Prologue - Rose

“What does that mean?!”

The sound of her husband’s growl made Rose swallow hard, but not out of fear. After spending an entire year preparing for this moment, she really had thought that she would be calmer and even content at this moment. But, as she turned towards Aaron, Rose realized that the only thing she had done was fooling herself. Because, seeing him standing in the middle of that office, his suit jacket tossed aside, the top buttons of his shirt undone, his dark brown hair disheveled and his eyes as dark as a moonless night covered in na expression of revolt , as if she had just cheated on him, Rose couldn’t help but remember the day they had become husband and wife in that same office. Of course, the version of Aaron that was before her now was very different from the man she had met that day and, maybe that’s why her heart was so tight when she had to say that sentence.

“These are the divorce papers.” She explained, adjusting her glasses nervously on the bridge of her nose, “I thought it would be a good idea to move them forward, as the one-year deadline we both agreed on is almost up.”

Her voice sounded terribly shy and shaky even to her, which made Rose struggle even harder to try to pull herself together. After all, it was absolutely ridiculous that she was acting this way because of the end of a marriage neither of them had chosen. As much as she’d grown to love the Vamcaps and consider each one of them the members of the big family she’d always wanted... Surely Aaron wouldn’t want to stay forever married to a woman he’d been forced to accept. Just like she didn’t want that for herself either... Did she?

“What you mean?” Aaron’s question, spoken in the middle of na incredulous snarl, as if she’d just said something crazy, surprised Rose so much that it not only snapped her out of her confused thoughts, but also made her raise na eyebrow.

“I’m talking about our agreement.” She answered slowly, though she knew there was no way he really didn’t remember, “That our marriage would last a year, until you got the documents my father promised you. I even thought about suggesting we end it when you got them, but since Andy said it would be good for you to argue that you were now married, when you had to go to court again, so I...” she continued admitting, again full of hesitation, but Aaron didn’t seem very interested in that particular subject.

“That was a year ago!” he argued, as if the whole thing was nonsense, which only made her even more confused.

“Uh… Yes.” Rose nodded, not understanding “Didn’t you hear what I said? The deadline is almost up, so I thought it would be best...”

“The situation was very different back then.” Aaron continued to talk, starting to pace back and forth as he gripped the papers she had handed him with rather exaggerated strength. “We were both very different back then!” finally, he stopped, his back to her, slamming his hands on the wood of the table. “Was it your parents? Are they trying to force you to do this by threatening your sister?”

“No, that’s not it.” Rose hastened to explain, knowing he was probably worried that the Springs might be trying to interfere in the Vamcap court battle yet again, “Actually, that’s the last thing they want me to do, since you’re still sending money for Grace. But, don’t worry, Aaron, I promise that no matter what they try to do to stop me, I won’t give up until we get a divorce...”

As she spoke, Rose took a few tentative steps forward, until, just as she was about to gently touch his shoulder, Aaron caught her by surprise by suddenly turning around, getting so close to her that their lips were literally inches away. From distance. So close that, feeling the heat of his body, almost inviting her to hug him, Rose can’t help but remember that night by the pool, where they almost...

With a gasp of sheer embarrassment, she finally managed to force her body to move away from him... Or at least try to move, because the moment she took the first step back, Aaron’s hands flew to her waist, holding her in place with a gentle touch, yet still firm enough to make it impossible for Rose to try to pull away from him again.

“Why?” Aaron snarled, bringing his face even closer to hers, with that intimidating and sullen expression that she knew so well.

“What?” she stammered, anxiously trying to look away from his lips, to keep that warm feeling creeping up her spine from driving her crazy.

“Why don’t you want to be a Vamcap anymore?” he asked again, those eyes as dark as na obsidian Stone iana burning in hers “You said you'd do anything for us. That we were your family.”

“And you are!” Rose tried to argue, feeling her heart break as she saw the betrayal in his eyes, couldn't help but wonder what she had done wrong to make him feel that way, just because she was willing to fulfill their agreement "I always I'll be here for you no matter what, but... Today, after what happened...” she murmured sadly “I realized that maybe it was better not to give Alec false hopes about the relationship between the two of us... I want him to know that he can always count on both of us and that we love him, even if we're not a couple anymore. I thought if we started the separation process gradually it would make it easier for him... And, well, for us too.” She bit her lip hesitantly "When we get back to our lives..."

“Are you in love with another man?” Aaron asked suddenly, with a murderous edge to his voice that, oddly, after eleven months of being with him, Rose was perfectly able to identify was not directed at her.

“Uh?” she blinked, more confused than ever.

"But what kind of piece of shit approaches a woman knowing she's married..." Aaron snarled, furious, his expression getting darker and darker and his eyes fixed on her hands crossed over her chest, with the gold ring sparkling on one finger “An idiot who doesn’t care about this doesn’t deserve you...”

“Aaron. This has nothing to do with a man.” Rose finally managed to recover from the shock enough to speak, although she was still wondering why he was acting so strangely “I'm not doing this for other people's sake. I'm doing it for both of us. Do not you remember? You said that you wanted your life back after a year.” She reminded him, trying to stop her heart from aching as she reminded herself that Aaron had every right to want to be a free man again, "I appreciate it if you're worried about what's going to happen to me and my sister when I get out of here, but i could never keep living here knowing you are forcing yourself to stay married to me. Therefore, I think it would be better for everyone if the two of us ended this trap my parents created for you once and for all.” She flashed a smile, trying to be positive and confident, "After all, I promised you that I wouldn't let this marriage become a prison for us and I'm going to keep that promise no matter what..."

“Do you feel trapped, here with me?” he cut her off, though his whisper was so subtle Rose had to concentrate to understand.

"What? No, of course not." She tried to reassure him, worried that she had chosen the wrong words to express herself “How could I? You welcomed me into the family and we became friends...”

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you, Rose, but you're not just my friend." The hands on her waist gripped her even more firmly, while Aaron's eyes narrowed in a way that made her swallow hard. “You are my wife. A Vamcap. A mere year isn't going to change that...” turning his determined expression toward the table, Aaron pulled away from her just enough to reach the nearby divorce papers and rip them in half before Rose's incredulous gaze. “And much less a piece of paper. Your place is here, with all of us. There will never be anyone who can offer you all that I can, take care of you like I do, or…” His words became more and more intense, almost as if he was about to start pleading, when suddenly he interrupted himself.

"Aaron..." Rose brought her hand closer to his face, worried "What's wrong...?"

"This! This is all wrong, Rose.” He looked away from her, though Rose could clearly see how tense his jaw was “You are my wife. And it's not going anywhere!" Aaron growled one last time before walking quickly away from her, slamming the office door behind him before Rose could even try to keep him there or even find an answer for what had just happened there.

"But..." stunned, she talk to herself, diverting her attention to the ruined papers on the carpet "You were the one who made me promise that we would get divorced!"