The Vows We Never Chose

er Adrien's wor

... sac

ybe Adrien was lying. Maybe this was some twisted joke. But there was something terri

brittle. "You're saying... marry

o my family means you owe something. Something

," she snapped. "What

It requires the bride's blood. Not death. But submission. Obedience. It's an ancien

r mother had sent Celia int

ontinued. "She was investigating.

she dead?"

n fli

thought she would destroy the pact and bring ruin to both families.

a whispered. "And

y do you think I never contacted you? Why do you t

a knight in a bloody castle. I nee

cause I knew that if I got close, I'd tell you ever

blinked

d his mouth.

t your mother. About Celia. About why this mar

l me," sh

ed back, sud

," he muttered. "Th

came at

ough the wood. "Darling, breakfast

heart thundering. "Don't le

dded

me to the old chapel. Midnig

y passed in a stra

e wouldn't remember, smiled at relatives who barely knew her name. Every

ybe sh

tired of

mother alone in the music room, fingers

e truth,"

up slowly.

The sacrifice.

head. "You've s

w ever

eces. And pieces

used your own daughter as bait.

ver than you know. Celia wasn't killed, E

ened. "What

A way out of the contract. But it came at a cost. And if she t

Eliana repe

es and inheritance. The kind that would unravel everything. Your fat

racked. "So you

ce said coolly. "And I will prot

stared

walke

ight

the woods. Ivy curled over its stone walls, and broken stained g

shed open

y inside, standin

ereux and a Hart, bound by a pact to protect each other's legacies. In exchange, one bride

loser. "And if t

act resets. The bloodline weaken

uperstition

ar the Hart estate burned down. My cousin's bride miscarried, and t

altar. Something dark stai

she s

a's

with the Hart

d for it-t

epped from the sha

Fami

s heart

el

pale, alive-and starin