Chapter 2 #3
“I’m a realist. I’m merely offering you a different definition of marriage.
I heard Amelie keeps a grueling work schedule and passed out after a sixteen-hour shift.
Can you guarantee it won’t happen again, or that next time it won’t be worse?
She’d never suffer if we became a family.
Are you willing to take that away from her just so you can hold on to monogamy?
Prioritizing your desire not to share her isn’t honoring the sanctity of marriage. It’s breaking it.”
I wanted to rise from my chair, but a weight kept me seated. He was a lunatic, yet, somehow, he made sense. That was the problem. His knack for simplifying complicated matters was difficult to deny. There was a morsel of logic in the ethical dilemma he posed.
Which upheld the sanctity of marriage better: monogamy or prioritizing my wife’s health?
“Consider my offer a transactional one based on our shared needs. I’ll have a loving family to come home to without sacrificing my fast-paced work life.
Amelie won’t have to work sixteen-hour shifts.
I’ll get the kids into the best school money can buy, and I’ll set up trust funds for them.
You can quit your job and travel the world for photography.
When was the last time you picked up a camera? ”
My chest constricted. I put away my camera and my dreams of owning a travel magazine along with it. The sore topic drained my remaining energy.
“I love her,” I said weakly, but there was barely any force behind my words. “And she loves me, too, more than anything. Amelie would never agree to such a thing.”
He didn’t falter at the declaration of my undying love. “Perhaps she’s in love right now, but what happens after the novelty wears off? You’re not a fool. You’ve no doubt seen the way men react when she walks into a room. Do you think she’s lacking in options?”
“Doesn’t mean she’ll agree to a polyamorous marriage.”
He shrugged. “The only way to find out is by bringing it up to her. I’ll rely on you to convince her of this opportunity.”
“Why me?”
Deep, black eyes glittered in the candlelight.
“Because you’ll do anything to keep Amelie.
But you can’t afford to start a family with her until your siblings are adults.
She’ll get fed up and leave you for a stable man before she misses her window to be a mother altogether.
If you had the choice of sharing her or losing her, I believe you’d choose whichever option let you keep her forever. ”
Kai had me wavering, and it showed, judging by the satisfaction on his face. Gun to my head, I would share Amelie rather than lose her altogether. I couldn’t live without her.
Just like that, the unimaginable idea had become a possibility.
“Choose wisely, Stefan. Because everyone’s fate rests in your hands.
” His voice was deceptively soft, getting ready to close the deal.
He sensed I was considering his offer, weighing it against what I’d be giving up.
Was I okay with another man becoming my wife’s legal husband as long as I got to keep her, too?
Kai had discovered the cracks in my marriage, and I was an accomplice to his sordid proposal for hearing him out.
Instead of punching him for insulting our relationship, I made the mistake of maintaining my poise.
The hesitation gave away my insecurities, and he wasted no time exploiting them.
He was more calculating than I had imagined.
He had set me up from the start—the run-in at Amelie’s work, the dinner invitation, the kids’ section, hitting my sore spots.
He even knew Bella would cling to Amelie at the end of the night, giving him an opening for this conversation.
The suave, gentlemanly act was part of the trap, too.
He knew I didn’t come from an affluent family.
The way he normalized the immoral topic, I was convinced elites routinely discussed the monetary worth of other men’s wives and expected them to be civil about it.
He preemptively subdued me by showing me how a “gentleman” behaved, knowing that my desire to belong would compel me to mimic his demeanor.
I saw myself as inferior because of my lowly background and didn’t want him to think I was a savage. Despite everything he had said, I was still fascinated with his life. It was unsettling. The man was making me dance like a monkey.
I felt utterly insignificant because he was making me waver.
His points were valid. Amelie was young.
The novelty of our love hadn’t worn off yet, but it would once she realized we couldn’t afford to start a family until Bella was an adult, which was twelve years away.
She had endless options and would eventually leave me, and I was powerless to stop her.
He was right. Everyone’s fate rested in my hands. There were two paths ahead of me. With the easy one, our struggles would end tomorrow, and I would have the guarantee that my wife wouldn’t leave me. There was also the chaste path, where the only thing I would walk away with was my dignity.
I started to feel stifled, though the air conditioning was blasting at full speed.
Clamminess and discomfort made me want to rip my clothes off.
My inhalations were weak and short. Each breath seemed like it could be my last, accompanied by chills, blurred vision, and trembling.
I was shaking and tried to conceal it from him, but he smiled because he knew he had won.
I put up one last-ditch attempt. “Think about what you’re asking of me. You’re asking me to share the woman I love.”
“No,” he replied calmly. “I’m asking you to give the woman you love everything she deserves, and I’m giving you a chance to keep her forever.”
“The only way to guarantee that is if I turn into you,” I snapped. With his endless resources, I could provide everything for Amelie. Then she would have no reason to leave me.
“Is that your wish then? You wish to be me?”
“I haven’t agreed, but if it were up to me, then yes.” Only one title was up to par for a woman brought up like a princess. “I wish to be the Prince of Darster.”