4

Elena's POV

When I got home, my father was sitting in the living room waiting for me.

"How is Cassian?"

"He's awake."

I bent to take off my shoes and tried to keep my voice ordinary.

"The doctors say there's nothing seriously wrong."

My father was quiet for a moment, then asked me straight out, "He's got his memory back?"

My hands stopped. I didn't know how to answer.

"Someone came asking me about it this afternoon."

He sighed.

"News like that always travels fast, Elena. Don't try to keep it from me."

I said nothing.

He looked at me and said more gently, "They say he's the vampire prince's heir."

"He is."

"And they say Cassian is divorcing you to honor a betrothal that was arranged years ago."

My hand tightened on the bag.

"His memory only just came back. He hasn't thought it through."

My father didn't answer.

I continued, "Once he's calmer, we'll talk again."

He looked at me in silence for a long while.

"Elena."

I knew what he wanted to say.

Our family had come down in the world, and no one knew better than we did how fast people turn.

A friend who was inseparable from you yesterday can betray you today without a second thought, simply because your standing has slipped and your money has shrunk.

But I believed Cassian was not that kind of person.

And he ought to know that my father and I would never chase after power, let alone covet his money and his rank.

We had come through the hardest years together.

We had faced empty pockets and a leaking roof, yet we laughed and bickered our way through every problem without ever letting go of each other's hand.

I never minded that he had nothing and came from nowhere, and he had never minded that my family was poor. We had lived a simple, happy life together.

I refused to believe that we could share the hard times and not the good ones.

He simply hadn't thought it through. Perhaps getting all his memories back at once had left him rattled.

"Dad, I'm tired today."

I lowered my head.

"Can it wait until tomorrow?"

I didn't want to hear it.

And I couldn't have taken it in.

Cassian and I had been together five years.

Right up until the accident, he was still the husband who loved me that much.

I could not accept that his memory coming back meant he could suddenly divorce me and go marry someone else.

That night I turned over and over in bed and finally sent Cassian a message.

"Does the wound still hurt? Is it any better?"

It was marked as read almost immediately.

I stared at the screen for a long time.

No reply.

I sent another one.

"Is the hospital bed too hard? Can you sleep on it?"

Read, and no answer.

I waited until nearly midnight and the phone never lit up.

The first thing I did when I woke was open the chat.

Nothing.

Every message read.

Not one answered.

I sat on the edge of the bed scrolling back through our old messages again and again.

Cassian never used to make me wait like that.

Even if I only asked offhand what he was doing, he would answer.

Now the thread held nothing but my own messages.

It hurt badly, and I still couldn't stop comforting myself.

At least he hadn't deleted me.

He had to be busy, I told myself.

Five years away from the vampire world, and his memory back all at once. His family must have a mountain of things waiting for him.

On the fifth day I went to the hospital.

I didn't tell Cassian first.

When I reached his floor the bodyguards recognized me and didn't stop me.

They still looked at me with contempt and a kind of condescending pity.

Since our family fell, I had lost count of how many people had looked at my father and me that way.

I had never cared before.

Facing the same thing now, I was far more fragile.

Cassian and I had loved each other through five years, and I had grown used to leaning on him.

When I first found him he had nothing and nowhere to go, and I never held it against him.

And now the humiliation and the contempt I was carrying came from him.

Before I went in, I smoothed my dress without thinking.

There were more people at the hospital every day.

Almost everyone visiting Cassian was a vampire noble.

They were exquisitely dressed, with attendants and bodyguards at their sides.

I stood among them, knowing they all thought I refused to let go and that Cassian would be cold to me, yet I had come anyway. The bitterness made me sick.

I looked down at the thermos in my hand.

There was soup in it that I had made that morning.

Whenever Cassian was unwell, I used to make it for him.

His room had become a luxurious private suite at some point.

New furniture stood by the bed, and expensive flowers and gifts covered the table.

Cassian was on the sofa, talking with a man.

He stopped when he saw me.

His visitor followed his gaze.

"And this is?"

Before Cassian could speak, I smiled.

"I'm Elena. Cassian's wife."

Cassian's brow drew in slightly at that.

It stung, and I held on to my composure.

His visitor looked me up and down.

It was not a comfortable look.

I waited until he had gone before I went over.

"Are you feeling better today?"

"Yes."

