Page 150 of Redeemed

I don’t need him anymore.

“I’m leaving,” I say flatly. “And I’mnotmarrying her.”

And if it comes down to it, I’ll kill her to get out of it.

Lucas

Mydayisablur of classes and practice. When I get home, Haven is doing homework at the kitchen counter. She looks up when I walk in, and we both stare at each other in silence for a few seconds.

Haven seemed fine at breakfast, but I can’t get the sound of her haunting sobs out of my mind. The stupid, lovesick eighteen-year-old in me wants to ask if she’s okay, but I’ve shown enough of my softer feelings toward her lately.

So I shoulder my gym bag and brush past her, catching a whiff of lilacs that makes my lungs burn. I scrub it off me in the shower, and when I’m out and dressed, I find Colton and Xander in the loft.

Colton’s house is great. It’s huge, it has everything a person could ever dream of wanting, and the dark aesthetic fits Colton’s personality. But sometimes, it feels like the place is so big that it’s going to swallow me whole.

The loft is different, though. It’s a much smaller area than the living room, and I appreciate that this is where Colton keeps all his gaming equipment. It still follows the same dark aesthetic, but I can relax up here. I can sit on the couch and have my back to the wall while still having the stairs that lead downstairs in view.

It’s stupid—no one here is going to hurt me. But being on full alert all the time is a habit of mine that’s so old, it’s an inherent part of me. I can’t help it.

Xander and Colton are having a quiet conversation, and I don’t like the grim looks on their faces. That, without a doubt, means trouble.

I plop onto the cushion next to Xander. “What’s going on?”

“Did you know Wesley, Kellan, and Cal are in the Rooks?” Colton asks.

“What? How the hell did they get in?”

“That’s not even the most shocking thing,” Xander says. “Colt, what was it your informant told you?”

“Athelia Harper moved in with them.”

“Why the hell would she do that?” I sputter.

“Why would Haven move in with us?” Colton counters.

“We’re protecting her! Athelia isn’t in the same position.”

Xander shrugs. “Maybe Isaiah threatened her, and she got spooked?”

“Maybe,” I say, glancing at Colton. “Is that all? It looks like something else is bugging you.”

“My dad wants to move the wedding to before graduation.”

My jaw drops. “I thought you told him you weren’t marrying Delilah.”

“Of course I did,” Colton bites out. “But when has Mark Heverly ever taken no for an answer?”

“Fair point,” I say. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m not marrying Delilah, that’s for sure.” He sits back in his armchair, gripping the closed book in his hands. “I’d rather kill her. Iwillkill her if that’s the only option I end up with.”

Before Colton was even ten years old, his father had already decided who he was going to marry. I didn’t understand it until my mom married Greg, but in the world of the super-rich, reputation and power are everything. They’re what bring you money—and the connections to makemoremoney.

That means marriage is more of a strategic move than something done for love. Marrying into the right family means more power, more connections, more money. Marrying into the wrong family, however, could seriously hold you back.

That’s why Mark hand-selected Delilah. The Elsher family has their hands in just about every industry you can think of. They’re one of those families who own and run the country out of most of the public’s eye. Half of the brands you look at when you’re in a grocery store, a clothing store, hell,anywhere,are probably owned by one of the Elsher’s corporations.

They’re a family with a lot of power, and from what Colton has told me, they wield it well. They’re exactly the type of people Mark wants permanent ties to.

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