Page 94 of Vow to Hate You

“Before you and I decided to get married, your dad already had asuitablematch chosen for you.” Anger laced his tone, his eyes turning stormy. “I found out about it the night before we drank the wine.”

“Who was it?” I nearly whispered, unsure if I wanted to know.

“Charles Monroe.”

Bile rose up my throat. “Monroe? As in the CEO of the luxury hotel chain?”

“Yes,” he grumbled before taking a large sip of wine.

“He’s like twenty years older than me.” I bit my lip, hating how my chest tightened painfully. I wasn’t only shocked buthurt. My father would have married me off to that man? Damian was watching me carefully, and I shook my head. “I’ve met him. He treats women like my father does.”

“He is also one of the richest men in the city with connections that would have boosted your father’s many businesses and investments.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we got married,” I muttered, a chill running down my spine at what my life could have been like. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Once we were married, it didn’t matter anymore.” His eyes met mine. “It only would have hurt you.”

“What does that have to do with you not kissing me?”

He shook his head, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Because of my selfishness.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means if I would have kissed you that night, it would have changed everything,” he stated, speaking slowly. “I wouldn’t have wanted to let you go.”

I sipped my wine, taking in his words. My heart was pattering away from airing out the past. Since we were on the topic, I needed to ask him one more question.

“The night you…” I trailed off, my heel bouncing under the table. “The night we got married, and you emailed the art school, declining my scholarship—I want to know why you did it without fighting back. Like you promised you would.”

“Fuck,” he breathed, a frown on his face. “I didn’t want to do it, Talie.”

“I’m figuring that out now. I still want to know why.”

“Charles fucking Monroe was why,” he grated out. “The night before our wedding, my father sat me down, telling me exactlywhat would happen if we didn’t go through with it, or if we got our marriage annulled. Your father would have married you off to him. If I didn’t do what my dad asked me, then he would have realized I’d choose youfirst.”

My heart hammered wildly. His words made his actions of that night obvious. If my father—or his—believed Damian wouldn’t listen to them, then our marriage would be a burden, not the amazing business transaction they wanted. They needed control, especially of Damian, since he was raised to follow in Christian’s footsteps. God forbid if his son wanted his own life.

“He didn’t want me to have a wife I cared about,” Damian said quietly. “He wanted me to marry a woman like my mother. I have a feeling he knew how I felt about you, which was why he made me do it. To prove his needs came before yours. Once the contracts were done, he couldn’t say no to us getting married. His greed wouldn’t let him. Look at how well their companies are doing since they’ve begun working together.”

My heart ached for both of us. The only reason we had a semblance of a normal childhood was because of our group of friends. Our parents were never around unless it benefitted them for appearances, and it hadn’t changed as adults. At least not for me. It was different for Damian since he worked with them, but if I had to guess, that was probably worse.

“I need to know if you’re going to forgive me for what I did.” His words had my eyes cutting back to his. “Trying to make this a real marriage won’t work if you never let that go.”

I straightened up. “Why didn’t you explain?”

“You left that night, Natalia.”

“You had my email. You could have told me.”

“Would you have come back?”

My heart lurched, and I opened my mouth, only to close it again, thinking about an honest answer.

“I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “I was happy to marry you, Damian. But for the first time ever, I had freedom to do anything?—”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” he interrupted, his gaze softening. “You were happy, Talie. I knew you weren’t at college, but whatever you were doing, it was something you enjoyed more than being here.”

Well, fuck me. I stared at him, my stomach fluttering in a way that had only happened a few times in my lifetime—and all those times had been from Damian. Did I regret leaving five years ago? No. It was the time I needed to find myself. I started with nothing and became a well-known DJ, playing in the best clubs around Asia and Europe. Maybe it wasn’t anything compared to my family’s money or business, but I loved it.

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