Page 94 of Sweet Deception

But I had to leave. I had to get out of here. Maybe disappear to some island, far away from all of this.

A light tap on my shoulder made me flinch. I looked up to see Zoya. She pulled out a chair and sat down beside me, her eyes searching mine.

“Sad?”

I exhaled, staring at the floor. “I’m just tired. Tired of everything, Zoya.” My voice was hoarse. “Just last year, I was a teenager, happy, getting everything I ever wanted. Now? Ever since I came here, my life has spiraled into something I don’t even recognize.”

“So what do you intend to do?” she asked.

I hesitated before answering. “I want to leave. And I don’t mean running back to my parents. They’re worse than I ever imagined.” I swallowed, unsure if I could trust her, but at this point, I had no one else.

“I just need somewhere safe, somewhere I can rebuild my life.”

“Staying here...” A lump formed in my throat but I pushed it down. “I feel like I’m suffocating.”

Zoya shook her head slowly. “You’re giving up on Gleb already?”

I let out a bitter laugh. “Giving up on Gleb? He’s the one who gave up on me a long time ago.”

She sighed. “No. You just don’t know him yet.”

I scoffed. “I know enough.”

She leaned forward, voice firm. “Listen to me. I’ll advise you like I would a friend.”

I stilled.

Zoya had never spoken to me like this before.

“Both your families are broken. But you and Gleb? You’re not like them.”

Zoya’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Don’t leave him, Anna. Be strong. Fight for this.”

I blinked, startled by her conviction. “Fight for what? For a man who loathes me? Who sees me as nothing more than an object?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He told me he would never love me. That he would never let me go, either.”

Zoya sighed, “That man is his own worst enemy.”

“And I’m his prisoner.” I said bitterly.

“No, you’re not. And he’s not as unfeeling as he wants you to think.”

I frowned, but Zoya pressed on. “Did you know Gleb used to sneak food to the kitchen maids when we were starving under his grandmother’s rule? He was a child, and he still found ways to help others, even if it meant getting punished.”

I stared at her, heart tightening. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because people don’t change that much. You think he’s this cold, heartless man? He’s not. He’s just scared. And if you leave, you’ll prove to him that love, real love, isn’t worth fighting for.”

My grip tightened around the cup. I realized, maybe Zoya is right. Maybe Gleb isn’t lost yet.

My mind reeled back to all the moments I had brushed off, how protective he had been, how he canceled meetings just to bring me pizza on a private jet, how he bathed me when I needed help, how he let me interrupt his million-dollar deals without consequence.

Those weren’t the actions of a man who loathed me.

Was I really making the right choice by running?

If I left, Gleb might have no choice but to marry Maria.

Maria never hesitated to follow orders. If our father told her to slit Gleb’s throat in his sleep, she would. She had always been our father’s most obedient soldier, and I had no doubt that, given the chance, she would take everything from me.