“You deserve better than gossip. Better than scandal.”
He stepped closer, close enough that she felt the heat radiating from him.
“If there is even a whisper about you,” he said, “I will silence it.”
Her stomach plunged.
He reached out, brushing a stray curl that had fallen against her cheek, his fingers warm, unbearably gentle.
“Marry me, Isabella.” He repeated the offer from earlier.
She could barely breathe.
Behind her, Lady Kendrick let out a small, triumphant sigh. But Isabella could not speak; she could only stare at the man who had turned her world inside out. The man who had touched her like he would burn the world for her.
The man who was now offering her marriage.
Tension crackled in the narrow corridor, and Isabella swallowed hard.
“Cassian…” she whispered, unable to give a coherent reply.
Voices rose sharply at the end of the corridor, too sharp, too familiar, and Isabella felt her stomach knot as her parents turned the corner.
Christine’s eyes widened at the sight of Cassian and Isabella standing so close, Lady Kendrick hovering just behind them with an expression of forced serenity. But her father did not hide his fury.
“What,” he demanded, his voice low and trembling with outrage, “is going on here?” he clenched his jaw, angrier than Isabella had ever seen him before.
Christine tried to place a calming hand on his arm. “Dearest?—”
“No,” he snapped, stepping forward, eyes darting between Isabella and Cassian. “Someone will explain this at once.”
Isabella’s breath lodged in her throat. She looked briefly at her father, whose face carried both anger and fear, then at Christine’s troubled expression… and finally at Cassian.
He met her eyes, steady, resolute, giving her that look again.
What does it mean?
She found herself spiraling again as the moment from the balcony came flooding back to her memory. He was the one who had gotten her into this mess.
The one who said it was the only solution.Her pulse stuttered. Her world tilted. But she lifted her chin.
“I accept, Your Grace,” she said softly but firmly.
Christine gasped, and her father’s head snapped toward her.
“Accept what, Isabella?” he asked, voice shaken.
Cassian turned fully toward him.
“I have made an offer of marriage to your daughter,” he said plainly, his voice quiet but carrying the authority of a command. “And she has accepted.”
Her father blinked as though the words struck him physically. Christine’s hand flew to her mouth. Lady Kendrick looked like she might faint with relieved triumph.
Cassian continued, “I shall contact you, Sir, with the terms of the marriage contract. Everything will be handled promptly. You may expect my solicitor before the end of the week.”
Edwin sputtered.
“Marriage?”
