Chapter 6

Eleanor's POV

Before dinner, we sat in the garden.

Soft lamplight fell across his profile.

The scene overlapped with so many moments from the past.

I had once wished so desperately for time to stop while we sat together like this. But now, all I wanted was to get away from here and never come back.

I looked at Cassian.

I let myself ask one last question.

"Cassian."

He turned to me, his eyes full of tenderness so convincing it could fool anyone.

"What is it?"

"After five years of marriage, have you ever regretted being with me?"

He looked surprised for a moment.

Then smiled softly.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Of course not."

I gently pushed him away, my expression calm. "If you have, you can tell me. I don't want to hold you back, and I don't want to settle."

But he didn't hesitate for even a second. The same perfunctory smile touched his lips again.

"Eleanor, how could I possibly regret it?"

"You're my wife."

"I have never regretted choosing you."

I looked into his eyes, a wave of nausea rising from somewhere deep inside.

A person could say the gentlest things.

The same person could commit the cruelest acts at the same time.

I asked again.

"What if I can never get pregnant?"

Cassian frowned. "Why would you bring that up?"

"If I can't give you an heir."

"If I can't fulfill the Elder Council's expectations."

"Then wouldn't it make sense to end this marriage?"

"I won't fight you."

Cassian looked at me, a hint of exasperation in his eyes.

"Eleanor, stop this."

"Why are you thinking about this again?"

"I love you. I'm not letting go."

I looked at him.

And finally understood.

That was the most terrifying part of this marriage.

His refusal to let me go, his sweet affection, were all designed to wear me down and trap me in this marriage so he and that vampire could go on with their happy life.

But he didn't know.

The woman he had kept captive. The Eleanor who had believed him for five years.

Tonight, she would die here.

Just then, Cassian's phone rang.

He glanced down at the screen.

For a split second, something shifted in his expression.

I didn't need to see the screen to know who it was.

I had seen that same subtle change too many times over the past five years.

It was only recently that I learned the person who had always called on important days, pulling him away with work emergencies, was no assistant.

On the other end was the other woman, his childhood sweetheart and the mother of his secret son.

Cassian stood up and walked away to take the call.

A few minutes later, he came back.

His face wore an apologetic look.

"Eleanor."

"Something came up. I need to handle it."

"I might have to step out."

I looked at him.

I watched him stand in front of me and give that familiar excuse one more time.

But this time, I didn't feel sad.

Because I had known all along.

He would leave.

I just wanted to see it with my own eyes, one last time.

To watch him choose to walk away on our last day together.

That way, I could "die" here without a shred of guilt.

Everything was his own choice. He had no one else to blame.

I glanced at the dinner on the table.

Then I looked at the gift I had never gotten to give him.

Then I looked up and smiled at him.

"Okay. Go ahead."

Cassian seemed caught off guard. He had noticed my mood these past few days, and he hadn't expected me to let him go so easily on our anniversary, to once again miss an important dinner together.

"You're not upset?"

I shook my head, smiling as I watched him turn, put on his coat, and open the door.

"Next time, I'll definitely stay with you the whole day. I promise."

He furrowed his brow slightly and put on that troubled expression again, delivering the same lie I was sick of hearing.

So I stood where I was, ignoring his open arms. I wouldn't give him even a final embrace.

"Cassian."

"Goodbye."

He stopped for an instant.

Maybe he sensed something wrong beneath that ordinary farewell.

Maybe, for the first time, he noticed that my eyes no longer held the adoration he was used to.

But in the end, he turned and left.

He didn't look back.

I stood by the window, watching his car pull away from the estate.

I watched the man I had loved for five years drive toward another woman.

I kept watching until the headlights vanished into the darkness.

The dinner on the table had gone cold.

The gift I had chosen with such care would never be opened.

"I'm going to bed. Don't let anyone disturb me."

I gave the servants one last instruction, went back to the bedroom, and locked the door.

Then I picked up a lighter and set the curtains on fire.

The flames slowly consumed the curtains.

Consumed the bed where we had spent countless nights together. Consumed this room.

And consumed the Eleanor who had once believed in love.

I slipped the ring off my ring finger.

I took one last look at its smooth, blank inner band, thinking of the other ring with "Love you forever" engraved inside.

I tossed it into the flames. It caught the light for just an instant, then disappeared without a trace.

I changed my clothes and climbed out through the bathroom window.

I followed the planned route to the back gate.

Behind me, I could hear the frantic footsteps and shouts of the servants. They couldn't break through the door I had already locked, and could only watch helplessly as my bedroom turned to ash.

The car pulled slowly away from the estate.

The mountain road was long.

I looked back at the distant glow of the fire.

That had been my home.

And my prison.

My father handed me the new identity documents and simply placed a hand on my shoulder, saying nothing.

A strange name, a place I had never been, and a future without Cassian.

The tears I had held back for so long finally fell.

But soon, I was laughing through them, unable to stop.

Because this wasn't a loss.

This was a rebirth.

Starting today.

I was no longer Cassian's wife.

For the rest of my life, I would never see him again.

The car kept moving forward.

The firelight behind me gradually faded.

I closed my eyes.

For the first time, the future truly belonged to me.