Chapter 0311
Hannah
My fingers traced the delicate lace patterns on the pillowcase while my eyes wandered the floral wallpaper, picking out patterns that I had almost forgotten over the years. The sun streamed in through the open window, the sheer curtains billowing slightly in the wind.
Everything in this room was exactly as I had left it years ago. The soft pink duvet, the white furniture, the stuffed animals still arranged neatly on the window seat–it was all a testament to the girl I used to be.
Innocent, kindhearted, sweet…..
All things that I didn’t feel anymore.
My eyes drifted to the desk beneath the large window, where I used to sit for hours, writing those letters to Noah during our two years apart. I could almost see my younger self sitting there, head bent over a piece of paper, pouring her heart out.
I closed my eyes, remembering the ritual that accompanied each letter. The careful selection of
stationery, the meticulous handwriting, and finally, the light spritz of perfume before sealing thelope.
How naive I had been back then, head over heels for the boy I had spent my summer with.
If only I could go back in time, back to those innocent days… and refuse the arranged marriage with Noah.
Maybe then, I could have spent the rest of my life looking back on that summer fondly. Maybe then, the memories wouldn’t have been spoiled..
But that day that my father announced the arranged marriage, I had been too elated to even think it over.
“Hannah, Noah, please come here,” my father’s voice boomed from his study. “We have something important to discuss with you both.”
I exchanged a curious glance with Noah as we entered the room. My father, Stephen, sat behind his mahogany desk. Noah’s father, Marcus, sat in one of the plush chairs beside it.
“We have something to tell you,” my father began, an excited glint in his brown eyes. “Please, sit.”
Noah and I obediently took our seats, still wearing our formal attire from the Alpha event we had been. attending earlier that evening–some gala or another, I could hardly remember. Although Ldid remember what dress I wore: baby blue, with taffeta sleeves and a sparkling skirt that fell to my ankles.
And Noah… He was wearing a black tuxedo that night. There was nothing spectacular about it, but I remembered how astonished I had been when I finally saw him for the first time in two years.
He was nineteen by then, and I was seventeen. He was no longer the awkward and gangly boy I had met two summers ago, but had turned into a handsome young man. Lean, muscular, a chiseled jaw and stormy green eyes. A dark mop of nearly–black hair and prominent eyebrows.
There was an aloof look to him when we saw each other, but I knew the years hadn’t been particularly kind; his fated mate, Zoe, had severed their mate bond not long before that night. The rumors of the incident had spread like wildfire.
That was why I didn’t press when I had run into him earlier at the event and the look he had given me had
25 BONUS
Chapter 0311
been cold and distant; I told myself he was just grieving, and maybe a little awkward after our separation. 1
My father looked at Marcus. “I’ll allow you to share the news, Alpha Marcus,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“You two are to be married.”
Marcus’s words were so curt, so succinct, that I almost wondered if I had misheard him. But when I saw the look in his and my father’s eyes, I knew it was true.
I felt my world explode with happiness. It was everything I had dreamed of, everything I had hoped for during those two years apart.
I turned to Noah, expecting to see my own excitement mirrored in his eyes.
Instead, I was met with that same blank stare. His face was an expressionless mask, his green eyes cold and distant.
My smile faltered for a moment, but I quickly rationalized his reaction. He must be in shock, I told myself. Or maybe it was lingering heartbreak over Zoe. He just needed… time to warm up to the idea of us.
Just a little time.
The memory faded, leaving me with a hollow ache in my chest. Time passed, but he never did come
around.
Despite the emotional depth of his letters, the Noah I married was cold and distant. He never mentioned our correspondence, and instead acted as if those two years of sharing our deepest thoughts and feelings had never happened.
