Page 106 of His Forced Bride

I won't damage it.

Viktoria threatens that bond through legal manipulation and orchestrated violence.

She believes maternal claims and feigned sympathy can drive a wedge between us, can make Inessa question my methods and motivations.

She underestimates the depth of what has developed between her daughter and me.

But I won't rely on emotional bonds alone to secure my wife’s loyalty.

I'll present Inessa with undeniable proof of her mother’s treachery—evidence so damning that even filial obligation cannot justify forgiveness.

And when I do, Inessa will see exactly why I forced her to marry me.

Because the heart beating against the side of my chest is worth fighting for, and I made a promise to Semyon years ago, when we arranged for Inessa and Dominic to wed, that I would assure her survival if anything happened to him.

And even my brother's diminutive insults won't stop me.

Inessa is mine to protect, and Viktoria is going to pay for this.

19

INESSA

The sun beats down on me through the dining room windows as I push greens around my plate.

My appetite is gone.

There's been too much drama and bloodshed to even get my bearings about me since the wedding weeks ago, and the idea of putting my father to rest consumes my thoughts.

When I'm not battling my anger toward the Kozlov regime and the attacks on my showrooms, I'm bone-weary, lying in my bed in a depressive slump.

I wonder how long it will be before my heart and mind can return to normal after losing Batya.

Rosa sits across from me like a doting parent, worrying herself over my wellbeing.

She chides me like a mother, and I can see why Yuri keeps her around, but I turn away even her best attempts.

I do manage a few bites of the roasted chicken, even though the food tastes flat.

I just need news from outside, need to know what's happening with my business, with the investigation into Batya's death.

I want to start the process of grieving, but it feels like I'll be perpetually stuck here in limbo until we have a proper funeral and wake.

Yuri enters the dining room, causing us both to look up at him.

His dark eyes scan the room before settling on me.

I barely hold his gaze a second before letting it slump back to my plate.

I know what he'll say, but I don't have emotional energy to hear it today.

Everything seems so heavy now.

I'm not just losing my father or my business.

A few of my staff members are dead, succumbed to their wounds.

It's gut wrenching that other people, those who looked to me for provision, are feeling the same thing I felt when Batya was murdered.