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A sliver of pain developed in her chest before her entire heart simply shattered into a myriad of pieces.
"No," she repeated. "He can't marry someone else. It's a lie."
"Noelle," Cisco took a deep breath. "I have it on good authority that the wedding is happening. It's not a lie."
"No," she continued to shake her head. "He wouldn't… He didn't love anyone," she muttered. They'd talked about crushes and first loves before and she was sure he'd never been in love before.
"You have no way of knowing. You only knew an online version of him. He could have lied to you," Cisco explained, but Noelle wasn't hearing anymore.
All she could see was the picture accompanying the article where both Rafaelo and Assisi had been photographed on an outing.
Her hand tightened around the phone.
That woman… His fiancé… She was beautiful. So beautiful it hurt to look at her.
Blonde hair, dark skin and the lightest eyes Noelle had ever seen. She was the perfect counterpart to Blue's stunning looks.
"No," she whispered like a broken record, yet the pain was too much—too raw. She could only stare at them and find herself drowning in the magnitude of her feelings.
"You need to let it go," Cisco sighed. "It's done. You need to take care of yourself now."
"You mean I need to play along with your plans," Noelle spat out, giving him a deadly glare. "It's only about that—playing by your rules so your business succeeds. But what about me? What about my life and what I want? What aboutmyfeelings Cisco?"
"Do you think I wanted this?" his voice rang out, so loud and crisp and so damn frightening Noelle straightened her spine and stopped moving. "Do you think this is what I would have fucking chosen? For my barely legal sister to be given away to a man three times her age?"
"Then why do it?" Noelle asked in a small voice. "Why do it at all?"
"Because I have no choice," he closed his eyes, his fists clenched. "There is no other option but to fulfill this goddamn marriage contract."
Noelle stared at her brother, seeing him display more emotion than ever before and wondering what exactly was going on. Based on what she was witnessing, she was certain there were many things she was not privy to—things both Cisco and Yuyu were hiding from her.
"Just… Marry the man to fulfill the contract and Yuyu and I will find a way to get you out of it. Just for a time," he took a deep breath. "I know it's unfair to ask this of you, but there's no other option, Noelle."
Why was it that the only option was forherto be sacrificed? When had she been number one for anyone in her life? Always an after-thought; always the one who only mattered as a scapegoat.
For the last few years, she would have sworn she'd found someone who cared for her in Blue—who maybe saw her differently.
Yet staring at the article once more, she had to admit that maybe it had all been in her head. Otherwise how could he marry another when it had only been months since their missed encounter? How could he want another when they'd bared their souls to one another.
Was she so foolish, so delusional that she'd seen signs where there had been none?
Maybe she was…
She didn't speak as they headed back home.
Alone in her room, Noelle simply picked up her used copy of The Plumed Serpent—the one she'd bought at a flea market months prior. She hugged it to her chest for a moment, reliving all the memories that surrounded the context of it, before she opened it again, losing herself in its pages.
It was hard of her to admit to herself that for the first time in forever…she had nothing.
Nothing to look forward to in life and no one to keep her tethered to the ground.
She had absolutely nothing but herself.
And by God… She wouldn't go down without a fight.
Tears coursed down her cheeks as she tried to read the words through misted lashes.
People might see her as expandable—as someone so unimportant it didn't matter if she lived or died as long as she served a purpose—but she didn't see herself that way.
