My eyes start burning at his words, memories of that time flooding back. “How do you know about that?” I ask in a shaky voice.
“I’m your father. I can see when my daughter is happy and when she is not. He was always the first choice as my son-in-law before he hurt you. And now, after what he has done in the past month, I want to give him another chance, and I want you to do the same.”
I wipe a stray tear from my cheek.
“Your life is very precious to us, dear. You don’t know how indebted we feel to him,” Mom says softly. “We will always be at peace knowing you married someone who can always keep you safe. And he does so much to make you happy.”
“It was all acting, Mom.”
“Why would he do that, sweetheart? Let’s say he was acting caring, why would he need to do that? It’s not like he can’t find another girl,” Mom says calmly.
“I… I don’t know. I’ll talk with you later. Bye.”
I cut the call and hold my head in my hands. If only he hadn’t saved me that night in the restaurant, my parents wouldn’t have been so insistent.
I look up. If only we hadn’t been attacked that night. I could have convinced my parents if he had saved me only once.
A thought strikes my mind. My eyes widen at the possibility of it being true. Dex said someone gave his stepbrother and stepmother false information, someone told them I was his girlfriend. His stepbrother wanted to kill me to make Dex suffer, and then his stepmother wanted revenge on both of us because her son was killed because of me.
Could it be possible that the person behind spreading this misinformation is Matleon? I shake my head. Matleon can’t be this much of an asshole.
No… hecanbe.
Matleon can be as much of an asshole as he wants to be. This man has no shame.
I get off the bed, stride toward the door, yank it open, and storm outside. I look around the living room and kitchen, he’s not there. I climb the stairs and reach his room, breathing heavily from anger and the run.
I knock on his door. He doesn’t open it. I knock again, harder this time. My fists are hurting, but I keep knocking, until the door finally opens.
Matleon stands in front of me, dripping wet, with only a towel around his waist. Water slides down his hair as he runs his fingers through it. I don’t give my brain a moment to awe at his wet look, his massive body, flexing biceps, and taut abs. I step inside.
“You told Dex’s stepbrother and mother that I’m his girlfriend?”
His brows rise, and then he smiles, looking impressed.
I grit my teeth and lunge forward, grabbing his wet neck as hard as I can. But it’s not even close to choking him.
“If you do it a few more times, I’ll start thinking you’re into a choking kink,” he teases.
“You fucking bastard! You put my life in danger just to play knight!” I shout.
He grabs my waist and pulls me into him, my hands lose their grip. “Your life was not in danger. You were safe.I was still afraid, though, but I had everything planned perfectly.”
“You aresick, Matleon. You don’t give a shit about my life or about me. You only care about satisfying your ownobstinacy.You’re aselfish, sick bastard. Ihateyou so much. I never want to see you again in my life. Just fucking leave me alone.”
I’m shouting, crying, hitting him, my fists landing uselessly against his chest.
The amusement drains from his face, his mouth pressing into a hard line. His grip tightens, tight enough to leave bruises. A sharp ache spreads across my waist and chest, evenly searing through me.
He grips my face with his other hand. “Not going to happen, Angel. You can hate me all you want. But I’m not leaving you. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never. You are mine.”
“I’m not going to marry you. You can do whatever you want,” I say, pushing weakly against his chest.
His grip tightens further. His face darkens, something cold and terrifying settling into his expression.
“You complained that because of me, you and your friend were attacked.”
He smiles.
