I MARRIED MY ENEMY FOR REVENGE

I was the one who said yes, but somehow, everything started slipping out of my hands.

Everyone became busy at once, discussing dates, venues, and arrangements as though my yes had opened a door they had all been waiting to walk through.

I pressed my palms together in my lap.

Saying yes had been my decision.

What happened after it apparently belonged to everyone else.

"…we should keep it simple but elegant," my mother was saying. She was already thinking ahead. Her voice carried a kind of excitement I hadn't heard in a long time.

Victoria Vale nodded. "Something elegant. Nothing excessive."

"And preferably soon," Richard added.

I looked at him.

"How soon?"

The conversation stopped.

Richard turned towards me. "Nothing has been decided."

"You just said soon."

"I meant there's no reason for a long engagement if both of you have agreed."

"Both of us agreed five minutes ago."

My father shifted forward. "Avalan, no one is trying to rush you."

"You're discussing dates already."

"We're discussing possibilities."

"That sounds suspiciously similar."

Victoria laughed quietly.

"She has a point."

Richard glanced at his wife.

"I said nothing had been decided."

"And yet you've already shortened their engagement," she replied.

"I suggested it."

"Very efficiently."

My mother smiled.

For a moment, the conversation became almost normal.

That was the strange part.

Seven years of anger sat between Shadric and me, while our parents argued about wedding arrangements as though the biggest problem in the room was how quickly they could organise one.

Victoria turned to her son.

"What do you think?"

Everyone looked at Shadric.

He had barely spoken since I accepted.

His attention moved to me.

"The timing should be Avalan's decision."

I stared at him.

Richard leaned back. "You have no preference?"

"I have several. None of them matters if she doesn't agree."

I hadn't expected that.

For some reason, I had expected him to support his father. To tell me there was some practical reason the marriage needed to happen quickly.

Instead, he had handed the decision back to me.

"Avalan?"

My father's voice cut through my thoughts, steady but careful.

When I looked up, he wasn't smiling with the others.

"What do you think?"

I forced a small nod, keeping my expression calm. "It's fine."

"What is?" Victoria asked.

"The wedding. The timing. Whatever everyone has apparently decided to organise before dinner."

My mother laughed.

"We haven't decided anything."

"You could have fooled me."

Richard looked at me. "Would you prefer a long engagement?"

I glanced at Shadric.

He was watching me again.

"No."

My parents exchanged a look with the Vales.

"Then we can discuss possible dates when we meet again," my father said.

That was apparently enough.

Within seconds, they were discussing dates again.

While everyone else planned around us, Shadric watched more than he spoke.

I couldn't decide whether he regretted asking or hadn't expected me to agree.

I looked up.

Shadric was already watching me.

For a second, neither of us looked away.

Then Victoria asked him something about the guest list, and he turned towards her.

He had proposed the marriage.

Yet somehow, I was the one who had surprised him.

Why?

"We should give them some room to make decisions themselves," my mother said.

"Finally," I muttered.

She ignored me.

"You two should spend some time together before the next meeting."

I looked at her.

"What?"

"Without all of us sitting around you."

"That sounds suspiciously like a date."

"It can be a conversation."

"With dinner," Victoria added.

"That sounds even more like a date."

My father laughed.

I looked around the room.

No one appeared to understand the absurdity of what they were suggesting.

Then I looked at Shadric.

He wasn't laughing.

"Do you have a problem with it?" I asked.

"No."

Of course he didn't.

"Neither do I."

The answer left my mouth before I could reconsider it.

My mother nodded, apparently satisfied.

But the reality came a second later.

I had just agreed to spend time alone with Shadric.

Just us.

Maybe that was exactly what I needed.

I couldn't marry a man I couldn't sit across a table from.

And if I wanted revenge, avoiding him would accomplish nothing.

By the time the discussion ended, our parents had agreed to meet again about the arrangements.

"I'll be in my room," I said, standing before anyone could stop me.

The moment I stepped into my room and closed the door behind me, the silence felt different.

I leaned against the door and closed my eyes.

I had done it.

I had agreed to marry Shadric Vale.

I pushed myself away from the door and walked towards the window, my movements slower now, as if my body were finally catching up with everything my mind had been trying to avoid.

I knew why I had said yes.

Revenge sounded simple when it existed only in my head.

Marrying him made it real.

I opened my eyes.

Could I live beside Shadric long enough to make him pay for what I believed he had done?

I had better learn.

Because humiliating him once would never be enough.

If I wanted him to understand what he had done to me, I needed more than anger.

And I would have to make sure seventeen-year-old Avalan didn't get in the way.

A soft knock came at the door.

My mother opened it halfway and poked her head inside.

"Can I come in?"

"You're already halfway here."

"I can go back out and try again."

Without intending to, I almost smiled.

"Stay."

My mother came closer.

"You surprised me downstairs."

"I surprised myself."

She observed me for a moment.

"We want this to be your decision. It's not something we arrange, and you feel forced to accept."

"You all seemed very prepared for me to say yes."

"Prepared isn't the same as deciding for you."

"You had wedding plans ready."

"We had a conversation ready. Your father has apparently turned that into an international summit."

I laughed before I could stop myself.

She sat beside me.

Then the humour disappeared.

"You and Shadric haven't spoken properly in years."

"No."

"And now you're marrying him."

"That appears to be how today is going."

"Avalan."

I knew that tone.

"What?"

"I know what happened between you two."

I looked at her.

"I know something happened between you two."

I looked at her.

"You know some of it."

"You made sure of that."

I looked away.

She was right.

After everything happened, I told my parents enough to explain why I wanted nothing to do with Shadric.

But not enough to make them understand what it had actually done to me.

"You stopped talking about him," she continued. "You didn't want anyone mentioning the Vales around you. Then, eventually, you behaved as though none of it mattered."

"It doesn't."

My mother was quiet.

I turned towards her.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't need to."

She reached for my hand.

"I don't need you to tell me what happened tonight. But I need you to be honest with yourself about why you said yes."

I pulled my hand away gently.

"Do you want me to refuse him?"

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

"Honesty."

For a moment, I couldn't answer.

Because that was exactly the question I didn't want to answer.

"That doesn't mean you have to go through with it if you're unsure," she continued. "You deserve to be happy, Avalan."

"I'm not changing my mind."

"That isn't what I asked."

I looked at her.

"Then what are you asking?"

"Whether marrying Shadric is something you actually want."

I couldn't give her the real answer.

"I'm going through with it."

My mother looked at me for another moment, then sighed and walked towards the door.

"You should be sure," she said before leaving.

The door closed behind her.

Shortly after, I heard it.

Footsteps.

They stopped outside my door.

A knock followed.

I didn't move.

I didn't need to ask who it was.

I already knew.

Shadric.

Seven years ago, I had run before he could explain anything.

This time, I wasn't running.

Another knock.

"Avalan."

His voice travelled through the door.

I crossed the room and wrapped my fingers around the handle.

If I was going to marry my enemy, I needed to figure out how to stand in the same room with him without letting the past control me.

I opened the door.

Shadric stood on the other side.

Alone.

"We need to talk."