The Promised Bride 2

Chapter 1

—DEVYN

My eyes swept across the room, and dread settled low in my stomach.

Everybody was there—Nanna, my granddad, my mom, my dad, Azani’s grandfather, G, Azani, and the man I could only assume was his father.

Everyone wore the same somber look. Azani looked the worst. Jaw clenched tight, avoiding my eyes. He was guilty.

Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t look at me, but G did. His fingers were laced together as he sat up straight, nostrils flaring the same way Azani’s did when he was angry. Azani’s father never looked at me at all. He kept his eyes on Azani, smiling in a way that made my blood run cold.

Something’s not right…

“What’s going on?” I mustered the strength to ask.

“Devyn. Have a seat, baby,” Nanna said softly.

She couldn’t even make eye contact with me. I sat down beside Nanna and Azani, and he still didn’t look at me. Then she grabbed my hand and held it tight.

“We have something to discuss,” she said softly.

“Something I should’ve told you a long time ago.

The family you were born into comes with responsibilities.

Duties I should have prepared you for. Instead, I let you live freely when I should’ve told you the truth…

” Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, and she let them fall.

Vivian Heathrow was not a crier. In my whole life, I’d only seen her cry twice, once when her mother passed, then when her father passed.

“Nanna… What’s wrong?” Tears burned the back of my eyes from the look on her face.

“Asad,” she said, looking at Azani’s dad.

He stood, walked toward us with a stack of documents, and placed them in front of me. I picked up the first document and began to read.

On this day, November 28th, an oath was made, binding the male Stone heir and female Heathrow heir to marriage.

The Heathrow heir must marry the Stone heir by age thirty.

If the marriage succession does not take place by the Heathrow heir’s thirtieth birthday, all treaties and truces are null and void.

The sentence for the Heathrow heir will be death by the hand of the Stone heir… .”

This arrangement was dated the day I was born. Six red fingerprints marked the page. No signatures, but I was certain that the six people in this room were old enough to make this arrangement. Then, it clicked. Azani was the Stone heir, and I was the Heathrow heir.

When I looked over at him, he was staring back at me, but he still didn’t say anything. My head turned slowly, looking back at Nanna.

“What is this, Nanna?” I asked, my voice shaking, because there was no way my whole family had betrayed me.

“Zuri, baby… You know what this is. There are sacrifices that must be made to maintain order and balance. Sometimes we don’t have the right to choose who we are bound to. Everyone in this room lost their choice, including you.”

“No,” I choked, pulling my hand from hers. “No… You don’t get to do this!”

The tears I’d been holding back finally came. I stood, throwing my purse over my shoulder. I needed to get far away from everybody in that room.

“Devyn. Please sit,” G said. “You need to understand what is at stake. Your life is not your own, and it has never been.”

He said it plainly, like my feelings had nothing to do with any of it. Like my life was never mine to begin with. The longer I sat in that room, the harder it was to breathe.

“So… what you’re saying is that I don’t have a choice. There’s no clause to terminate this. No way out?”

“No… only death,” Azani’s dad said, staring at Azani.

I laughed once, wiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, and scanned every face in the room before stopping at Azani.

“You lied,” I croaked, pointing at his face, then turned to everyone else. “All of you did. G, I came to your home, and you lied to me for two whole weeks. Everybody in this room is dead to me.”

I turned to walk away, and Azani grabbed my hand. I reared back and smacked him as hard as I could.

WHAP! He didn’t even budge. Just sat there and took it, eyes pleading with me to stay.

“Don’t touch me,” I said through clenched teeth.

My legs felt heavy as I walked away. I could hear Nanna calling my name, my mom, and my dad too, but I just kept walking. The buzzing in my ears made me feel like my head would explode. By the time I got inside my car, my whole body was numb.

I should have known everything was too good to be true.

I sped out of the driveway, straight off the property.

As I drove, tears blurred my vision. My heart felt split in two: my own family and Azani, all of them liars.

Nobody thought I was worth the truth. They let me believe love just wasn’t for me, and right when I thought I’d found it, it got snatched away.

From my high school boyfriend to Syncere, then two other boyfriends. Every last one of them was gone. They either disappeared or they were dead. The realization made me cry harder. What had they done behind the scenes?

