Librairie
Rechercher
Accueil / Vampire / The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée / Chapter 4

Partager

Chapter 4

Auteur: Eternity
"Did you need something?" In the past, I would have been glad when Raven dropped by to talk. This time, I was different.

A flicker of unease crossed his face. "Vera just wrapped up the southern treaty negotiation," he said. "She handled it well. I'm thinking of adding her family crest to the clan emblem. It would send a signal to the others that we value outside talent. What do you think?"

Once, he would have made this decision without consulting me. That he asked now did not reassure me. It only struck me as odd, as though he needed something to validate a choice he already knew was borderline.

"I have no objection."

He nodded, a hint of relief in his shoulders. But he did not get up. "There's something else. The emblem has limited space. To add hers, I need to temporarily remove yours. Just until the transition period is over," He softened his tone slightly. "You haven't been leading any significant projects lately, and she needs the authority to negotiate with the vassal clans. As my betrothed, I'm sure you understand."

Good for the clan, good for the larger picture, good for her. He truly seemed to believe he was doing the right thing, and that I ought to be on his side.

He still did not know about the dissolution papers. He remembered what Vera liked and disliked. He anticipated her needs and cleared her path without being asked. He had no idea his betrothed had filed her departure papers.

My silence made him uneasy. In the past, I would have pushed back. My quiet was unfamiliar to him. "The announcement has already gone out," he said. "The council seat has been reassigned."

"Consider this a chance to step back and take a breath. We have a major push coming in the south. I've already appointed her to manage the entire operation. If there's something you'd like to focus on, we can discuss that later."

I smiled. "Fine. I'll follow your arrangement."

He relaxed, standing and straightening his collar. "Good. That's settled."

At the threshold, he turned. "What happened to that thing on your wrist?"

I glanced down. The sapphire bracelet. He had chosen the stone himself, commissioned the setting. He said it matched my eyes. I had worn it every day until recently. I could not even recall when I last put it on.

"I took it off."

"You did?" He frowned. "You always wore it."

"Yes. Took it off to wash and forgot to put it back."

He did not press further, but his gaze lingered on my bare wrist. He was used to seeing it there, four years of habit leaving a gap he could not quite name.

"Put it back on." He turned and left.

I leaned back in my chair, looking at the empty study. Every corner of this room had been arranged by me. Months ago, I had found a cup on the side table by the bookcase. The rim held a trace of tint, not my shade. Later, an earring, tiny and gold-backed, lay by the desk leg.

Vera had been here. More than once.
Continuez à lire ce livre gratuitement
Scanner le code pour télécharger l'application
Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Dernier chapitre

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 13

    Six months passed. Then eight. Then a year.The Institute became familiar in ways I had not expected. The corridors stopped feeling like borrowed space. The coffee machine on the third floor developed a rhythm I could predict, a low hum that started at exactly eight forty five every morning. My desk accumulated the usual clutter of notes and reference materials and empty cups. I found a grocery store I liked two blocks from my apartment. The cashier learned my name.My project took shape slowly. The first few months were all groundwork, reading, cross-referencing, building a foundation I had not needed to build in a long time. By the sixth month, I had something presentable. By the ninth, I presented it to the department. By the end of the first year, I was leading a small team of my own.I was not the most senior researcher in the building. I was not the most famous. But I was getting there. The progress was mine. No one had given it to me. No one could take it away.I heard things ab

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 12

    The call came on a Wednesday afternoon. I was reviewing a draft when my phone buzzed on the desk. Elder Vane's name appeared on the screen. I picked it up, expecting a question about the project timeline."Seren," he said. "You have a visitor."I looked out the window, scanning the courtyard below. "Who is it?""Raven Ashford."I walked down the stairs slowly. He was standing in the front hall near the entrance. He looked thinner than I remembered, his face drawn in a way that told me he had not been sleeping well. His clothes were neat but his posture was wrong, slightly hunched."Thank you for seeing me," he said. "Elder Vane said you were busy. I told him I could wait.""You are here now. Come up."I led him to the meeting room on the second floor, the one Elder Vane used for official visitors. I did not want him in my space.He sat across from me at the table. His hands were clasped in front of him, fingers interlaced, knuckles pale."I came to tell you what happened," he said. "Ve