Cassian answered flatly, with no interest in talking to me.

But faced with that familiar face, I could not let go of hope.

I set the thermos on the table.

"I brought you some soup.

"You always used to love the soup I made when you were ill."

"No need."

He didn't even look at it.

"There are professional cooks here for that."

My fingertips pressed together.

"All right."

I smiled.

"I'll take it home for my father then."

Cassian said nothing.

I saw the glass beside him was empty and picked it up.

"Let me get you some water."

"Don't. I don't need you taking care of me anymore. You don't have to do any of this."

I had just reached the water cooler when his voice caught me.

My hand tightened on the glass. I knew what the other half of that sentence was.

Nothing I did for him was going to change his mind.

After a few seconds I put the glass back where it had been.

"All right.

"I won't touch anything."

Cassian glanced at me.

I knew my smile must look forced.

But I didn't want him thinking I was making a scene again.

He was busy enough as it was.

All I wanted was to sit with him a while, the way I used to.

"The flowers in the yard opened yesterday. Do you want me to bring some in so you can see them?"

"No. I don't like flowers."

The words caught in my throat. He had planted those flowers himself, and a few months ago he had been looking forward to the day they bloomed.

Five years is a brief flicker to a vampire.

To me it was a large piece of my life.

While he had no memory, the difference was easy to forget. Now it was laid out in front of us, and I was the only one still refusing to concede.

At the very least I wanted to fight for one last chance for the two of us.

At the very least I wanted him to think it over properly. Even if he ended by admitting he no longer loved me, I would leave willingly.

But laying out facts and reasons this coldly, telling me to stop clinging, telling me we had to divorce.

That was too cruel and too unfair.

"It rained last night. Lucky we patched that broken skylight when we did."

"Oh. Right."

I kept hunting for things to say.

Cassian's answers only got shorter.

We had never been like this.

Even sitting together in silence had never felt awkward.

Now I felt like a visitor calling on a stranger.

After a while the door opened again.

A woman came in.

She wore a deep red gown, her long golden hair falling behind her shoulders.

Two attendants followed her.

I knew who she was almost at once.

Seraphina.

She was more beautiful and more elegant than I had pictured.

Her eyes went to Cassian first.

"Sorry, Cassian. I'm late."

Something in Cassian's expression finally eased.

"It's fine."

His voice was gentler than it had been with me.

Only then did Seraphina look at me.

"And this is?"

I stood, keeping a polite smile.

"I'm Elena. Cassian's wife."

Saying it steadied me for a moment.

At least for now, I was still his wife.

And then.

Cassian added evenly, "Don't misunderstand, Seraphina.

"We'll be divorced shortly."

My face went hot.

Grief and pain and shame all rose at once, and I stood there wanting the floor to open up.

She smiled at that, her eyes going over me again, measuring.

"I see."

I forced the corners of my mouth up.

"I'll let you talk.

"I won't get in the way."

I bent and picked up the thermos.

My fingers wouldn't quite obey and I nearly knocked over the vase beside it.

I caught it in time.

"Sorry."

They watched me leave in silence, and I didn't dare look back to see whether they were laughing at me.

I couldn't bear to see Cassian—the man who had once loved and cared for me—look at me with open contempt.

I wasn't ready to carry that.

I was afraid that something that small would make me give up on our love.

I carried my things out.

Passing the doorway, I couldn't help pausing for a second.

Cassian didn't call after me.

So I kept walking.

The door swung slowly shut behind me.

Just before it closed, I heard Cassian say, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

That gentleness in it brought back everything we used to be.

It had only been a few days and everything had changed.

My steps went unsteady.

The corridor was still full of bodyguards and attendants.

All of them watching me.

I didn't dare cry.

I kept my chin up and kept walking.

Not until I turned into the stairwell did I close the door behind me.

There was finally no one around.

I put my back against the wall and slid down into a crouch.

The tears came at once.

I clamped a hand over my mouth so no sound would get out.

I set the thermos down on the floor.

I looked down at the plain copper ring on my finger.

Cassian had put it there himself five years ago.

He had no status and no money then.

He held my hand and asked whether I would marry him.

I looked into his eyes and said yes, smiling.

He said he would love me the same way for the rest of his life.

I gripped the ring hard.

It bit into my palm.

I didn't let go.

Because by now.

It was the only proof left.

That Cassian had once really loved me.