The betrayal that hit hardest was Nanna’s.

She was the one who told me to live freely.

She brought balance to my life, even when my mom wanted me to be damn near perfect.

Nanna let me grow, be wild, and really learn who I was without strict structure.

But she knew all along. I felt like I had nobody.

As I pulled into the parking garage, I saw Vic standing by the elevator.

I wonder if he knew, too. All this fuckin’ security for me. Now I know why.

I backed my car in and just sat there. Hands trembling. Tears sliding down my face in steady streams. My phone buzzed in my bag—it was Savannah texting me. I turned it off and shoved it right back inside.

“How could they do this to me?” I choked, trying to catch my breath.

Emotional pain hurts worse than any physical pain you can imagine.

I thought about the conversation I had with my mom and dad at the distillery.

They tried to convince me not to give up on love because they knew Azani was there the whole time—pushing me into the arms of a liar and manipulator.

Then Nanna told me to take a chance if it felt right, knowing he was my only option.

And G… we formed a bond in Dubai. I thought he really gave a damn. Azani’s family made me feel welcome, doting on me, calling me beautiful, and caring for me.

Get the fuck up, Devyn. Get out of this car. Don’t let this swallow you.

So, I did. I grabbed my purse, threw my jacket over my arm, and climbed out. Vic was still standing there watching me. The same hard expression on his face, head constantly on a swivel. He tried not to lock eyes with me, but I stared at him until he couldn’t look away.

“You knew, too, huh?” I said, voice shaking. “Watching every move I make?”

“It’s my job, Devyn. I have to watch you to protect you.”

He was the only person who had enough balls to look me in the eye and tell the truth. I just rolled my eyes and walked past him, straight onto the elevator. When the doors closed, I held my breath. I needed to make it into my condo, lock the door, and let it all out.

I stepped off the elevator and finally exhaled.

Stumbling toward my door, my hands shook as I typed in the code.

I pushed the door open, went straight into my bedroom, and locked it.

The first thing I smelled was Azani. His scent lingered, shattering my heart all over again.

He stayed here last night. I was just with him five hours ago.

One of his watches was on my nightstand. His work laptop on the table. One of his hair ties was right on my wrist. I wanted to get into my bed, but that would only worsen it. It smelled like him there, too. How could he sleep peacefully next to me almost every night and lie to me?

Why didn’t you use your head? Why did you let this man suck you in? Make you fall in love. Break your own damn rules…

I went right back into my living room, grabbed the throw blanket, and threw my body on the couch. I pulled the blanket over my head and finally let it out. My body rocked back and forth from the pain.

The more I tried to suck in air, the tighter my lungs felt. My arms wrapped around my body, trying to comfort myself, but that hurt worse. I curled into a ball, pulling my knees to my chest, trying to convince myself I was safe. But I didn’t feel safe.

It was one thing to get my heart broken, but it’s an entirely different thing when it’s the people I love most twisting my life for their own agenda. Why didn’t I catch the red flags? Was I that starved of love that I took whatever was given to me? Was it desperation?

The more I thought, the more my head hurt.

My cries turned into sobs, breaking down into moans from how excruciating this was for me.

I’d only ever felt like this once before in my life, and it was when Syncere passed.

To think my whole family led me to believe that I could have a life with him.

Build a family. Marry him… they made a fool of me.

I just lay there, sobbing and rocking until I finally shut down. Maybe if I slept, I’d wake up and figure out how to put my life back together.

When I woke up, I felt heavy. Then my head started pounding immediately.

I eased the blanket off and sat up slowly, holding both sides of my head, hoping the throbbing would stop.

It only got worse. My bladder was screaming for release, so I got up anyway, stumbling into the second bathroom that I never used.

I couldn’t bear going into my bedroom yet.

I sat on the toilet, eyes closed, head in my hands, trying not to think about what happened the day before. But it all came flooding back. I was on my own. If I forgave them, I’d never forget. I’d always remember how they betrayed me. The trust was gone.

Then, I stood and looked at myself in the mirror. Sleep lines all over my face, eyes swollen, lips dry and cracked, hair all over my fuckin’ head. I didn’t know this person staring back at me. She was a stranger.

I just dropped my head and washed my hands. Looking at my reflection would only make it worse.