The Bride He Hates-Chapter 103: The Last Chance

Lyanna lay in her bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about Azrael and Roland’s letters spread on her desk. She sat up suddenly.

Words aren’t enough. I can’t make this choice based on letters and memories. I need to see him. I need to face him one more time. I need to look in his eyes and see if the regret is real or if it is just desperation at losing control.

Because the question that haunted her was: Did Azrael miss her, or did he miss having a wife? Did he love her or did he just hate that she had left?

She couldn’t know that from a letter. By the time dawn arrived, Lyanna had made her decision.

She would see Azrael once before choosing between him and Roland, or a third option.

She sat at her desk and wrote a letter to Azrael with shaking hands.

Azrael,

I received your letter and I’ve read it a dozen times. You have hurt me a lot. But I still love you. I know I’m an idiot for still loving you, but I do.

Everyone would tell me to choose Roland, choose safety, be with the man who has valued my worth from the beginning.

But I can’t make this choice without seeing you one more time. I need to look at you and see if the man who wrote all these letters to me is real or if he is just acting. I need to hear your voice and know if the regret is genuine or if you just hate losing.

I’ll meet with you in a neutral territory. Somewhere we can talk without kingdoms, councils and political pressure.

After that meeting, I’ll make my decision. Either I’ll come back to you and we’ll try to rebuild what we destroyed or I’ll return to Valdris and accept Roland’s offer or I’ll go somewhere else and live alone.

Send me a location.

This meeting will decide whether our marriage is worth saving or we’re just two people who loved and hurt each other.

Lyanna 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She called for a messenger and sent it to Thornfield with instructions that it go directly to the king.

The letter arrived at Thornfield two days later. The messenger brought it directly to Azrael’s study where he had been sitting for hours, doing nothing.

"From Valdris, Your Majesty." The messenger said. "From Her Majesty."

Azrael’s hands trembled as he took it. He broke the seal and read it.

She is giving me one chance to prove the letters I wrote to her were real. One opportunity to save our marriage or lose her forever.

Adrian entered the study in a hurry.

"What’s the news from Valdris?" Adrian asked.

"She’ll meet with me in a neutral territory and then she will decide." Azrael replied.

"That’s more than you deserve, to be honest."

"I know."

"This is your only chance, Your Majesty. Don’t waste it."

"I won’t." Azrael stood up, energy flooding through him for the first time in weeks. "I’ll make her remember why she loved me. I’ll show her I’ve changed."

He immediately sat again and wrote his response.

Lyanna,

Thank you for giving me this chance, even though I don’t deserve it.

There’s a place in the mountains between Thornfield and Valdris. It is a neutral territory.

I’ll be there in two days. I’ll wait as long as you need.

Azrael.

He sent it immediately and then started preparing.

Lyanna went to see Roland in his study after two days. He looked up from his papers and smiled.

"Lyanna. Come in."

She sat opposite him, nervous.

"I need to tell you something." She said. "I’m meeting with Azrael in two days. I want to talk to him. I want to see if there’s anything left worth saving."

Roland’s smile faded.

"I knew you would." Roland replied sadly.

"You did?"

"I’ve watched you these past weeks. I know you won’t choose the safe option so easily."

"It sounds like you’re giving up on me."

"I’m just being realistic. I love you. But I also know that I’m not what your heart wants. I’m what your head thinks you should want."

Tears brimmed in her eyes.

"You’re a good man, Roland. You deserve someone who loves you."

"I do." Roland agreed. "And you deserve to find out if Azrael can become the man you want him to be. Go to him. Have your meeting. But remember, you are always welcome here. If you decide not to return to him, come back to Valdris."

"Thank you." She smiled. "For being so kind and understanding."

Lyanna packed light for the journey. Clara was helping her, looking worried.

"Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?" She asked.

"Yes. I can’t move on without looking back one more time."

"What if he hurts you again?"

"Then at least I won’t spend the rest of my life wondering if I gave up too soon. If there was something worth saving that I abandoned because I was too hurt to fight for it."

Meanwhile, at Thornfield, Azrael was preparing to meet her with honesty and vulnerability. He wrote notes to himself; reminders of what to say, and what not to say.

He wanted to tell her about the nights he couldn’t sleep without her, tell her how the castle feels empty without her, tell her he was wrong. He had decided not to defend and justify himself. Instead, acknowledge his mistakes.

Let her be angry. Let her cry. Let her say everything she needs to say without interrupting. Don’t try to fix it. Just listen.

Adrian came to him and saw him surrounded by notes.

"You look terrified." He said.

"Of course. I’m about to face the woman I love the most and confess every way I failed her. I have to admit I was controlling and wrong and then hope that somehow my honesty would be enough to make her come back."

"What if it’s not enough?"

"Then she might choose Roland. And I’ll have no option but to accept that." He replied sadly.

"Can you do that?" Adrian asked. "Can you really let her go if she chooses someone else?"

"I don’t want to." He replied. "I want to fight for her, use everything be it politics, strategy, or emotions. I want to keep her with me, but...I want her to be happy. Even if that happiness is without me."