Marrying The Man Who Hates Me

na felt an invisible weight settle over her

an who had already won. His gray eyes, weathered by time, held an unreadable depth, and for the firs

didn't

er than a life spent running from the mons

tapping lazily against the wooden table. "You've mad

t she kept her chin high. "I

ed at the corner o

Outside, the rain had eased into a gentle drizzle, the soft hum of water trickling down the streets. The world

ee before setting the cup down with a

stiffened.

u came to me in desperation, asking for protection. That

into the fabric of

on as if measuring her tolerance for this a

hing elaborate-she just needed to belong to

d of it made he

oday. A husb

"you will move into my home. My name alone will not be en

d sharply. "What

rt, cara mia. You will sleep in my house. You will wear my ring

, but there was an unspoken weigh

hould have asked more questions. She should hav

self to nod. "

effortless, belying the fragile exterior he had crafted. It was the first glimpse

aid. "Meet me tomorrow morning at t

"That's it? J

ghtly, his expression unr

at the table, staring at the remnants of his unfinished coffee

-

ext M

tle girls dreamed of. There were no flowers, no music, no adoring guests. Just gray walls, pape

-a white cotton piece that clung slightly to her damp skin. The morning rain ha

ecisely on time, wearing a crisp dark suit that seemed almost too fine for an aging m

g for the official to complete their paperwo

nd the desk muttered, bar

ning his name with an elegant s

nly a second. Then, with

as d

, pushed them across the desk,

f the significance of this moment. To him, they were

, it was somethi

longer Sera

w Seraphin

in practice. A prisoner in

as already moving, adjusting the cuff o

he murmured. "It's

o

t a shiver d

rld she was walking into. But i