Se connecterI once believed that saving my vampire fiancé from the hunters was the best thing I had ever done. At that banquet, I drew the hunters away from him. A bullet struck my shoulder. But when I woke in the hospital, everyone said my cousin Sophia Ashford was the one who had saved him. Cassian Vale wanted to repay her by breaking off our engagement and marrying her instead. I tried to explain, again and again, but no one believed me. They all assumed I was lying to keep my place as his vampire bride. The dispute went before the Elder Council, but Cassian's plan was rejected because Sophia lacked a pure human noble bloodline. In the end, I married Cassian after all. Not because he believed me, but because of my bloodline. Because I could bear him a powerful half-blood child. Soon after, Sophia was married off to the North, where she fell ill and died. From that day on, Cassian was convinced that my jealousy had killed her. After our wedding, hunters attacked again. In the chaos, I threw myself in front of a bullet meant for him and lost my baby when I was eight months pregnant. Still, he regarded me with nothing but coldness. In the months before I died, wasting away from illness, he never came to see me. Not once. I opened my eyes again. I was back on the day Sophia claimed the credit for saving his life. This time, I did not explain. I simply took off the ring. "Cassian, I agree to end the engagement."
Voir plusElena's POVAfter Cassian left the North, he never came back.Some time later, word arrived from the Central Territories.The truth about the hunter attack had been made public.Sophia admitted she had falsely claimed credit for saving Cassian's life. I had not fled that night. I had deliberately drawn the hunters away.Her marriage to Cassian was dissolved, and my father sent her back to a minor branch of the Ashford family.Cassian took responsibility for passing judgment without investigating.The Elder Council was displeased.His reputation suffered.I read the letter through, folded it, and set it on the table.The news didn't leave me numb.But whatever I felt was so faint I could barely catch it.It was like reading about something that had once involved me but had drifted very far away.Snow began falling outside the window again.The sky in the North was nearly always overcast, and when the snow came, the entire castle grew especially quiet.I walked to the window and stood th
Elena's POVThe next day, I woke early.The dream from the night before hadn't truly pulled me back, but I slept lightly.Every time I closed my eyes, a phantom ache lingered in my abdomen, as if something had been torn open.I sat on the edge of the bed for a while, waiting for my breathing to even out before I got up to wash.At breakfast, I had little appetite.Rowan glanced at me a few times but said nothing. He only had Maren replace the cup of tea that had gone cold in front of me.That was when Mr. Hale came in."My lady, the guest from yesterday has returned."My hand stilled.He didn't need to say the name. I already knew.A wave of exhaustion swept over me almost at once.I had said everything I needed to say yesterday.I didn't know why Cassian had come back.Perhaps he still believed I was being stubborn, that sooner or later I would go back with him.The thought killed what little appetite I had left.I shook my head."I'll go see him."Better to end it once and for all.I
Elena's POVAfter arriving in the North, I started coughing from time to time.At first, it was only a tickle in my throat when I woke in the morning. I didn't think much of it.The cold was severe here, and the fire in my room burned nearly all night. I assumed I simply hadn't adjusted.Later, I coughed a few times during breakfast.Rowan looked up at me.I said it was just the heavy smell from the fireplace.He didn't press. Instead, he told Mr. Hale to switch the firewood in my room.I started to say that wasn't necessary.Rowan looked at me, and a flicker of warmth and gentle exasperation crossed his usually impassive face."You sleep in that room every night. There's no reason to keep being uncomfortable over something that can be fixed."Elena, you don't have to be afraid of troubling people."With that, he went back to reading.I held my teacup and sat very still.I had rarely spoken up about things like this before.If a banquet wore me out, a good night's sleep would fix it.I
Elena's POVThe North was even colder than I had imagined.On my third day in the Blackthorne domain, snow fell again outside the window.When I woke, a thin layer of frost coated the glass, but the fireplace inside the room was blazing.My maid, Maren Cole, came in with hot water and, seeing me still standing by the window in my dressing gown, immediately brought me a shawl."My lady, you'll catch a cold."I took it and draped it over my shoulders."Thank you."The wedding was already over.From the moment I set foot in the Blackthorne household, I became Rowan's wife.There was no lavish ceremony of the kind I had once daydreamed about, and none of the excitement of finally marrying the man I loved.I simply stood in the chapel, listened to the vows, and placed my hand in the hand of a man I barely knew.When the ceremony ended, Rowan released my hand almost at once.That night, he didn't come to my room.He only sent his steward, Owen Hale, to ask if I was tired from the journey and






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