Reluctant Synonyms

“Are you crying?" She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. "Now I am truly and utterly alone. If I had just said yes to marrying him, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.” Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. “Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.” “But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away. I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine. “You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.” I tucked a hair behind her ear. “You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.” ___ Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar. On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.

On the day of my mate-bonding ceremony, someone threw a corrosive potion at me, leaving my face disfigured. In front of everyone, Oliver Fielding—my fated mate, the one promised to me for eight years—coldly rejected me and claimed the Alpha's younger stepsister, Isabella Dorsey, instead. That same night, Alpha Lucas Dorsey placed a moonstone ring in my hand. "If Oliver won't claim you, then I will. And I'll make sure you get justice." He brushes his fingers over my corroded, scarred cheek and whispers tenderly, "Evelyn, even in such a state, you're more beautiful than anyone else." Since he claimed me, Lucas has treated me like something sacred. He remembers every little thing I love and hate. Even when the painful memories overwhelm me and I lash out in panic, he just presses a kiss to my palm, his pain lingering in the touch. How could I not be completely lost to him? However, three years later, I overhear Lucas speaking with his assassin outside the council chamber. "That silver-laced corrosive potion I had you prepare—was the dosage correct?" The assassin hesitates before replying, "Alpha, if you care about Evelyn so much, why would you—" "Isabella wants Oliver, so I'll help her by removing the obstacle—Evelyn." He runs his thumb over the herbal sachet I made him and murmurs, "It's just… I've grown strangely reluctant to let Evelyn go. She's my pawn, after all." I wipe away my tears. If I'm nothing more than an obstacle to him, I'll save him the trouble and walk away on my own.

“You know what you have to do,” Blake said, his eyes bearing hatred into Cassandra, “You don’t like me.” “No,” Cassandra answered, she had been rehearsing how to sound nice while she rejected his proposal but it was impossible. “What?” He asked surprised “I said no, I am sorry, I can’t do that.” She muttered. “You don’t have any idea what you are signing up for, do you?” He asked, both his hands balled into fists on the table, while she watched him silently. “How much did my grandfather pay you?” He asked again and then she looked away from his magnetic gaze, feeling embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I told Mr. McKnight that I would marry you. I don’t think anything would change my mind.” She feigned confidence, holding onto her own hands to stop them from trembling. “We can just try to get along.” “Get along? What was I expecting from a gold-digger?” he asked with deep seething frustration. “You all are the same.” I wanted to ask what he meant by that but I couldn’t. “This wouldn’t be easy I assure you, princess, there would be a price to pay, a fucking expensive one.” He gets up and puts on his cap. “See you later, dear wife.” Unable to say a word she watched him storm away, her heart hammering painfully at his threat. Cassandra’s life took a total turn when her uncle forced her to get married to his partner’s grandson. Even though she was reluctant at first but then she didn’t have a choice but to agree, if there was a way she could escape her cousin, Lance. She would gladly marry even the devil because what has she got to lose?