Trust

She was informed that only a quarter of Caden's men were in the country. But in fact, there were a lot of them in Willow Green.

"They didn't come from Flousia. They actually live here." Rogue said.

She didn't dare to ask. All she wanted was to confront Caden. If he would keep on lying to her, then what was the point of being his fiance? She didn't want to lose his trust in him so she had to settle it once and for all.

Rogue took them to one of the buildings. She didn't even know how they got there. She just followed Rogue and kept running.

Then they came into one of the rooms. They were panting when they arrived in a cold, dark space. She couldn't see anything, but she could hear Brie and Rogue's ragged breathing.

"What's this place?" She asked.

Rogue didn't answer, but she was startled when Brie suddenly screamed. Her scream was a mixture of pain and terror. She turned around, trying to find Brie.

"Brie! Brie! What's happening?" She shouted.

"Rogue? Where are you?" She called.

Then the light turned on. The brightness of the room was somewhat blinding. She raised her arm to cover the spark of light coming from the ceiling. She frowned when she saw someone sitting on a black chair.

"Alira." It was Brie.

She turned to the right corner of the room and saw Brie in a kneeling position. Her hands were tied on her back and a gun was pointed at her head.

Her eyes widened and quickly looked around. Her heart pounded when she saw Caden. He was the man sitting on the chair. She was scared, but she wouldn't allow his men to do that to her friend.

Her fear became her rage. She couldn't breathe because of anger. She rushed into him and didn't care if someone would approach her. But no one did.

'Slap.'

Caden raised his hand to stop his men from attacking her. She smirked.

"Your men will definitely kill me in an instant. You have no shame. You dare to touch my friend." She said.

"Why are you here?" He asked, ignoring her rant.

She chuckled. "Why? You left without telling me where you were going. You didn't contact me for three days and you expect me not to worry? This is not working out, Caden! If you're just going to treat me like some damsel in distress who will wait for you to save me, then I don't need it. Let's break up! And this time I mean it."

Caden's expression darkened. His eyes were like daggers piercing through her flesh. Her heart couldn't stop pounding and her knees were trembling from fear.

"Out! All of you! And that girl, lock her up with Rogue!" Caden ordered.

Her lips trembled while looking at Brie being dragged by Caden's men. Rogue didn't look at her and she knew she was going to be punished.

"How could you do this?" She asked.

Her eyes glared at Caden. She couldn't show him that she was afraid.

"You defy me. I told you I will come back, but you came here and brought Brie along. Did your brother know about this?" Caden coldly said.

"Defy you? Do you think I'm your slave that you can order around? What happened to you? I've been trying to accept and understand everything you told me, but why can't you put your trust in me? Why do you have to hide everything from me?"

"Go home. Wait for me and then let's talk."

She couldn't hold back her tears. She didn't want to look miserable in front of him, but he was breaking her heart.

"Set me free. Break up with me. Tell me that you don't love me anymore so I can hate you. You're breaking my heart, Caden. Why can't you tell me what's going on? This place. Brie said this is where it all started. I want to help you. I don't need to be protected while you risk your life for me." Tears fell from her eyes.

Caden clenched his fist and couldn't bear to see her cry. He stood and walked toward her. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. Just by his simple touch, her worries and pain vanished. She couldn't help it. She must be crazy for still believing in him.

"I hate to see you cry, but I always break your heart. If I tell you, I can't guarantee your safety anymore." He said.

"Tell me. So if something happened to me, at least I know the reason. Don't do this alone, Caden. I already know that our family is complicated even before we were born. And I think Lucas and the others need to know."

Caden sighed. "I know. Alira, I don't want you to hate me. But I'm doing this to put an end to Benjamin's madness. I really don't want you and the others to get involved, but Benjamin will."

Caden wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her on the forehead. He held her hand and pulled her outside.

"Alira!" Brie called.

She ran toward Brie and carefully looked at her face and body, searching for some injury. She bit her lip when she saw the red marks on her wrists.

"I'm okay. They untied me when we got out of the room. The men also apologized for being so harsh. They thought we're intruders. Well, we are right?" Brie chuckled.

She glared at Caden and his men.

"Next time you touched my friends, you're dead."

The men glanced at each other and then bowed their heads.

"It won't happen again, miss." They shouted in unison.

Caden clapped his hands so the men lined up to properly greet their boss' fiance.

"This is my fiance, Alira Eleanor Wilson. And this girl is her sister-in-law and my friend. I expect you to treat them with respect and protect them with your life."

"We will, boss!"

Caden turned to her. His expression became serious and his eyes suddenly became cold.

"Let's go. I'll tell you everything, or maybe I'll show you."