Chapter 81: I Don’t Agree

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: I Don’t Agree

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

The night air felt colder now.

The hunting lodge seemed impossibly distant.

The music.

The laughter.

The voices.

All of it belonged to another world.

Not this one.

Not here.

Not now.

Adrian stood motionless.

Marian could almost see the thoughts moving behind his eyes.

The shock.

The hurt.

The understanding.

One after another.

Piece by piece.

Until the truth finally settled.

Cassian.

Not a stranger.

Not some nobleman she’d met recently.

Cassian.

His cousin.

The name seemed to echo endlessly between them.

Marian’s chest tightened.

Because suddenly she realized something.

This was not simply about her.

Or Adrian.

Or even the engagement.

Cassian existed in this conversation too.

Whether any of them wanted that or not.

The silence stretched.

Then Adrian laughed.

Once.

A short sound.

Almost disbelieving.

Marian hated that laugh.

Because it sounded wounded.

"Eighteen years."

His voice remained calm.

Too calm.

The words were neither accusation nor plea.

Simply fact.

"Eighteen years."

Marian lowered her gaze.

She knew.

Gods, she knew.

Every memory from that afternoon remained painfully clear.

The birthdays.

The festivals.

The arguments.

The promises.

The future everyone had assumed would happen.

Including herself.

Once.

"Adrian—"

"No."

The interruption came immediately.

Not loud.

Not angry.

Final.

Marian froze.

Because Adrian had never interrupted her before.

Not like that.

Never.

Slowly she looked up.

Adrian was watching her.

His expression unreadable.

And somehow that frightened her more than anger would have.

"You don’t get to do that."

Marian blinked.

"What?"

His jaw tightened.

Barely.

Just enough.

"You don’t get to stand here and decide everything by yourself."

The words landed heavily between them.

Marian stared.

Because that wasn’t what she expected.

Not at all.

"I wasn’t deciding alone."

The answer came before she could stop it.

The moment the words left her mouth, Adrian understood exactly what she meant.

Cassian.

The realization flashed briefly across his face.

Gone almost immediately.

But not before Marian saw it.

Something sharp.

Something dangerous.

The first glimpse of genuine anger.

Not directed at her.

At someone else.

Adrian looked away.

Toward the darkness beyond the path.

As though gathering himself.

As though trying very hard not to say something he would regret.

When he spoke again, his voice was quieter.

Which somehow made it worse.

"Does he love you?"

The question stole the air from Marian’s lungs.

Not because she didn’t know the answer.

Because she did.

Cassian’s voice echoed in her memory.

You are.

I don’t think I’ve been standing anywhere else for a very long time.

Heat and pain mixed together inside her chest.

Then she nodded.

Once.

"Yes."

Adrian closed his eyes.

The movement lasted only a second.

Yet Marian felt as though she had watched something break.

When his eyes opened again, they were different.

Not colder.

Clearer.

As though the last remaining doubt had finally disappeared.

For a moment neither spoke.

Then Adrian laughed again.

The sound was soft.

Humorless.

"So that’s it."

Marian’s heart sank.

Because it wasn’t.

It wasn’t that simple.

Nothing about this was simple.

"Adrian—"

"No."

Again.

That same refusal.

That same certainty.

And suddenly Marian realized something alarming.

Adrian wasn’t listening to be convinced.

He wasn’t listening to understand.

He was listening because he needed the truth.

And now that he had it—

Everything had changed.

"You think this ends here?"

The question was quiet.

Steady.

Terrifying.

Marian stared at him.

Because she had.

Hadn’t she?

Not the consequences.

Not the heartbreak.

But this conversation.

She had thought the hardest part was telling him.

Adrian shook his head slowly.

As though reading her thoughts.

As though rejecting them.

"You tell me you’ve fallen in love with someone else."

His gaze locked onto hers.

"You tell me you’re ending eighteen years."

Every word landed harder than the last.

"And that’s it?"

Marian opened her mouth.

Then closed it again.

Because suddenly she didn’t know what to say.

The certainty she’d carried into this conversation was beginning to crack.

Not because she regretted her choice.

She didn’t.

Not for a second.

But because she had never imagined Adrian would react like this.

In the novel—

The story she remembered—

Adrian eventually chose Elena.

Adrian let Marian go.

Adrian moved forward.

Simple.

Predictable.

Clean.

Yet standing before her now was a man she barely recognized.

Not because he had changed.

Because she had never understood him.

Not truly.

She had assumed eighteen years meant less than fate.

Less than destiny.

Less than the arrival of a heroine.

She had been wrong.

Terribly wrong.

"Eighteen years."

Adrian repeated the words once more.

And this time Marian understood.

It wasn’t an argument.

It wasn’t a weapon.

It was the truth.

Eighteen years of loving someone did not disappear in a single conversation.

Eighteen years of imagining a future did not vanish because she asked it to.

For the first time since arriving in this world—

Marian felt afraid.

Not of Adrian’s title.

Not of his anger.

Not of what he could do.

Of certainty.

Because Adrian looked at her as though losing her was not an option.

As though letting go had never even crossed his mind.

And suddenly Marian understood.

This was never going to end with a single conversation.

"Adrian..."

His name felt fragile.

A plea.

A warning.

She wasn’t sure which.

Adrian looked at her for a long moment.

Then something in his expression closed.

Not completely.

Just enough.

Enough that Marian immediately knew she had lost something tonight.

Not his affection.

Not his love.

Something else.

Trust.

Without another word, Adrian turned.

And began walking away.

Fast.

Purposefully.

Marian blinked.

Confused.

Because that wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

"Adrian."

No response.

He didn’t stop.

Didn’t slow.

Didn’t look back.

A cold feeling settled in her stomach.

"Adrian."

This time he paused.

Only briefly.

His back remained turned toward her.

The distance between them suddenly felt enormous.

Then he spoke.

"Go back to the lodge, Marian."

The words were calm.

Too calm.

And after eighteen years, she knew exactly what that meant.

Adrian was angry.

Truly angry.

The kind of anger that became quiet.

Then he started walking again.

And suddenly Marian understood where he was going.

There was only one person Adrian wanted to see right now.

Only one.

Cassian.

Her heart dropped.

Because Adrian wasn’t walking away from the conversation.

He was walking toward another one.

And for the first time that night, panic truly set in.