Asher's POV
I was asleep, holding Rose against me.
Or at least… she thought I was.
"Are you awake?" she whispered softly.
I didn't respond. I just mumbled and shifted closer, pretending to sleep.
I felt her smile.
She sat up on the small bed and ran her fingers through my hair. I could feel her staring at my face.
"You asked what happened with Adrian…" she whispered. "To be honest, I would rather not talk about it."
Her breath came out shaky.
"Where do I even start…"
Silence.
"There's something the world doesn't know about me," she continued quietly. "I had an older brother."
Older brother?
I always thought she was an only child and the files never mentioned about a brother.
"His name was Ray. He was four years older than me. Mother called me her little rose… and him her ray of sunshine." She gave a small broken laugh. "She told him it was his duty to protect me."
Her voice cracked.
"If only he hadn't taken that promise so seriously… he would still be alive."
She sniffed and forced down the cry trying to escape her throat.
It took everything in me not to sit up and pull her into my arms. If it hurts this much, then stop, Rose.
But as if she could hear my thoughts
"I've always wanted to talk about it… but I was…"
She swallowed.
"We were all close back then. Cassi was there. Adrian too. It was my seventeenth birthday. I was so happy. Everything was perfect."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"My father announced my engagement to Cassi. Honestly… I saw it coming. My brother was the mastermind behind it. Cassi was handsome, and he was my best friend. I didn't mind that it wasn't even discussed with me."
Engagement?
Cassi?
My blood boiled instantly.
"I didn't understand the look on Adrian's face," she continued. "He looked… hurt. Disappointed. I thought it was because he didn't know. So I went to find him in the garden. Our secret hideout. The cliff with the river below."
Her breathing grew uneven.
"I told him not to be upset. He asked me if I was okay with the marriage. I said it was Cassi… and I was fine with it."
Silence.
"Then he got down on one knee."
My fingers curled under the blanket.
"He asked me to marry him. I was so shocked. He said there was nothing wrong with cousins marrying each other."
Her voice turned hollow.
"I told him he was crazy."
A pause.
"And then… he got angry."
The air in the room felt heavier.
"He said once I was his, no one would take me away."
Her voice shook violently now.
"Everything happened so fast. He pinned me to the ground. I was so shocked I couldn't even scream. I couldn't fight. He started undoing his belt…"
Her voice broke.
"He almost..."
I stopped breathing.
"Ray came just in time. He pulled him off me. Cassi ran to my side and held me. I don't remember everything clearly. It's all… blurry."
Her words slowed.
"But I remember seeing Adrian's knife."
Silence.
"In my brother's chest."
My jaw tightened so hard it hurt.
"I remember Ray stumbling backward… toward the edge of the cliff."
Her voice turned small.
"And then he fell."
A long pause.
"I blacked out after that."
The room felt suffocating.
"When I woke up, Adrian denied everything. They called it an assassin attack." Her voice hardened. "After that day, I swore I would never be powerless again. I would never be that helpless… ever again."
Silence filled the room.
Then she gave a weak laugh.
"Wow… that actually made me feel better."
She leaned down and kissed my cheek.
"Thank you for being born, Asher."
She curled back against me and slowly drifted to sleep.
I opened my eyes.
I had never been asleep.
Every word she said burned into my mind.
Adrian.
My hands clenched.
I wanted to walk out of this room right now and kill him with my bare hands. Slowly. Painfully.
But then I looked at Rose's sleeping face.
Peaceful.
Fragile.
Mine.
No.
I wouldn't steal this from her.
Adrian wouldn't die by my hands.
I would hand him to her.
And she would decide how he ends.
That would be my wedding gift.
Wedding?
I froze.
Why did that thought come so naturally?
I imagined her calling me husband.
The word didn't scare me.
It didn't feel heavy.
It felt…
Warm.
It felt like something I never knew I wanted.
For the first time in a long time
It felt like happiness.