"I only want to marry you, I don't expect you to love me… care about me… or even trust me." A moment of silence followed. She quietly added… "That's all I expect from you, Alaric."
The words should have relieved him.
Instead… they left behind a strange hollow feeling inside Alaric's chest because for some reason… he suddenly disliked how little she expected from him.
The silence that followed Elena's words felt suffocating.
Elena stood in front of him calmly despite the exhaustion written all over her face.
'I only want to marry you,' she had said.
She doesn't want love… Nor trust or loyalty.
Just marriage.
And the more Alaric thought about it, the angrier he became.
Because suddenly everything started making sense again.
Victor Vaughn's games and the pressure from his own grandfather, Edward Williams.
The public image is on stake. The social media games. The careful performance.
It was never about him. He had simply been useful to their plans.
