sink tap. She blinked repeatedly. She couldn't breathe. She stood there holding the wall, trying to breathe as tears threatened in her eyes. How was she supposed to live in this house? Live with – among rich people when she can't figure out how to turn on a simple tap?
"What the hell is wrong with me?" She asked herself as her breathing started to get shallow.