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 11

    The tipping point came on a Tuesday.Raven had called Vera to his study to discuss the border treaty discrepancies. He had the original terms on his desk, her submitted copy on his left, and the vassal clan's inquiry on his right.Vera walked in with her usual composure and sat down without being invited."You wanted to see me, Lord Raven?"He slid the three documents toward her. "Explain the differences."She glanced at them, expression unchanged. "Which differences are you referring to?"Raven pointed to a clause on the original. "The vassal clan confirmed the terms as drafted. Your version removed the shared patrol rights along the eastern corridor. They did not agree to that removal.""The shared patrol rights were redundant. Seren included them as a goodwill gesture, but the vassal clan never utilized them."Raven pointed to the second clause. "The resource access provision was expanded. The original gave them limited access to Ashford's northern timber reserves. Your version gran

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 10

    The elders started asking questions in the fifth week."We have not seen Seren in some time," one of them said during a closed session. Raven said she was on leave. Another elder spoke. "She has been on leave for over a month. Do we know when she plans to return?""I expect it will be soon."No one pressed further, but the looks exchanged across the table told him everything. They did not believe him. He was not sure he believed himself anymore.He spent the next few days reviewing the files Vera had handled. He had not noticed it before, but there was a pattern. Some documents were missing attachments. Others had dates that did not match the correspondence. A few appeared to have been modified, with small but significant changes to clauses Seren had originally drafted.He called Vera in to clarify.She explained each discrepancy smoothly, as if she had expected the questions. The missing attachments had been sent separately. The dates reflected final approval, not initial drafting. Th

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 9

    The third week was worse.A routine council meeting turned into an argument. One of the elders asked about the border treaty again. Raven said Vera was handling the follow-up. The elder said the envoy had reached out directly to the council with questions. Raven asked what questions. The elder handed him a written request for clarification on terms that had been agreed weeks ago.Raven read it. The terms were not the ones Seren had negotiated. They were different.He called Vera after the meeting. He kept his voice level. He asked her to explain the discrepancy.Vera told him the changes had been necessary. She said the original terms were too favorable to the other clan. She said Seren had not considered certain strategic factors. She said she had acted in the best interest of Ashford.Raven looked at her. He had heard her use those words many times before. For the best interest of Ashford. It had never sounded wrong to him until now.He took the document back to his study and spent t

  • The Clan Lord’s Forgotten Fiancée   Chapter 8

    Raven called her name out of habit. The words left his mouth before he realized what he was doing."Seren, I need the quarterly figures from the—"The study was empty. The door was open because he had left it open. Her desk was still there, but the chair was pushed in, exactly as she had left it before she walked out. He stopped at the threshold, his hand still reaching toward the space where she used to sit.He told himself it was fine. She would come back. She always came back.That had been the pattern for months, maybe longer. She would withdraw, he would give her space, she would return. The longest she had stayed away was six days. He remembered that time clearly, because by the seventh day she was back in the study, reading through documents at her usual pace, and he had thought to himself: She needed the break.Vera came in shortly after, a stack of papers in her hands and a plan in her voice. She had already taken over the territorial affairs Seren had left behind. She assured

Plus de chapitres

Vous vous intéresseriez aussi à

Découvrez et lisez de bons romans gratuitement
Accédez gratuitement à un grand nombre de bons romans sur GoodNovel. Téléchargez les livres que vous aimez et lisez où et quand vous voulez.
Lisez des livres gratuitement sur l'APP
Scanner le code pour lire sur l'application
DMCA.com Protection Status