Page 74 of The Pakhan's Forced Bride

Ulyana reaches out and gently places her hand over Benedikt’s.

“Maybe this is not the right place for this conversation,” she whispers.

Benedikt stands up, furious.

“No, this is the right place. Who the fuck cares where we have it, anyway? This city is trash. It means nothing what these people think of us. You’re coming home with me tonight, Belle.”

“Benedikt, we spoke about this,” Ulyana says, her eyes pleading.

“I will not come home with you,” I snap, standing up too, because he’s getting ready to leave and I’m not done talking.

“Yes, you will. You will do as you’re told.” He reaches out and grabs my arm, pulling me to follow him.

Ulyana grabs Benedikt’s arm and turns him towards her. “Stop this right now,” she snaps.

Benedikt presses his lips together, but he releases me.

He stares into Ulyana’s eyes as though she holds the secrets to calming him.

“I have to go,” I sigh. “I can’t leave with you, Ben, but I love you, you’re my brother—and we will talk again soon, okay?”

He doesn’t answer me, but I can’t stay here anymore.

I got the answers that I needed, and now I have to go home and try to explain all of this to Ardalion.

I hope that together we can work out a way to stop this from escalating.

I hurry home, wondering how long he’ll be out still, but when I pull into our driveway, I see his car already parked there.Thank goodness.

I desperately want to talk to him.

Rushing inside the mansion, I call his name and crash into him as I round the corner into the living room.

He stands there, glaring at me, his eyes cold and his fists clenched.

“Ard,” I whisper in fright, reaching up to touch his chest.

He grabs my wrists and twists my hand painfully away from his body.

“Not another word, Belle. I know everything,” he snarls.

“My brother—" I stammer, trying to explain.

“Yes, your brother. And you. I saw you logging into my security footage. Were you trying to erase the evidence? Then, when you couldn’t figure it out, you went to meet Benedikt in town? Yes, I had you followed. I was so hopeful that I was wrong—but there you were, straight to him like a good little puppy, feeding him whatever information he needed.”

“No, it’s not like that.” I squeal in shock, horrified that he would think that of me. “I was trying to help.”

He pushes me away from him, and I stumble backwards, almost losing my balance.

“Ardalion, please let me explain,” I beg, noting the anger and cold darkness in his eyes.

My heart is sinking lower by the second to see him so betrayed.

Chapter 22 - Ardalion

As soon as I realized what was happening, I raced home.

The first indication that something might be wrong was when I got the notification on my phone that my laptop had logged into the security feed just a few minutes after I left my house.