Page 46 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

“I dinnae wish tae dance with ye,” Freya said without hesitation.

For a moment, Evander froze, surprised by the rejection. He recovered quickly, though, huffing out a soft laugh as he stepped a little closer. “Surely, ye cannae be angry with me still. I apologized fer what I said, Freya. Obviously, I didnae mean any o’ it. I was… upset when I spoke like that.”

Over Evander’s shoulder, Lilith saw Aaden approach and stood, hoping that he could drag his cousin away and defuse the situation before the guests found out something was wrong.

“I said I willnae dance with ye,” Freya insisted. “Leave.”

Before either sister could react, Evander grabbed Freya’s hand, trying to pull her to him. Lilith didn’t give him much of a chance, though, before her own fingers wrapped around Evander’s wrist, squeezing with all her strength.

“Let her go,” she said, the command coming out of her lips like a growl. “Ye’re naething but a pitiful, cruel, weak man.”

Evander scoffed, his hold on Freya remaining strong. “Shut yer mouth,” he hissed, just as Aaden’s hand curled over his shoulder. The rage in Aaden’s eyes was unmistakable, but Evander wasn’t clever enough to put an end to it and step away. “Dae ye think me cousin will save ye? He doesnae even like ye. He’s only doin’ this because me faither forced him. He never wished tae wed ye.”

Lilith’s blood ran cold in her veins. That had been her biggest fear all that time: finding out that all the lies Aaden was telling were a product of a bigger lie, and that he never truly loved her but was rather after her fortune. She had even expressed that fear to him, only for him to reassure her his interest was in her and not the gold and the land that her father could give him.

“Is that true?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

It took Aaden several seconds to respond and that was more than enough of an answer for Lilith. Her stomach dropped and it felt as though her ribs were cracking under the weight of his lie. Tears gathered at the corners of Lilith’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall, rapidly blinking them away.

How could he dae this tae me? How could I let this happen at all?

It was all her fault, she thought. It was all her fault for trusting him, for opening her heart to him like she had never done for anyone else. She should have known that he wasn’t any different than the other suitors who had come to her doors. Why would he be? All they wanted was wealth and a pretty wife.

Everyone around them was just as frozen as she was, Freya’s mouth hanging open, Evander grinning smugly. Aaden had turned pale, his face coated in a thin sheen of sweat.

“It isnae like that,” Aaden said, eyes wide with something akin to terror. “Let me explain⁠—”

“I’ve heard enough from the both o’ ye,” Lilith said, glaring at him and Evander. Before anyone could say anything else, she pushed past them all, then past through the crowd, all the way to the grand doors, spilling out into the courtyard. Behind her, she could hear her name being called, the voices almost drowned out by everyone else who was wondering what had happened.

Lilith took no time to catch her breath, though in her grief and her anger, all the air had rushed out of her. Instead, she ran to the stables, feet thudding against the ground with every step, her shoes sinking into the mud. The rain fell relentlessly on her, soaking her dress and her hair, but she paid none of it any mind. She didn’t care if she was going to ruin her clothes. She didn’t care that it was cold out and she had nothing but that dress to protect her from the falling rain, which was already heavy and soggy with it.

All that mattered was that she escape from that place. She couldn’t bear the thought of ever laying eyes on Aaden again after this.

“Prepare a horse fer me, please,” she told the stable boy as she opened the door, shivering from head to toe. The cold was starting to get to her, but there was no going back now.

“Me lady!” the young boy said, jumping to his feet. “It is rainin’. Where will ye go in this weather?”

“Please,” Lilith repeated, and the boy must have heard something in her voice or seen something in her broken expression, as he threw himself into the task. Soon, her horse was ready and Lilith thanked the boy before she left, furiously riding away from the castle and down the path.

She had no destination. It didn’t matter. Her only goal was to leave that place, that man, behind.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Ye’re a bastard,” Aaden hissed as he shoved Evander away from Freya. At the commotion, everyone had turned to look at them and Cameron, along with Laird Stewart and Ruadh, were quickly approaching. Aaden wasn’t going to stay there long enough, though, to give any explanations to any of them. He only pointed at Freya, glaring at his cousin as he walked away. “Stay away from her.”

Without waiting for any response, Aaden rushed after Lilith. He didn’t know if there was anything he could do to salvage this, to prove to her that even though it had all started as a ploy to get her father’s wealth for Ruadh, he had truly fallen in love with her despite his best efforts. He would never forgive himself if he didn’t at least try, though, so he followed her, catching glimpses of her dress as she moved through the hallways and out into the courtyard.

It was there that he lost her. Even as he frantically looked around, the heavy rain and the dwindling light of the sun obstructing his view, she was nowhere to be seen. Aaden ran around the courtyard, searching everywhere he could think of: the gardens, the training grounds, her favorite spot to shoot arrows, but she wasn’t there, and the more time passed, the closer he was to losing her forever. Laird Stewart wouldn’t hesitate to throw them out of the castle now, surely enraged. Even if Ruadh tried to appease him and claim that it was all a lie fabricated by Evander to anger Lilith, the disrespect would be too much for him to allow them to stay.

He had to find Lilith before that happened.

That fool, he has destroyed everythin’.

Despite the rage that coursed through him, the fear that bubbled up in his gut, there was a twisted satisfaction to be found in the fact that Ruadh would finally know that his son was nothing but an idiot, too selfish and uncaring to follow any plan. Ruadh had accused Aaden time and time again of being useless, but now Evander had proven himself to be the useless one out of the two.

Just as Aaden was about to head back inside, thinking that perhaps Lilith hadn’t gone out into the courtyard at all, he saw her whizz past on her horse, galloping out of the main gates. Cursing under his breath, he headed to the stables, startling the stable boy again.

Aaden didn’t even bother with a saddle, only putting on the reins before he jumped onto a horse and left in pursuit of Lilith. It was far from an easy ride, the ground soft and yielding under the horse’s hooves, the wind around him freezing and the rain weighing him down as it soaked into his clothes, but Aaden wouldn’t come to a stop until he had talked some sense into her.