Can We

Rain streaked down the window in thin, trembling lines, each droplet sliding like a tear against the glass. The sky had darkened early, turning the room into a muted gray chamber that reflected the hollow ache building inside my chest.

With my back turned to Xavier, I traced the outline of the storm clouds, wishing the weather could drown out the disaster unraveling behind me.

“I’m telling you the truth, Amelia,” Xavier said, his voice tight with something between frustration and desperation. “This is my life. Please… accept it.”

My heartbeat drowned the words out. It felt like thunder in my ears.

Xavier pushed his hand through his black hair, the usual gesture now strained and unfamiliar. The man standing behind me was not the Xavier I planned to marry. Not the one who held me during late-night talks or dreamed about a small house with a big yard. This man’s eyes carried secrets heavy enough to crush a future.

“Accept what, exactly?” I whispered without looking at him. “That you’re inheriting a crime organization? That you’re okay with that?”

My voice trembled despite my effort to stay calm.

He stiffened. “You think I want this? You think I chose any of it? I was born into this. I don’t get to walk away.”

He moved toward the bathroom, but I snapped around, the desperation in my chest boiling over.

“Xavier!”

He paused, but only for a moment, before shutting the door behind him.

The storm outside cracked faintly. My hands shook.

When the door opened again, he held a towel and a wooden box carved with old, swirling patterns. The edges looked worn, as if passed through generations.

“I can’t do this,” I said before he could speak. “I can’t marry you. Here—just take it.”

I slid the engagement ring from my finger and tossed it onto the bed. The soft thud felt louder than thunder.

Xavier stared at it, pain flickering across his features.

“Amelia… I thought you loved me. I thought you’d stay by my side through everything. I thought you understood.”

“I do love you,” I whispered. “But I don’t love this. Our morals don’t line up anymore. You’re choosing a world that terrifies me.”

His eyes softened briefly before they hardened again. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming the shrinking space between us.

“You said yes when I gave you that ring. My family’s heirloom. That wasn’t just a proposal—it was acceptance.”

He placed the towel and box beside me.

The box creaked open.

Inside were not engagement rings but signet bands, each engraved with unfamiliar symbols. Some gold, some silver, all heavy with meaning I didn’t understand. Beneath them were photos — of us, of him as a child, of symbols matching the rings.

My chest tightened.

“Xavier… what are these?”

He lifted the simplest band and reached for my hand.

“Xavier, stop.”

“This is part of the union,” he said quietly. “Part of what my family expects. Part of what they require.”

My voice cracked.

“Who is ‘they’?”

“The Council.”

The name chilled the air between us.

My confusion barely had time to form before something sharp pricked the back of my neck.

I gasped, stumbling. The room wavered. My knees buckled — but Xavier grabbed me before I hit the floor, shouting something I couldn’t process.

The world dissolved into darkness.

The Council’s Estate – Unknown Location

When awareness returned, it came in disjointed pieces — waves crashing somewhere nearby, birds calling overhead, the scent of sea salt drifting through an open window.

I blinked slowly, realizing I was lying on a bed covered in white sheets. The room was bright, but cold. The walls were stone, painted white, with long velvet curtains in deep crimson covering the windows. A chandelier of iron and crystal hung overhead, casting harsh light across the room.

This wasn’t a hospital.

This wasn’t home.

Fear trickled up my spine.

The door swung open, and Xavier stepped in, his tall frame ducking slightly to clear the antique doorway. Relief washed over his face.

“Amelia,” he breathed, brushing my cheek. “You’re awake.”

I recoiled instantly, sliding off the bed toward the opposite wall.

“Where am I? Why am I here? Where are my parents?”

His expression darkened.

“Why are you asking for them? They sold you to me. You’re my legal wife now.”

I froze.

“No. No, my parents would never—”

He pulled a document from a drawer and handed it to me.

My parents’ signatures. Their handwriting. A note that said I love you beside a contract.

My heart plummeted.

Xavier watched me quietly, regret hidden beneath anger.

Before I could read further, he snatched the contract away as the door opened again.

A woman entered — tall, stunning, dressed in a white doctor’s coat paired with a skirt that barely crossed professionalism. Her cold eyes flicked over me with disdain.

“Kate,” Xavier said sharply. “Check her. She was in pain earlier.”

Kate’s lips curled with something venomous.

“She’ll be fine. She just isn’t one of us.”

She approached me slowly, her heels clicking deliberately against the marble floor.

“So you’re the wife,” she said with a mocking smile. “Prettier than I expected. But beauty doesn’t matter to the Council.”

She grabbed my jaw without warning, forcing crushed pills into my mouth.

I coughed, choking on the bitter paste.

“Kate!” Xavier snapped. “What did you give her?”

“Something to keep her conscious for the evaluation,” she replied. “The Council will be here tonight.”

Xavier’s face drained of color.

“It’s too soon.”

“Not my call,” she said coldly. “They want to confirm her… compatibility.”

My stomach twisted.

Before they could react, adrenaline surged through me. I shoved myself off the bed, stumbling toward the door. My limbs were heavy, but panic pushed them forward.

“Amelia!” Xavier called after me.

I burst into the hallway — long, dimly lit, lined with portraits of stern-faced men and women. Shadows crawled along the walls.

“Help!” I cried. “Please!”

I reached a large living room where men in suits turned toward me, startled.

My vision blurred. My legs buckled.

Xavier caught me before I hit the ground, panic etched across his face.

“Amelia, stay with me. Stay awake. Amelia—”

His voice dissolved into nothing as darkness swept me under again.

Later

Light pierced my eyes.

I heard whispers — a nurse talking about an induced coma, Xavier’s voice tense and low, a woman asking if the “evaluation” needed to be postponed.

Dark gray dots clouded my vision.

My head fell back.

And everything faded to black.