로그인Alexander’s POVI kept watching her from across the room as she looked at the three dresses.The way her eyes brightened, the small, almost disbelieving smile that tugged at her mouth, the way her hands twitched at her sides as if she wanted to step forward and close the distance between us before she stopped herself—those tiny details in her body language stayed with me longer than they should have anf I let myself feel the quiet satisfaction for a few seconds, then locked it away again.Torres approached from the side hallway, tablet in hand.“Sir. The blogs and society pages are running the story heavily. Several of them are using aggressive language against Miss Seraphina. Would you like us to begin legal action or issue a statement?”I kept my eyes on Seraphina a moment longer before answering.“Not yet. Let them talk a little longer.”Torres inclined his head and gave me a surprised look. “Understood.” He left without further comment.An hour later she came down the stairs and
Seraphina’s POVI woke up to sunlight slipping through the sheer curtains and landing across the unfamiliar yet nicest bed I’ve ever laid on. I opened my eyes slowly, and for a few seconds the ceiling above me felt wrong. It was too high and too clean, nothing like the pink walls of my childhood room or the master suite I had once shared with Ethan. Then the memories of the night before returned in a heavy wave, the banquet, my father’s raised hand, our signed rules on paper and Alexander’s quiet voice saying we would marry today.The thought of marrying Alexander did something strange to my body, something I couldn’t quite explain and that realization made me even more uncomfortable. And then I felt grief too. It pressed against my ribs, not the sharp kind from my first uneventful life. But a dull, lingering ache. I had escaped death and now I’m changing the trajectory of my life but yet the weight of everything was still heavy in my chest like a rock. A knock sounded at the doo
Alexander’s POVThe question almost made me laugh out loud, was she joking? I let the question hang in the air longer than it should have.“Is there someone you’re in love with?”I kept my expression neutral as I looked at her. Seraphina sat across from me in the low light of the sitting room, still in the white gown from the banquet, mascara faintly smudged beneath her eyes from earlier. She waited for an answer with that same steady gaze she had used when she listed her rules.Something warm and sharp moved through my chest and it struck somewhere I had spent years teaching myself not to look.Yes. You. The woman sitting across from me had been the answer for years, and somehow she still didn’t know.But I didn’t say that out loud. “No,” I answered instead.The single word left my mouth evenly. I reached forward, took the fountain pen I’d given her earlier and slid it into the inner pocket of my jacket. I stared at the paper in her hand and the weight of it settled against my chest
Seraphina’s POVI kept staring at him.The words “Let’s get married” still hung in the air between us, heavy and unreal. My mind scrambled to catch up. One moment I had been the one preparing to convince him, and the next he had said it first—calm and certain, as if the decision had already been made somewhere I couldn’t see.Alexander met my confused silence without looking away.“If we don’t make it legal,” he said, voice even, “your family will try something, especially your father. He still has influence, connections, and a great deal of pride. As long as you are only my fiancée in name, he can pull strings, he can pressure you, isolate you, or find ways to drag you back under his control.”He paused, as if waiting for the truth to settle.“But if we marry in court and the news spreads, everything changes. On paper, you will be my wife…and that title carries weight. People would think twice before moving against what belongs to me.”I absorbed every word. The logic was cold and p
Seraphina’s POV For a few minutes I kept my spine straight, chin lifted, the same composed mask I had worn in the ballroom. Then all of a sudden the last thread holding it together snapped. My shoulders dropped. My hands, still resting in my lap, began to tremble. A deep, bone-heavy exhaustion rolled through me, so sudden and complete that I felt light-headed. The adrenaline that had carried me through the proposal, the confrontation, the walk out of that house—it was gone. In in its place was nothing but raw, scraped-out silence. The engine had stopped at this point and Alexander had glanced at me once, then turned fully in his seat. “Seraphina.” I didn’t answer, I wasn’t sure I could. He studied my face for a long moment. Whatever he saw there made his expression shift—something quieter, almost careful. “I’m going to give you space,” he said. His voice was low, steady, without pity. “What you did tonight… walking away from everything, choosing me in front of all of t
Seraphina’s POVChaos swallowed the ballroom the moment Alexander said yes.Voices rose in a wave of shock and outrage. Cameras flashed around us like lightning. Someone shouted my name in disbelief, some laughed, shock still etched on their faces. I barely heard any of it.My fingers were still resting in Alexander’s large, steady hand, and the warmth of his skin was the only solid thing in the entire room.I tightened my grip and turned toward the nearest exit. “Let’s go,” I said quietly.He nodded once and began guiding me through the crowd. Guests parted for him almost instinctively, even in the middle of this scandal, people still stepped aside for Alexander Knight.We had almost reached the wide double doors when a rough hand clamped around my wrist and yanked me backward.Pain shot up my arm and I stumbled backwardss, nearly losing my balance.“You ungrateful little…”My father’s voice cracked through the noise like a whip, his face was mottled red, eyes bulging with fury. Spi







