Page 65 of Wintertime Love (Holiday 2)

Right now, I feel like I’ve been played with.

My heart is dangling on a fragile thread. I want to give Finn the benefit of doubt but seeing him just reminds me the arrogant look on that woman’s face who told me that Finn knew that he was intended for someone else.

In my eyes, right now, as I glare with fury stricken eyes at the man who’s wrapped himself around me so tight that I can’t breathe, a betrothal sounds as good as an engagement right now. The pain is suffocating me and I refuse to break, to cry as my soul withers at the idea that my first love might have just made a fool out of me, and I channel all that agony into anger.

“Betrothed, Finn?!” I snarl, stepping into his personal space, my hands fisted at my sides. “Isn’t that the type of thing you tell someone before you propose to them?!”

Chapter 12

Finn stares at me stupefied for a second before his eyes grow cold, his tone harsh as he asks, “Where did you hear that?”

I bare my teeth at him, ignoring the way that terrible look on his face makes my blood run cold. I’ve never seen him like this and for a moment, I lose my nerve. But I have never been one to bow down or let my fear rule my judgement. “Your fiancé showed up, wanting to see ‘the little tart that’s your flavor of the month,” I snap out. “She—”

“Elaine called you a whore?”

If I thought he looked scary before, the murderous glint in Finn’s eyes has me taking a step back, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

He takes advantage of that and steps towards me. “What else did ‘my fiancé say to you?” His voice is deceptively soft,

My anger evaporates in the face of the chilling fury in his eyes and I slowly realize that Finn has been hiding parts of himself from me. I can’t see any hint of the man who laughs as he traps me in his arms, stealing kisses from me, or the man who teases me so relentlessly. There is pure unadulterated rage in his eyes and a sliver of uncontrollable fear makes me tremble. Although I instinctively know he won’t hurt me. Yet, I’ve never seen him like this and I don’t know what do.

I open my mouth to say something, trying to reach for some of that anger that I had been filled with just moments ago but I can only find bewilderment and confusion.

This is not how a man who has just been called out for two-timing reacts.

Finn seems more furious that Elaine called me a tart.

I take a step back, retreating when he keeps coming towards me, his aura almost menacing. “What else did she say to you, Clara?”

Uh-oh. He used my name.

He’s really pissed.

“Is she really your fiancé?” I manage to at least whisper the words, trying to sort out this complicated tangle of emotions within me.

Finn stops in his tracks and studies me, then a forlorn expression flits over his face as he reaches out with both arms and drags my unresisting body into his embrace, sighing into my hair. “She’s not.”

His words surprise me. “But you just –“

He pulls away, enough so that he can see my face but keeps me imprisoned in his arms. There’s a stern look on his face, one that takes me aback.“I’m a manipulative bastard, I’ll admit. I’m possessive and annoying, and I do my level best to drive you insane. I’m capable of a lot of things, Clara. But the one thing I can never do is to hurt you. Elaine and I are not engaged. My grandmother decided this on her own, that I would marry into Elaine’s family. I told you before, she remembers the glory of the past days and she wants to retain the family name, to keep McCarthy bloodline pure.”

His grandmother sounds exhausting.

“Clara, this whole thing was decided a month after I was brought to live at the family estate. I wasn’t in the right state of mind then.”

I freeze.

His grandmother wouldn’t be that cruel?

He had just lost his mother and had been grieving. A sudden flare of anger rises in me at the thought of the callous woman who not only wouldn’t let him grieve, but also took advantage of his state to force a betrothal on him. She should have been someone who should have loved him and pampered him bit instead every time Finn opens his mouth to talk about her, he fans the flame of my hatred towards this woman.

Finn doesn’t seem to have noticed anything and he continues, “Elaine has been a constant visitor ever since and before I started college, I made it clear to her that I had no intention of carrying through with this betrothal. She wasn’t happy but she seemed to accept it after a while. We were still in touch every now and then because I had to come back to the estate to see my grandmother. It was when I was about to start my own business that she approached me, wanting to be an investor. I didn’t need her money but she wouldn’t listen. She wanted to become a business partner and have something of her own that she could be proud of. So, I agreed.”

“She’s your business partner as well?” I say, slowly, suddenly the entire picture coming into focus in front of my eyes.

&n

bsp; Elaine never intended to break of the betrothal. Smart woman that she was, she had decided to involve herself in Finn’s business as an excuse to spend more time with her and get him to fall in love with her.

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