“There’s one way for you to prove you’re telling the truth and stay alive,” I said and she blinked up at me, silently prompting me to go on. “Marry me and live under my watch until the truth surfaces.”
She gazed at me, unmoving, like she didn’t hear what I’d just said.
Chapter Five
Alina’s POV
The tears didn’t stop even after he left the room, his silence a sharp contrast to my angry yelling. I couldn’t stop myself from delving into the newly-opened Siroc chapter—not that it had ever been closed for very long at any time.
Taking controlled breaths to calm myself, I folded my hands as my mind drifted.
“Siroc, stop. Come on, that’s not fair!” I called out to him as I ran to catch up with him.
It was afternoon and the cool spring air was making running a hassle, especially when my dress impeded movement. He had suddenly declared a race to the back of the old church right in the middle of a conversation.
It wasn’t the first time he pulled such a stunt; one would think he lived on competition.
“What’s not fair? We started at the same time, baby!” he called back, his voice coming out in huffs.
I kept running, knowing fully well that I couldn’t get to our destination before him.
“You already had the intent; I was caught unaware,” I argued, still panting, when I eventually joined him on the wide clearing behind the brick building. “Cheat.”
“Alright, alright,” he conceded, taking my hand, leading us closer to the building itself. “I just wanted to bring you here. How else would—”
“Who put this here? See,” I interrupted, my voice low with suspicion as I pointed at a tray of neatly arranged drinks and several snacks covered with a transparent yellow cloth.
“You had to jump the gun,” he answered, sighing dramatically, leading me closer to the tray that was nearly touching the wall of the building.
“It was you?!” I asked, running ahead of him in excitement and surprise.
“So, I know it’s not the biggest thing for this special day, but,” he started, but stopped himself as if something suddenly occurred to him.
“Alina,” he called, making me look up from where I squatted by the tray.
“Hmm?”
“What day is today?”
“What day? It’s Thursday. Didn’t we pass by students coming back from school just now?”
“It’s the 28th,” he remarked, his pointed gaze on me.
“So?”
“We’re in May,” he went on. “28th of May.”
My eyes dilated as I understood what exactly he was talking about. The special day he was referring to. The reason he did the snack tray thing and brought us here.
My birthday.
“It’s my birthday,” I uttered, rising to my feet. My voice was barely louder than a whisper when I added, “I forgot.”
“I thought you intentionally didn’t mention it because you were being your usual selfless self and you didn’t want to pressure me. It didn’t cross my mind until now that you might actually not remember,” he explained, taking both of my hands in his.
“I forgot. You remembered,” I pointed out, gazing up at him with teary eyes.
“Seeing you cry makes me sad, you know that. Don’t cry,” he implored, and I blinked, nodding. A trail of tears escaped my left eye, and he wiped them off with his thumb.“And why would I ever forget your birthday? You’re my best girl. In the whole world.”
