Winning Her Heart Back (Emelie and William) novel Chapter 834

Elias let out a dry chuckle. "Do I need to have some hidden agenda to marry you? Couldn't it be just because I like you?"

Ashley stared at him, her expression blank.

"You like me?" she asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Elias shot back, his eyes wild with defiance.

He continued, "What? You think you're not attractive enough? Don't have a good body? That you couldn't catch a man's eye? Or do you think I'm so desperate to marry you because I had nowhere else to go?

"What about Will and Jayden? Did you think they all just vanished off the face of the earth? That they couldn’t give me a place to crash for a few days? You think I came all the way to your place just to cling to you?"

Ashley's mind spun at his sudden barrage of words. "What are you trying to say?"

Elias stepped closer, closing the distance between them.

He was tall, and the narrow bathroom only amplified his presence. He cast a shadow over Ashley, forcing her to focus on nothing but him.

"What I'm saying is that I've been into you since I was a teen. I wanted you. Wanted to kiss you, to have you in bed with me. Does that make it clear enough?" Elias said, each word sharp and deliberate.

Ashley bit down on her lip, speechless.

He continued, "If you still don't believe me, let me make it clearer. I was 16 the first time I saw you. You'd just gotten into college, and my parents invited you over for dinner.

"You were walking in the garden with my mom, wearing that white floral dress with your hair pinned up on one side. I remember the wind blowing through the leaves as you looked up at me."

His voice dropped to a low, intense murmur, and his gaze darkened. "That night, it was my first time having that type of dream."

Ashley couldn't remember any of it since it had happened so long ago.

Elias cupped her face in his hands. "The doctors said that even though you were in a coma, you could still sense things around you. For three years, I told you 'I love you' every single day. Did you hear me?"

Ashley tried to look away, but Elias firmly turned her face back.