My Bodyguard Keeps My Secrets And My Underwear Chapter 04

My Bodyguard Keeps My Secrets And My Underwear Chapter 04

Something ached behind my ribs, sharp and impossible to name.

Did he really hate me that much?

He couldn’t even look at me.

It hadn’t always been like this. When my dad first brought him home from foster care, Declan was seven — scrawny, silent, eyes full of nothing but fight.

I was thrilled.

Finally, someone my age.

I followed him around constantly, dragged him into every game, and wouldn’t leave him alone. And slowly, he thawed. He started smiling. Started talking.

If anyone so much as made me frown, Declan put them on the ground.

He used to say, “Harper, I’m gonna protect you forever.”

Then high school happened, and he shut me out.

Started calling me Miss.

Said it wasn’t appropriate for someone like him to be that familiar with someone like me.

The colder he got, the worse I became. I couldn’t help it. Something ugly in me wanted to punish him for pulling away — if he wouldn’t stay close to me because he wanted to, then I’d make sure he couldn’t ignore me at all.

Now, with the comments spelling it all out for me, I finally understood.

I wasn’t some complicated person.

I was just the villainess — cruel, selfish, and too stupid to see it.

And Declan would end up falling for Hazel.

The female lead always got everything.

Maybe it was spite — or maybe I just couldn’t stand losing twice in one night — but instead of leaving, I crossed my arms, leaned against his doorframe, and stared at the back of his head.

A heavy silence stretched between us.

“Do you actually like Hazel? If you do, I won’t stand in your way.”

His pen stopped.

He stood, turned, and faced me — and there was nothing in his eyes.

Nothing at all.

“Is that all I am to you, Miss? Something you can just use up and throw away?”

I blinked, thrown.

“I didn’t mean —”

His jaw tightened. His fists clenched at his sides, every muscle locked under white-knuckled control.

“Fine.” The word landed like a blade. “If that’s what you want, Miss, I’ll do it. I’ll keep Hazel away from Preston. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I’m done for the night. Please leave.”

He stepped into my space, his hand heavy and burning on my shoulder as he guided me out, and the door shut in my face before I could say another word.

I trudged back to my room, and the comments were already waiting.

[The villain is literally rage-shopping online and he’s browsing COLLARS AND CHAINS. Girl, you are SO cooked.]

[I saw — they’re PINK. Her favorite color. This man is deranged and in love.]

[WAKE UP GIRL. Your soulmate is RIGHT THERE.]

…

I yanked the covers over my head and shut my eyes.

The comments were full of it.

Every single one of them was lying.

Declan would never like me.

Nothing in my life was going the way it was supposed to.

I’d fallen for Preston the first time I saw him, and that was where everything went wrong.

I learned makeup for him. Planned outfits for him. Built a whole skincare routine for him. Did everything I could to make sure he noticed me.

I swallowed my pride — me, the girl who’d never chased anyone — and asked him out more times than I could count.

He shot me down every single time.

Now I finally understood why.

Preston was always meant for Hazel.

And I wasn’t meant for anyone.

Just the villainess — written to lose.

So I buried it — all of it.

The crush on Preston, the rivalry with Hazel, every petty impulse I used to indulge.

All I wanted now was to survive, keep my family safe, and make something useful out of my life.

I threw myself into my classes and started learning the ropes of our family empire.