Page 59 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

“I know it doesn’t make much sense to you right now, darling, but I’m hoping it will one day. Look at your father and I, we despised each other when we were forced to marry and it worked out for us, didn’t it?” She says, turning towards my dad with a smile.

He pulls her onto his lap with a smug grin, locking his arms around her waist and trapping her against his body. “It sure fucking did, princess.”

He cups her neck and brings her lips down against his in a heated kiss. Before I know it, they’re full on making out in front of me.

I roll my eyes. “Could you at least wait until we’re done with the conversation before you start shagging, please?”

My mum pulls away with an apologetic “sorry” and discreetly wipes her mouth as my dad watches her with greedy eyes.

“What was I saying?” She asks herself aloud, “Oh, right.” Her eyes soften as they look at me, “We would never force you to do something if you truly didn’t want to, darling, but think about this more as an alliance than a marriage. You don’t have to live together or be a real married couple when the time comes, although for what it’s worth, I think you should. Who knows, maybe you’ll even grow to love each other.” She adds with a wink.

She has no idea how far off base she is.

If she could part my rib cage, carve open my heart and look into it, she’d be shocked by how ardently it beats for Phoenix and only Phoenix.

He, on the other hand, will never look at me with anything other than hatred in his eyes. He’ll never be able to see me as anything other than the girl he blames for his brother’s death and maybe that’s my fate in this life. To spend the rest of my days married to a man who doesn’t love me back, forced to watch him parade countless other women in front of me.

On the other hand, I’m naturally a rule follower and a good daughter, one my parents are proud of. I’d do anything to help them, my broader family, and our legacy.

I’m torn and I can’t seem to make myself say yes. My dad must see my indecision because he cuts in.

“How about this,” He starts, “Why don’t you give it a few months and see how it goes? If nothing’s changed or you’re still unsure then, then we’ll call the whole thing off.”

I nod slowly as I take a deep breath, trying to slow my racing heartbeat. I might be making the biggest mistake of my entire life, but at least I’ll have a way out.

“Okay.”

My parents smile at me, and I wish I wasn’t so dependent on making them proud of me. Maybe then I’d have the strength to push back and tell them that tying myself to Phoenix means a lifetime of unrequited love and misery.

But I say nothing, instead I smile back at them.

“As Thomas mentioned, this won’t be announced until the new year once we finalize contracts. Until then, keep this a secret. It’s paramount that the news does not get out, so don’t tell your friends until we confirm it, alright?” I nod and he adds, “I’ll arrange getting you an engagement ring.”

An engagement ring. I look down at my bare left hand as the reality of what I just agreed to settles in my bones.

I’m going to be Phoenix’s wife.

An unwanted wife, but his wife none the same.

My dad’s phone beeps. He picks it up, his gaze moving over the screen as he reads the message before he sets it back down.

“That was Thomas,” He tells us, before saying the words that indelibly intertwines my fate with Phoenix’s. “Phoenix also agreed.”

Chapter 20

Adélaïde

I hug my daughter and watch her walk quietly out of the office with her shoulders tense and her head bent. I wonder for the hundredth time if we’re making the right decision.

My husband echoes my thoughts, as he so often does.

“Are you sure about this?”

I turn towards where he sits in his office chair like a king on his throne, his massive body comically dwarfing the seat beneath him.

His eyes burn an appreciative path down my body with the same lustful look as the day we met, before coming back up to meet mine.

“No, I’m not.” I tell him honestly, rounding the desk and going over to him. His hand finds my hip as he guides me back into his lap where I burrow against his warm body. “But if it doesn’t work, then at least we’ll have tried.”

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