Portia gasped.

Meanwhile, Gavriel elegantly placed his own cup down.

Grabbing a few tissues, he immediately slid closer to Ali and began rubbing soothing circles on her back to help her catch her breath while offering her the tissues to clean up.

All this while, Aliana’s parents were busy absorbing yet another shockwave Gavriel had casually thrown their way. However, the more they watched how effortlessly Gavriel moved to assist her, the more conflicting emotions swirled in their eyes.

They saw how Aliana did not reject his touch or pull away.

If anything, she subtly leaned into him, graciously accepting his care as she tried to compose herself. It was a side of their daughter they had never witnessed with any man before.

Though they had never officially met any of her romantic partners before Gavriel, they had always been acutely aware of the men she casually dated. Even when she encountered those men at social gatherings, she had always rejected their advances, firmly drawing a line the moment they tried to get close to her.

Alester was a sharp man. He was well aware that his daughter had never truly accepted any man into her heart until now. This was the exact reason he had insisted on her getting married. He had feared that at the rate Aliana was going, it would be a lonely road ahead for her.

But now, as he watched Gavriel sitting beside his daughter so naturally, so comfortably, a thought slowly began forming within Alester’s mind.

’Could it be... that there’s actually something more to this?’

Even though Alester still harboured countless doubts about the mysterious man, he could not deny the reality unfolding before his very eyes. And it surprised him completely.

But there was still much to be discussed, and Alester knew he could not draw conclusions just yet. He waited, watching his daughter finally compose herself before he continued.

"Ali? Is it true what he just said?" Alester asked.

Aliana took a deep breath before finally meeting his eyes. "Yes, it’s true."

"Oh my!" Portia’s eyebrows instantly shot upward at her daughter’s admission because she genuinely never thought she would live to see the day Aliana willingly approached a man first when it had always been the other way around.

Almost immediately, her green eyes began sparkling with renewed interest as her gaze repeatedly shifted between the couple, who rather sat snugly. Given that Gavriel had not moved away since shifting close to her, his hand rested possessively on her back.

Alester, on the other hand, opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, completely at a loss for words, before finally blurting out, "Why would you?"

Aliana caught the utterly bewildered look on her father’s face and could imagine exactly why he was reacting that way.

Her eyes immediately narrowed toward the man seated beside her, the very person responsible for casually dropping this explosive piece of information onto her parents without warning.

But Gavriel merely responded with a devilishly calm smile before turning his attention back toward her parents.

"You see, Father," he began smoothly, "she was quite taken with me from our very first meeting back in Karden, Spain."

Gavriel’s eyes drifted back to her with a knowing look, and Aliana knew precisely what he actually meant by those words.

It was technically true that they couldn’t stay away from each other, but only because of the absurd supernatural occurrences that had turned her life into a living hell, practically forcing her into his orbit.

At that thought, Aliana released a quiet sigh before reaching for her teacup again, only to suddenly pause midway before slowly placing it back onto the table.

At this point, she knew better.

While the devil was speaking, there was absolutely no guarantee what outrageous thing might come out of his mouth next.

’Best to avoid turning into a human fountain again,’ she thought grimly.

And her instincts were spot on because what Gavriel said next nearly made her puke blood.

"After returning to Astoria," Gavriel continued smoothly, "she realised she could no longer live without me, so she asked me for a live-in relationship. But you see...."

His eyes finally drifted away from hers, shifting to the two thoroughly shell-shocked humans in front of him and added with a completely straight face.

"I am a little old-school about such things. So, I offered her marriage instead, since she truly wanted a live-in arrangement with me."

And this time, it was Portia and Alester’s turn to wisely place their teacups far away from them, exactly as Aliana had done.

The older couple exchanged a fleeting glance before turning their attention back to the man sitting across from them.

A singular thought formed in their heads, ’He does not look like an old-school kind of man at all!’

The corners of their eyes twitched faintly before their thoughts immediately spiralled toward a far more dangerous realisation.

’And if that’s true... then what exactly was he doing alone with our daughter inside her bedroom earlier?!’

Unfortunately, there was absolutely no socially acceptable way for them to ask that question out loud.

So instead, both parents slowly turned their heads toward their daughter and stared directly into her eyes with expressions that practically screamed, ’Explain!’

At this point, Aliana could physically feel a headache beginning to form.

When she had first decided to get this introduction over with, she hadn’t realised just how mentally exhausting it was going to be. Had she known, she would have gladly packed her bags and fled to Neverland.

Knowing that running away was no longer an option, she decided it was time to put an end to this conversation.

"Mom, Dad, whatever Gavriel has said until now is true. I know it’s all a little... hard to believe, but this is exactly how the events occurred."

Her body stiffened slightly as she continued, "I approached him because... I like him, and I want to be with him. He may seem a little... odd to you..."

As she said the words, she could feel Gavriel’s eyes burning holes into her side. Still, she kept her focus entirely on her parents.

"But he’s someone I can truly be myself around. I don’t have to constantly pretend or present a polished version of myself just to please him... and he doesn’t do that either."

As the words left her mouth, Aliana slowly realised she was speaking nothing but the truth, and her parents saw it too.

Her voice grew more sincere as she pressed on. "I feel safe with him, and we have the kind of understanding that I know is needed in a marriage. Dad... you told me once that no one is perfect. That you chose to look past those imperfections, and I have decided to do the same."

Her light grey eyes moved to Gavriel’s, only to find that he was already staring back at her with silent intrigue.

The amusement was completely gone from his expression by now.

This time, his gaze shone with genuine curiosity as he heard her say in a much softer voice.

"Gavriel is the person I’ve chosen to look beyond the flaws..." she admitted softly.

"And I hope he’ll choose to do the same for me so that we can build a healthy foundation for this thing called... marriage."