[What is the point of such a marriage?] - her quiet, almost lifeless voice sounded.
[The point is to keep you close.]
[Even if you arranged all this... it won't make you happy...]
Shane grinned, hollowly, as if the sound came out on its own, by accident.
[Happiness.]
[Adaline often talked about happiness.]
Before her disappearance, she left him one last request: if he loved her even a little, let him forget everything... and become happy.
[Do you hear? If you love me, be happy... Definitely.]
She pushed him into hell, and at the same time called it caring. And now he says:
[At least you won't be unhappy.]
[I'm already miserable.]
Adaline slowly raised her head.
[Because you have to marry a man you hate so much that you would rather fake your own death just to escape?]
Her green eyes, the same ones that he dreamed of at night, trembled.
The one who betrayed, deceived, ran away, now herself suffers from his words.
[What is it, satisfaction or...]
[Did you really hate it that much?] He asked quietly.
She was silent.
[So much so that even tears came?]
[Did you hate me that much?]
Transparent tears trembling on her eyelashes silently rolled down her chin. Shane ran his thumb over her cheek, wiping the moisture from her skin.
He still regretted seeing her tears.
He wanted to hurt her.
But I also wanted to console.
I wanted to wipe away the tears that I myself had caused.
Love her to madness, and hate her at the same time.
[This made him powerless.]
He remembered how she stopped him then, at the ball.
He beat the drunk half to death, and she hugged his waist, tightly, as if she was afraid that he would disappear.
Shane stopped even earlier, but Adaline didn’t seem to notice.
[Enough... Stop it.] - she whispered. [And if he dies...]
He looked up.
The guests around were frightened, but their looks showed curiosity, even amusement.
[Edwin and the Bertrand family understood why he made this display, their faces remained impassive.]
Genevieve smiled tightly, but she didn't care.
[No one, no one was worried about the poor son of Earl Tate, who lay under Shane's feet, except Adaline.]
[Only she cared.]
[I haven’t even danced even once... Let’s go and dance. My partner is Jeff, but you are my fiancé. So everything is fine. Let's go, Shane...Let him go, okay? Well, please...]
Her hands were shaking.
[Even for such insignificance you are capable of feeling compassion...]
Shane was almost angry that she was wasting her heart on a pathetic bastard, but he was still relieved.
[She has not yet lost her softness.]
[And that means you can still tie her tighter.]
[If you had just asked...Adaline, I would have stopped.] - he said.
[...Don't lie.]
[It's true. If only I had told you, I would have stopped.]
[Except for one thing - to let you go.]