“You’ll give your consent, and you will also say I do.”
I laughed again, hysterical and disbelieving. “You have completely lost your mind if that is what you believe.”
“If you cannot be reasoned with,” he said evenly, “you will be forced to understand, my love.”
Something in his voice shifts and turned cold and strategic, as if he had already rehearsed this conversation in his mind a hundred times. I could see it wasn’t passion, but it was calculation instead.
“Why?” I demanded. “Why are you doing this to me?”
My question was met with silence as if he didn’t even have the words to explain this cruelty.
“Is this about my family?”
He stayed silent again.
“You said something about leverage,” I pressed. “Is that what this is? Some sick revenge tactic?”
His jaw flexed.
“Answer me!”
He stepped close without touching me, but still remained close enough to dominate the space.
“Because if you are not my wife,” he said quietly, “you will become someone else’s hostage, and I will not see you become that.”
The words landed like ice water, but still didn’t make much sense.
“You’re lying. I come from a powerful family, and no one can treat me as leverage. Not you, nor anyone else. So tell me the real reason you are doing all of this, because it certainly cannot be leverage.”
“I am not lying, Elle. I am simply preventing escalation.”
“You are the one who is escalating things without any reasoning or explanation!”
“I am protecting you!”
“You’re insane,” I whispered. “How the fuck is any of this protection? Marrying me out of force is not protection, it is a crime against my autonomy, and I will not stand here and become a part of it!”
“Possibly, yes. It is. But it is still happening no matter how much you try to resist it or run away.”
“I would rather die.”
His eyes sharpened.
“I know.”
I stepped towards the desk, grabbing the edge of the open box which displayed the dress, and shoved it away out of pure, unconcealed anger, making the silk spill to the floor.
“I will not wear this. I will burn it if I have to, but I will die before wearing this.”
“You will.”
“No.”
“Elle.”
“Do not say my name from your mouth!” A part of me wanted to lash out and hit him. It took everything in me to stay in control. Instead, I ignored him and turned around, moving towards the door again. As soon as I reached it, I yanked it open, but he was faster. His hand closed around my wrist and pulled me back before I could even take two steps into the hall.
“Let me go!”
