Page 34 of Vow to Hate You

“You’ll do me proud,” he said with a leering grin.

I opened my mouth to respond until I saw a pair of familiar green eyes spying on us from the cracked open door. My heart somersaulted in my chest, and I stayed frozen when she rushed away from the doorway.

“I have to go,” I muttered, not even looking at my dad. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He protested at my sudden departure, but I was already ripping open the door, racing down the hall in time to see her dart around the corner. I upped my pace to catch up before she could leave. I ran around the corner, seeing her running down the hall toward the front door.

“Talie,” I hissed. “Stop.”

She didn’t listen, and it took me another few seconds before I got close enough to snag her wrist. She let out a furious shriek when I pushed her into the wall, placing my palms on either side of her.

“Calm down,” I demanded in a low voice. We were at my father’s house, and I was sure there was staff who were listening.

“Calm down?” she repeated, her voice nearly trembling. “Is it true? Was that my scholarship?”

I hesitated. “Yes. I’m sorry?—”

“Fuck you, Damian Valentin,” she snarled. Her hands slapped on my chest to shove me back, but I snatched her wrists. “You were supposed to tell him I was going. We talked about this.”

“It wasn’t the right time,” I ground out, keeping my voice low. “You can go to another school once things calm down.”

“Can I?” Her eyes were missing their usual fire. “Or are you going to knock me up first?”

“No,” I snapped. “But for right now, we need to act how they want. Both my father and yours want to make sure this marriage starts off with no issues.”

“For right now? Or forever?” she asked in a strangled whisper. “You were supposed to keep this from happening. That was our deal. I get my freedom. You get to appease your father by getting married without having a traditional marriage.”

“We’ll figure this out?—”

“Not good enough,” she growled. “Why the hell did I trust you? You’re no different from all the other men in this godforsaken town.”

My anger was starting to rise. She knew this could happen. Our parents had always domineered our lives. Did she really think us getting married would suddenly change it all overnight?

“I know you’re mad. But just give this some time,” I murmured, my voice almost pleading. I did not want to start this new life off with her hating me.

“There isn’t enough time in the world to wait for you to stand up to your father. You’ll never do it.” Her words were a low blow. Especially when she didn’t even have the full fucking story.

“Like you do with your dad?” I tossed back, anger flushing through me. “Or did you hide that scholarship for the fun of it?”

Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and I couldn’t tell who it was, but at least one person was close to us. If it was any staff, this would all go back to my father.

“You’re an asshole,” she snapped. “I don’t trust you. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, letting indifference seep into my voice. “Because you’re my wife, Natalia.”

Her eyes flashed with rage when I used her full name. My grip on her wrists tightened as she struggled against me. Oh, she was about to hate me even more. But I’d fix it. Once we weren’t in my father’s home where my every word could be heard, we’d have a real conversation.

“I want you to calm down. Go wait in the car,” I ordered sharply. “I have to grab my jacket, and I’ll be out in a minute.”

She was practically seething by the time I let her go. But she swallowed it all back, forcing a lethal smile. I went rigid when she raised on her tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“Whatever you say, husband.”

“Damian.” Talie’s voice cut through the memories of the last time I’d seen her before she disappeared for five years. “Are you going to tell me what I didn’t hear from that conversation?”

“What did you want me to do, Talie?” I bit out. “We were kids. We didn’t defy our parents. You know that. If you had stayed, we could have figured it out together.”

We both made mistakes five years ago, and I’d felt like shit ever since sending that email even if I didn’t have much of a choice. In her eyes, I betrayed her.

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