Page 99 of The Scandal You Started
“It is foolish, you stupid man,” she snapped back. “I would neverevermarry you. And you’re from the fucking past, have you forgotten that?” She shook her head. “You’re not here to stay, Dominic. You’re going back to your own time in less than three months. Why did you even think we could get married in the first place?”
A quiver of renewed panic darted between the rungs of her ribs.
Had Dominic forgotten he had to go back to his own time? Or was he hoping he’d be able to stay in the present? He couldn’t. They wouldn’t let him.
That alarm was quickly followed by a whisper of guilt.
Was this her fault? Had she given him these ideas by getting involved with him?
He’d only end up getting hurt when the POTeM Board told him he had no other choice but to return. And that—
“Why would you never marry me?” Dominic questioned, cutting through her thoughts.
She stared, her jaw slackened in disbelief.Is that all he fucking heard?
“You’re—from—the past,” she said, slow and deliberate. “What part of that do you not understand? How could I marry you? You’re leaving in a few months.”
He stood still and silent, then, “What if I were to stay?”
Rayna’s heart tripped onto the floor.
Fuck. There it was.
He was thinking about staying.
She shook her head, unable to utter anything until it all just came flooding out. “You can’t. Dominic, you can’t. They won’t let you. You have to go back. They’ve never let any Study stay.Ever. So don’t wish for things that aren’t possible. You—”
She cut off on a stifled sound of distress.
Because the words were getting caught, tangling over themselves, until they felt difficult to formulate. It felt uncomfortable voicing them as something akin to unease trembled through her pulse.
He dropped his chin, hiding his face for several moments before lifting his head. Other than a dullness, his expression was entirely unreadable. For the first time, she had no idea what was going on in his head. Couldn’t even attempt to guess either.
“That is not what I mean, sweetheart,” he said as he walked around the breakfast bar towards her. “You have rejected the idea of marriage to me multiple times now. I would like to know why. If it were possible, why would you never marry me?” He towered over her, leaving little space between them. “Why is it that whenever I mention marriage, you behave as though I have threatened you with torture?”
She might have laughed in another situation and said marriage was the same as torture for a woman. Instead, she lengthened her spine. “Because I don’t ever want to get married, Dominic. Not to you. Not to anyone.”
His head reeled back. “Whatever do you mean? Youhave tomarry. It is a part of life.”
Oh, here we go.
She grunted and rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t, and no, it’s not. It’s a societal construct created by men to trap and control women. It’s historically been used as a weapon to suppress women and own them like property, while giving them little to no rights or freedom.
“And it’s still not that different. Now women have their freedom by law, but some men still use and abuse their wives. Or they marry because they’re so incompetent that they’re just looking for someone to care for them like a fucking child. Oh, and let’s not forget how men have throughout history beenknown and encouraged to break their vows of fidelity. So what’s the point of marriage then if it holds no significance anyway?
“It’s sold to women as this wonderful happily ever after they should look forward to, but all it really is is a prettily packaged form of abuse.”
Dominic’s mouth hung open by the time Rayna ended her mini-monologue.
Then he bristled, his feathers ruffling like he was personally affronted by what she said. “That is not what marriage is.” She scoffed again, and his shoulders stiffened. “It is not. Marriage is about care and protection and responsibility. It is about—”
“Protection from what exactly? What do I need protecting from, huh? Lions, and tigers, and bears? Not that a man would win against them anyway.”
“Not in that sense, but security—”
She chuckled and threw her hands out. “And there it is.Security. The thing that men have historically withheld from women by not allowing them their own money, limiting their education, shaming them for doing the exact same things men do, and preventing them from being in the same spaces. And then they had the absolute audacity to go,‘Marry me and I’ll give you security,’as if they didn’t purposely create an environment where women felt unsafe so that they had no choice but to rely on a man, and therefore ended up under his control.”
She gestured to herself. “But I don’t need that security. I don’t need protection. I have my own money. I have a job that I love. I have my own car, my own house,andan apartment I rent out. I have my own freedom, I can prioritise my own happiness instead of some man who’s just going to be a useless burden. So what incentive do I have to marry?”
