“Yes.”
Her laugh was brittle, disbelieving. “Even at the masquerade? Was that a part of your sick plan as well?”
“No, not at the masquerade. I didn’t know who you were that night,” I continued evenly. “Not your last name. Not your family. Not your connection.”
“Convenient.”
“It’s the truth.”
“When did you find out?”
“After.”
“How?”
“My brother, Kliment, summoned me and gave me an order to dismantle the Chernykhs. He wants your empire to fall so Ilana can realize her mistake and come back as if breaking your family would somehow restore ours.”
A muscle in her cheek twitched.
“And where,” she asked coldly, “do I factor into this delusion?”
“You are the leverage Kliment wants.” The words landed exactly as intended, and her eyes flash.
“Leverage?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
A slow, lethal smile curved her lips. “Care to explain?”
“Kliment wanted pressure. Something personal. Something close enough to hurt, and he chose you.”
She stared at me for a long moment before laughing softly. The laughter wasn’t amused but rather bitter instead.
“Of course he did.”
“I didn’t know it was you when he first mentioned your name.”
“Stop saying that like it absolves you of the crime you just committed.”
“It doesn’t.”
Before I could realize what was happening, she moved towards me, her hand moving before I even saw it coming. The slap was harder this time, and my head turned slightly with theforce of it, but I didn’t stop her and didn’t retaliate either. I let her hit me instead.
“You arrogant, manipulative, asshole,” Her voice cracked with fury. “You read about my life on paper and decided you had the right to rewrite it? Your brother told you he wanted me as leverage, and you decided to get up and force me to marry you?”
“I decided you weren’t going to be used, and the only way of stopping that from happening was marrying you. I could have come to you, revealed my real identity, and explained the situation before marrying you as well, but I knew it wouldn’t change your decision. The only way of making this happen was force, so I had no choice.”
“Youusedme by marrying me under coercion.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You could have warned me,” she said, her voice trembling now, not with weakness, but with raw emotion. “You could have come to me like a human being.”
“And say what?” I asked calmly. “‘Hello, Elisse Chernykh, my brother wants to weaponize you, would you like to collaborate?’”
She shoved my chest.
“You don’t get to make that choice for me!”
