Chapter 174
Audrey’s POV:
I closed the bedroom door behind me and leaned against it.
The weight of the day pressed down on me like a physical force.
I walked across the plush carpet to the bed and sank down onto the
edge, my body heavy with exhaustion but my mind refusing to quiet.
Cole family. My biological parents.
And then there was Caspar’s proposal.
The timing wasn’t lost on me–he’d asked immediately after the DNA
confirmation.
I understood what he was doing: offering me his name, his
protection, his family’s power as a shield against the Coles.
Marriage to Caspar Thornton would give me a foundation to stand on,
leverage in whatever relationship I might build with the Cole family.
I didn’t doubt his feelings for me were genuine.
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The way he looked at me touched me.
But how could I make such a commitment when my own future was so
uncertain?
The poison I’d been forced to ingest when the killer organization
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recruited me years ago still circulated in my blood.
Those had been dark days–newly arrived in London, broke and
desperate after being cast out by the Baileys.
The organization had found me sleeping in an abandoned building,
offered me food, shelter, training… and then made sure I could never
leave by administering the poison during what I thought was a
routine medical exam.
Jasper and Emma had been my only friends there.
The three of us had planned our escape for months, finally managing
to break free together three years ago.
While I focused on earning money through my art, they’d converted a
small apartment into a makeshift lab, working tirelessly to analyze
the poison and create an antidote.
They’d managed to stabilize our condition, but a permanent cure
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remained elusive.
How could I promise forever to Caspar when I didn’t know how long I
had?
A bitter laugh escaped my lips.
Finding your biological family and being proposed to by someone you
love–these should be moments of profound joy.
Instead, they only multiplied my pain.
Every path forward seemed lined with potential heartbreak.
The closer happiness seemed to get, the more acutely I felt its
impossibility.
“What a cosmic joke,” I muttered, falling back onto the attress and
staring at the ceiling.
The sound of the bedroom door opening startled me from my thoughts.
I sat up quickly, smoothing my hair as Caspar entered.
He filled the doorway for a moment before he stepped inside.
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Without breaking eye contact, he reached behind him and closed the
door, then deliberately turned the lock with a decisive click.
The sound echoed in the quiet room, making my pulse quicken as he
walked toward me with purposeful steps.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice embarrassingly breathless.
“Continuing our negotiation,” he murmured, his hands finding my
waist and pulling me against him.
His lips found mine, and despite my anger, my body responded
instantly.
We moved toward the bed, a tangle of limbs and half–removed
clothing.
Between kisses, Caspar continued to make his case for our marriage,
his voice growing increasingly strained as our bodies pressed closer.
“We already discussed this,” I managed to say between ragged
breaths.
He murmured against my collarbone. “I haven’t heard your answer.”
I pulled back slightly, trying to focus despite the haze of desire
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clouding my thoughts.
“My answer is that I’m not considering marriage right now. There are
too many uncertainties, too many variables I can’t control.”
Caspar’s eyes darkened as he cupped my face in his hands.
“I don’t care about uncertainties or variables. The only certainty I
need is you.”
His thumb traced my lower lip. “And I’ll keep at this until I get the
result I want, Audrey.”
Hours later, we lay side by side, both exhausted but neither willing to
concede.
My position remained unchanged. Caspar’s stubbornness matched my
own.
Eventually, sleep claimed us both, the argument temporarily
suspended but far from resolved.
The next morning, I entered the breakfast room to find Noah poking listlessly at his pancakes, his small brow furrowed in concentration.
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Caspar sat at the head of the table, newspaper in hand, occasionally
glancing at his son with concern.
“Good morning,” I said, taking the seat beside Noah and ruffling his
hair affectionately.
Noah looked up at me with those soulful eyes.
“When can you and Dad start sleeping separately?” he asked abruptly.
I nearly choked on the sip of orange juice I’d just taken.
“Noah,” Caspar said, folding his newspaper and setting it aside.
“Why would you want Audrey and me to sleep in separate rooms?”
Noah pushed his pancakes around the plate.
“Jason from my drawing class says his mom and dad sleep in different
rooms,” he said.
“And then Jason’s mom can sleep with him instead.”
He looked up at me, his eyes wide.
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“You haven’t spent quality time with me for a long time.”
His voice grew more indignant.
“Dad keeps you all to himself now.”
Noah’s lower lip jutted out.
“You came here to be with me. Now you only spend time with dad.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up from my chest.
The sound drew Noah’s indignant stare.
“Oh, Noah,” I said, reaching across to take his small hand.
“You will always be my favorite Thornton. Always.”
His expression softened slightly, but he wasn’t fully appeased.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Caspar’s pointed look–a
mixture of amusement and something more possessive.
I deliberately kept my attention on Noah, pretending I hadn’t noticed
his father’s gaze.
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“Then why didn’t you come to my room last night to tell me a story?
You promised.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks as flashes of last night with Caspar flooded
my mind.
How exactly was I supposed to explain that to a four–year–old?
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, utterly at a loss for words.
Caspar cleared his throat. “I wasn’t feeling well last night, Noah.
Audrey was helping me.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Were you sick?” Noah’s anger instantly transformed into concern.
“Just a little,” Caspar replied, his eyes meeting mine briefly.
“I’m sorry I missed our story time,” I told Noah quickly, squeezing his
hand.
“But I promise I’ll be there tonight. We can read two stories to make
up for it.”
“Deal.”
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Noah’s face brightened immediately, and he attacked his pancakes
with newfound enthusiasm.
