Page 102 of I Married Kayog
“You’ve been here less than five minutes and already you lie?” he hissed.
“It’s not a lie. It’s called being diplomatic and considerate,” she snapped back. “You’ve made it abundantly clear that my presence here inconveniences you. I’m trying to lessen the burden I’m imposing on you and sided with your argument so that you wouldn’t be the bad guy in this situation.”
“You assume that I care whether people deem me the ‘bad guy’ or that I can’t handle contradictions,” he replied, his voice just as stern.
“I’m not assuming anything. I’m merely trying to be nice,” Malaya said, refusing to be cowed.
“I don’t need you to be nice. I need you to behonest. Can you be honest, little human?” Kronos asked in a condescending tone.
“No woman wants to get married dressed like a criminal, especially when she’s innocent and has been framed,” Malaya said in a controlled voice. “Kayog doesn’t need to tell me that you are reluctant to have me as a wife. The coldness of your ‘welcome’ has made your feelings abundantly clear. But whether you want me or not doesn’t change the fact that marrying you is my only chance to survive this mess and hopefully get justice. So if that means I have to bend over backward to make my presence tolerable to you, I will do it. And that includes casting aside my childhood dream of marrying in the traditional gown of my people.”
My heart swelled with pride at my baby for standing up for herself. Kronos studied her features for a few seconds before smirking again.
“Well, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked in a taunting voice.
“Actually yes, it was,” Malaya snarled, angry tears welling in her eyes. “It was extremely hard, and it’s fucking humiliating. I may not be a saint, but I’m not a goddamn criminal. Yet here I am, having to choose between getting slaughtered by actual criminals inside Dakon’s Sector, or marrying a man who clearly has nothing but contempt for me. And I have no choice but to take the abuse with a fucking smile if I want to live. All this because a corrupt Obosian judge is empowered to pursue his life of crime with all impunity. Is that an honest enough answer for you?”
And that was when the shift I thought would never happen finally occurred.
Kronos recoiled and stared at Malaya with a stunned expression throughout her diatribe. He studied her face, and then his gaze slightly went out of focus as he peered at her soul. The shock coursing through him felt like an earthquake. His genuine belief that she was just a despicable criminal trying to dodge accountability came crashing down. His entire world view of his own people being incapable of crimes went up in flames.
In those few seconds, the Hell Lord went through the first four stages of grief, before looking at me with a flabbergasted expression. You’d think he was hoping I would reassure him by saying he saw wrong, that she was in fact the criminal he needed her to be.
But being my charming and diplomatic self, I lifted my chin with the most obnoxiously smug expression I could muster. It was nearly orgasmic watching Kronos scrunch his face while choking on the foulest piece of humble pie in the universe.
For all that, a deep sense of peace and relief washed over me when he gestured for the guard—who had still been waiting inside the shuttle—to leave. Malaya radiated the same relief upon realizing that Kronos had thus confirmed he would keep her instead of shipping her to Dakon’s Sector.
The Hell Lord took the box from me and gestured for Malaya to follow him.
“This way, then,” Kronos said in a grumpy tone.
She gaped at his receding back before casting a confused look at me. An incommensurable amount of paternal pride swelled within me. I could see so much of Linsea’s strength in her. A billion words burned my tongue, but I swallowed them back. Instead, I clapped in a silent applause and jerked my head towards Kronos to tell her to get going. That snapped Malaya out of her shocked daze, and she hastened after him.
Isobel gently caressed the side of my shoulder in a comforting gesture once they both disappeared inside the house. I smiled at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze of gratitude. In the minutes that followed, I felt the gradual shift in Kronos as he slowly came to terms with the fact that Malaya truly was his mate and an innocent victim who deserved his protection.
Wanting the perfect spot to hold the special ceremony Isobel had helped me prepare for my daughter, we walked down the ramp to the main terrace and chose a spot by the stunning pool that ran the length of the immense balcony, which overlooked the lush forest of Kronos’s Sector.
The sudden surge of lust emanating from him shortly before they both came out of the house struck me hard. The possessive and protective dad in me wanted to smack him for it. But the rational matchmaker in me understood that this was great. With any other couple, I always smiled when that first spark of attraction ignited between them. Seeing her walk towards us, looking breathtaking in the dress chosen by her mother, she explained everything.
Emotion choked me at the wave of joy Malaya projected the moment Isobel retrieved the Veil and the Cord used as part of a traditional Filipino wedding. I couldn’t officially stand here as the father of the bride, but I proudly played the role of Ninong instead—the godfather of the couple’s wedding.
Throughout the ceremony, Kronos softened a bit more for Malaya as he infused himself with her emotions and the beauty of her soul. By the time we were done, he had fully made his peace with it and accepted her as his wife. Despite my lingering annoyance that he resisted so long before seeing the light, the beautiful harmony of their souls filled my heart with joy. He would take care of my baby and protect her.
“You have gone through some truly difficult and frightening times. But those hardships had a purpose, and it was to bringyou here to this male,” I said. “There is absolutely no question in my mind that you two are soulmates. He’s a good male. And together, you will accomplish great things and save many innocents.”
“Thank you. Thank you for everything,” Malaya said, her voice full of emotion.
To my shock, Malaya threw herself into my arms. My surprise gave way to a tsunami of love that nearly had me come undone. How I had ached to hug my baby again. I returned her embrace, my wings wrapping around her before rubbing the side of my beak on her temple. I wanted to hold her forever, sing for her, and tell her how much her daddy loved her. But I forced myself to let go before I betrayed the secret I could never share with her without sounding insane.
As we went through the last formalities, hope filled my heart. Although a difficult road still lay ahead, this time, we would prevail.
Naturally, things didn’t go as smoothly or easily as they should have. Discovering that Malaya nearly died only a few days after her wedding almost sent me on a murderous rampage. Of all the things I could have feared, an assassination attempt never popped up on the list.
Being forced to sit on the sideline while my baby’s life fell apart was driving me insane. With the deadline quickly approaching for her and Kronos to come up with proof of Judge Wuras’s foul play and no leads to follow, I began planning to break her out of Molvi before it was too late.
And then the breakthrough we had started losing hope would ever occur was handed to us from the most improbable source.It was all there, the culprits, the business, and enough evidence to put away the entire crew involved in this massive network of corruption led by Judge Wuras’s father. Except, we couldn’t access the key elements that would make sure they couldn’t get away with it.
I angrily paced my living room while Linsea frowned at the vidscreen where Maeve and Tedrick had joined our vidcall from various locations.
