Chosen as the Cursed Alpha's Seventh Bride

Emilia’s POV

I must have lost my mind.

That was the only explanation. Why else would I be standing here, letting Sebastian Simons drag me around?

I blame the swimming pool. And the beer. And his stupid face.

When I walked out of the bathroom, still fuming about the recording, he was already dressed and waiting by the door. "Hurry up and freshen up. I’ll take you out to buy some clothes."

I snorted. "No thanks. My clothes are already dry."

"Are you that sloppy? On a hot day like this, you’re not going to change? Even if they’re dry, the sweat’s still in the fabric."

I thought for a moment. Then I deliberately softened my voice. "If you delete that recording, I’ll do whatever you say today."

Sebastian smirked. I could practically see him savoring my humiliation. He pulled out his phone and deleted the file right in front of me.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Give me five minutes."

I pointed at the sofa and disappeared into the bathroom.

When I came out, we walked out of the room together. And who did we bump into? Caleb Lawrist. Of course. He had that same beauty from last night draped over his arm, and he greeted me with a greasy grin.

"Miss Taylor, good morning."

"Morning."

"You two must have had too much exercise last night, right? Why does the Seventh Madame look so weak?"

He winked at Sebastian. Sebastian nodded seriously. "Yeah, a little bit."

I pinched his arm so hard I was sure I drew blood. He gave me a purposeful smile and said, "We need to run some errands. Tell Marcus and Jeremy we’ll head back to Silverlake City at three this afternoon."

"Okay."

Caleb smiled and nodded, then turned to leave. But not before throwing one last tease at me. "You should exercise more. This beauty next to me? She’s really good at it."

I was speechless.

As we walked out of the hotel, I turned to Sebastian. "How do you know rich playboys like Caleb, Marcus, and Jeremy?"

He raised an eyebrow. "How much better am I compared to them in your eyes?"

I was speechless again. Although Sebastian wasn’t as lecherous as they were, in other aspects, he wasn’t exactly a saint either.

We drove around the city for a while. Lakewood City’s economy wasn’t as prosperous as Silverlake City, but there were plenty of big shopping malls. Still, Sebastian turned his nose up at every single one.

"We’re just looking for something casual," I said, growing impatient. "We’re not attending a grand ceremony. Why do you have to be so picky?"

"How can we pick casually?" he argued. "We can’t do that—not with people, and not with clothes. You have to choose what you’re truly satisfied with. Especially for women. Otherwise, half your life is ruined."

"Anyone can say that. But not everyone walks the talk." I crossed my arms. "I can see that from how frequently you get married and divorced. If you really chose the one you were satisfied with, you wouldn’t have remarried that many times."

His jaw tightened. "That’s different."

"Different how?"

"I wanted to retaliate against women." His voice was flat. "I wanted to torture every woman who loved and pursued vanity. I wanted them to know that they couldn’t have love and money at the same time."

I was surprised. This was the first time Sebastian had said something that deep to me.

"Did Abigail leave because of that?" I asked carefully.

"No."

I was even more surprised. I had expected him to snap at me or ignore me. But he answered. Just one word, but still—he answered.

"Then why?" I pressed, despite my better judgment. "Mother said she betrayed you. But I’ve always thought that couldn’t be the truth. If she really loved you, she wouldn’t have fallen for someone else so fast."

"That’s not necessarily true." He glanced at me, his green eyes shadowed. "I thought there were other reasons too. But the truth is what it is. She left with someone I considered my brother. And she hasn’t come back for three years."

I saw a glint of sadness in his eyes. I didn’t dare ask any more questions. I wasn’t about to dig up his scars just to satisfy my own curiosity.

"By the way," I said, wisely shifting the topic, "there’s a shopping mall I just remembered. You might like it."

He adjusted his mood. "Where?"

"There’s a mall called New World Mall, about two hundred meters south of North Road. It’s different from other malls—the layout, the clothes they sell..."

"Oh? Let’s go have a look." He paused. "But... where exactly is North Road?"

"Reverse first. I’ll guide you."

He reversed the car as I instructed and drove toward North Road. I directed him now and then. Twenty minutes later, we finally arrived.

As he got out of the car, he asked, "Do you come to Lakewood City often?"

"No."

"Then why are you so familiar with the roads here?"

"I was here two days ago. I accompanied a friend to buy clothes for her honeymoon."

He didn’t ask further. He seemed to believe me.

As soon as we walked into New World Mall, I knew Sebastian wouldn’t hate it. The entrance was decorated with seven dwarfs in strange costumes. They bowed with funny expressions and said in unison, "Welcome."

Sebastian snorted. "What is this? A fairy tale world?"

I lifted my chin proudly. "Don’t look down on those seven dwarfs. They rarely bow to guests. Unless it’s fate."

"Fate?" He looked at me, amused.

"You can step aside. This is fate between me and them."

"What kind of fate?"

I paused for dramatic effect. "I look like a princess, so..."

"Pfft—"

He burst out laughing. "So they see you as their Snow White?"

"More or less."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." He shook his head. "Your conceit never ceases to amaze me."

I ignored him and led the way to the elevator. "See you on the fifth floor. The clothes are there."

I turned to walk away.

A hand grabbed my wrist. "Hey. Where are you going?"