"Why... why would you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Why would you trust me?" she clarified while continuing to watch him closely.

"I mean... we barely know each other, so why would you trust me enough to give me access to the Archon Group? Don’t you fear that I might use the information I gain from the company to advance Van Empire and push it to the top instead?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

A brief silence settled over the car before he asked evenly, "Would you do that?"

"No," Aliana admitted honestly. "But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t. After all, becoming number one has been my goal for as long as I can remember, so why?" she pressed again, her eyes never leaving him.

"I thought I already explained my reasoning in front of your parents," Gavriel replied calmly.

Aliana thought about it for a moment before finally asking, "So... all of this is just for the public, then? So people won’t think this marriage is a sham?"

Gavriel’s eyes briefly shifted toward her for a second before he silently returned his focus to the road ahead.

When he neither denied her assumption nor gave any indication that she was wrong, Aliana felt something strange and unpleasant settle quietly inside her chest.

Disappointment.

’What exactly were you expecting him to say, Ali?’ she scoffed inwardly before immediately scolding herself. ’That there’s something more to this than what he already told you?’

She let out a quiet breath before mentally forcing herself back into reality.

’You should know better than to become one of those women who start emotionally clinging to a man just because something happened between them.’

Her fingers curled slightly against her lap. ’Right... I’ll never become one of those women.’

’It is true that he will be my husband, and this is not a contract marriage. That being said, it is also far from a normal marriage to begin with. Even though it has not been said out loud, it is still transactional in the end.

I needed his help and protection from the supernatural world out there, and he... maybe he simply needed a wife for the public, which is why he went through with this. There is no love between us... not even the infatuation that usually marks the beginning of a normal relationship. What we do have is lust... pure lust that we feel for each other, nothing more and nothing less. So don’t be a fool. Don’t let your walls down now.’

With that, Aliana took a deep breath as though sealing away the thoughts she had just forced herself to accept before finally turning her gaze toward the window beside her.

The earlier confusion and faint trace of happiness she had felt after leaving Victorian Heights had now completely faded away. Replaced by a strange emptiness and quiet disappointment sitting heavily inside her chest. Emotions that Gavriel could distinctly feel radiating from her as he sat next to her.

When she stopped looking at him altogether, Gavriel finally shifted his gaze away from the road to glance at her instead. Only to catch the blankness lingering in her eyes through the reflection on the glass window.

A sight that he immediately disliked.

Truth be told, when she had asked why he would grant her the absolute rights of a traditional wife, he hadn’t possessed a clear answer himself.

Gavriel simply despised the thought of her being treated as anything less than his equal.

After all, she was going to be his bride. His wife.

Even if she were merely a human, he refused to let the weight and power of that title be diminished in the slightest.

He could not fully comprehend why he felt so protective of it, but he knew it was vital.

In his world, that title alone would grant her an unparalleled level of safety. Yet, he was equally aware that the position would draw the dangerous attention of entities she was never meant to face.

It was a double-edged sword, a calculated risk. And despite knowing that better than anyone else...

He still chose to place that title upon her the moment he proposed marriage.

He needed everyone to be acutely aware that even though she was a human, she was still his wife. That, he would not take kindly to anyone daring to hover around her or attempting to cross the line under the assumption that she was his wife only in name alone. This rule applied not only to the beings of the underworld but also to the humans who so often took things at face value.

In that sense, her theory about all of this being a public show was partially correct, which was precisely why he had chosen to remain silent.

As for why he had asked her to marry him in the first place, that was a question he still could not answer.

All he knew was that he wanted to possess her.... to tie her to him so securely that she would never wish to escape, ensuring no one else could ever lay claim to her.

He simply wanted her.

And that hunger had only intensified now that he had caught a fleeting taste of her.

His blood ran hot in his veins, fueled by her proximity in the quiet confines of the car.

Her intoxicating scent of roses made him heady, inviting dark, depraved thoughts of exactly what he wanted to do to her.... actions he had been so close to executing in the privacy of her bedroom before her parents interrupted them.

He still wanted her, and it was taking every ounce of his legendary control to hold himself back.

But what Gavriel failed to realise was that even as his primal desires threatened to overwhelm him, his inner darkness remained quiet, as if entirely pacified by Aliana’s presence.

It still stirred with excitement whenever his thoughts strayed in a dangerous direction.... thoughts he fought to suppress just to keep her safe from him. Yet, those impulses were no longer violent with bloodlust, nor were they thirsty to consume another soul.

Instead, the beast waited patiently, like a creature wanting to unwrap a gift it had anticipated for a lifetime, quietly influencing Gavriel to give in.

This quiet temptation only made it harder for him to maintain control and keep his rational mind in focus.

His knuckles turned white as his grip tightened around the steering wheel.

The car moved smoothly into the quieter section of the city, leading toward the Valentine Residence, while he whispered a single command to his own mind, ’Not yet.’