Forbidden Heat novel Chapter 92

The worst part out of all of this was that you couldn’t ask the dead questions to find out the truth, I thought to myself, as Reiner escorted me to my bedroom. It was close to dinner time and today Lucien was home. Well, it’s not like I can keep avoiding him forever. I didn’t even bother to change for dinner.

I sat down at the dinner table wearing the same long black dress that I wore to visit my mother’s grave. I apologized silently to the chef and all the kitchen staffs in my head. I’m sure they did a wonderful job crafting all the dishes that made part of our full course dinner, but to me, it just tasted like dry sand.

Lucien was silent as he ate his food. I wonder when it all started. When did I stop looking forward to spending time alone with Lucien at dinner? When did I start to avoid having dinner alone with him? If I knew, would I be able to do something to fix this or was it already too late?

“Is there a way to cancel your wedding with Angela?” I spat out my question out of the blue. Lucien choked on his food and Reiner winced in the corner of the room. I’m not surprised that they’re surprised by my abrupt and direct question. I was surprised at myself and my courage too.

“No. Unfortunately, there isn’t,” Lucien replied after he had recovered from his shock and his choking subsided.

“How long do you need to be married to her? If this is a business contract you signed with the elders, then there surely is an expiration date, right? Or did you forget to negotiate for that clause?” I asked as I put down my silver knife with a clang.

“Two years. I can divorce her after two years,” Lucien replied with a sigh.

Two years…that’s much longer than I thought. I was hoping for something along the lines of three to six months. Now that I know that Lucien does not love her, the main troubling thing was that I felt that Angela truly wants Lucien as her real husband. Not just a husband in name by business contract. I don’t think Lucien knows this and I am certain that he has no plans on how to handle her. I need to come up with some plan…

“Does she need to move in here with us? Or can she live somewhere else?” I asked further for more details.

“She needs to move into the mansion…” Lucien started to explain.

“…but she doesn’t need to sleep in the same room as you do, right? My mother slept in a different room when she was married to you,” I interjected. If I can’t keep her out of this mansion, I can at least keep her away from Lucien’s bed.

“Reiner, please leave,” Lucien spoke to Reiner in a low voice; however, his wonderfully green eyes did not leave mine.

I heard the door opening and then closing. Reiner must have left the room already.

“Why did you ask Reiner to leave?” I asked curtly.

“Because I am not going to let him find out about our relationship. Do not forget that Reiner is a high-ranking butler from the main house,” Lucien explained in a tight voice.

“But I didn’t mention anything about our relationship…” I argued back. I don’t believe that Reiner will report about us to the Elders. Plus, he already knew what Lucien did to me that day in this dining room. He was the one who cleaned by body after the ordeal so…

“You were acting jealous,” Lucien stated with an edge to his voice.

“No…I wasn’t,” I denied. At least, I don’t think I was.

Lucien sighed as he stood from his seat and strode towards me.

“Face me,” he ordered as he whipped the chair that I was sitting on to face him. He leaned in close as his arms held both sides of the chair, preventing my escape. I gulped.