mark

Because of who she came from. Her father had my brother executed for treason he never committed. My brother—the crown prince, the better man, the one who was supposed to rule. He found out the truth. He discovered her father was plotting to usurp the throne. So when they told me I was to be engaged to that man’s daughter, I almost laughed. The audacity. Marry into royalty. Secure power. Move closer to the throne he wanted to steal. I expected her to be just like him. Calculating. Sweet on the outside, poison underneath She wasn’t.She was… clueless. Painfully unaware of the blood and politics circling her name. I had her watched. Quietly. Thoroughly. No secret letters. No coded messages. No ambition in her eyes. That was the problem. She wasn’t a conspirator. And I told myself that’s why I stayed gentle with her. Why I didn’t treat her the way I treated everyone else. I said it was pity. Pity doesn’t make you forget, even for a second, what you’re supposed to hate. Somewhere along the way, I fell. Slowly. Stupidly. I started thinking maybe I could have both—her and revenge. I even planned to marry her. Not because I had to. Because I wanted to. A noble lord came to me with everything I’d been waiting for—evidence against her father. Witnesses. Soldiers. Enough to destroy him properly. To clear my brother’s name once and for all. The price? I’d marry his daughter instead.I took it. I told myself it was justice. One heartbreak for the end of a tyrant. When she walked in and saw the other woman wearing her gown, I saw the exact second her world cracked. And I had to stand there. Had to keep my face cold. If I softened, even a little, I would’ve ruined everything. So I leaned in. Let my voice turn cruel. "how could I not ?" she was the only think I didn't feel poison she looked at me without fear or calculation. I watched her break and behind the mask I break with her.but justice doesn't care about feeling. neither I do ?