"Alaric Abbott, I know it was wrong of me to hide my identity and marry someone else. But the world doesn't run on 'what ifs.' In all of the capital, the only man who matches my standing is the heir to the Northguard Stephens Estate."
"We've been husband and wife at the foot of this mountain for three years. I know exactly who you are."
But she had hidden her identity. How could she be so sure I hadn't done the same?
I looked around. The cabin we had built with our own hands. The fields we had tilled together. I refused to believe any of this was real.
"Lola, you're carrying my child. Can't we just go back to the way things were? Please don't marry him."
My gaze locked onto the woman in front of me. If she would just say yes, I was willing to forgive everything.
But all she did was press her lips together and say, quietly, "He and I have already been intimate. I have to take responsibility for that."
My eyes burned red. My body wouldn't stop shaking. "And what about me? Don't you owe me that same responsibility? What about our child?"
Lola reached out and wiped the tears from my cheek. Her eyes were full of ache.
"Alaric, I'm only getting married. I'm not abandoning you."