CHAPTER 77 Claimed?

  Cavin's POV

  The engagement was supposed to be a spectacle, a show of alliances, wealth, and the perfect charade. But as I stood in the shadows of the grand venue, watching her move like a puppet through the crowd, my fists clenched at my sides.

  Eliza.

  She looked ethereal in that gown, a vision of elegance and grace that made my chest tighten. But there was a hollowness in her smile, a fragility in her eyes. She didn't belong in this world of pretense, shackled to someone she didn't love.

  And she was mine.

  The day had started with a restless energy that surged through me. I had rushed out of the mansion, not because I wanted to avoid her, but because I needed to set things in motion. There were too many variables at play, and if I wanted to end this engagement, I had to act swiftly.