The Last Time I Said Yes

“Are you crying?” I asked.



She shook her head and wiped at her face as more tears were falling. “I’m so stupid.” she groaned. ‘Now I am truly and utterly alone. I should have just said yes to marrying him. If I had just did what my parents wanted, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.”



Without warning, I turned sharp to the side, putting the car to a sudden stop close to the curb. She held the door for balance and looked at me with wide eyes.



“Don’t ever say that again. You think marrying a man you don’t love, a man who doesn’t care if he hurts you, just to please your family is the right thing to do?” I turned to her slowly. “That would’ve ruined you.”



“But I would’ve had a home to go to, I would’ve been taken care of. Now I have nothing,” she looked away.



I reached over and gently took her bruised hand in mine.

“You did the hardest thing anyone in your position could have done. You saved yourself. That takes more guts than standing there and pretending to be happy.”



I tucked a hair behind her ear.

“You think you are alone? You’re not… you have me.”



Her lips trembled slightly. “But why would you even help me?



I didn’t answer and shifted the gear back to drive. I don’t know why I am doing this? I just feel like I can’t leave her alone, that I must protect her.



Am I crazy?



_____



Alina Etienne has always lived a life dictated by her parents. She is groomed to be an obedient daughter, a perfect public image, and now, a bride to a man she doesn’t know or love. On her wedding day, crushed by the weight of expectations, Alina does the unthinkable... she says “I don’t” and flees the altar.



On the run and scared with nowhere to go, she crosses paths with Mikhail Antonov. A cold, guarded man with a past he doesn’t talk about. What began as a reluctant act of kindness turned into something neither of them expected.