Page 32 of Eternal Obsession
I addressed the tailor and gesticulated toward the doorway. “Please,” I said.
The tailor quickly withdrew.
“He hasn’t finished,” Alex said.
“We need privacy. There is something I have to tell you,” I said, picking up objects within the room, looking at them nervously, and then placing them down again.
“What?” Alex said.
“Oh God, Alex, I am so sorry—”
“I’m sure it isn’t as bad as—”
“I need you to remain calm,” I said.
“My horse?”
“No.”
“What then? Tell me?”
“You are to marry Lady Theron.”
Alex laughed. “That would be absolutely—” He caught my expression in the mirror and spun round. “This is a joke?”
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head.
“You’re serious?”
“I am.”
“This is not a cruel prank?”
“Please, it’s for your own good. Father and I have decided—”
“Father and you? Since when has it been Father and you? I will not marry her. Call it off immediately. I do not even know her.”
“I cannot. It is done and set.”
“Excuse me?”
I had to be strong for us both, to behave in a manner that set an example of authority. As the eldest, it was my duty to shoulder this.
“Jadeon, say something.”
“Emily comes from a noble family.”
“That’s not what I meant. This doesn’t sound like you.” He wasn’t wrong.
“This is not about me, and it is not up for debate.”
“You know this is madness.”
“I should have chosen better words . . .”
“You marry her.”
“These things are not to be tampered with. In time, you will understand.”
