The Sins of Duke Evander (BOOK III)

Chapter 15- The Fear of Loss

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Damn it. Damn it all.

Where did it all start to go wrong?

When I refused to apologise? Or better yet, when I punched Alessandro? Or according to my fiery wife, when I stepped out of that car and headed into that damn company building?

"Where is she?" I asked Clyde as soon as I stepped into the mansion, not bothering to greet the old man. Instead, I shrugged the jacket which had been slung over my shoulders off, handing it to a maid, and pulled my suit jacket off too while I was at it.

"The conservatory," And without another word, I headed to the large conservatory at the corner of the mansion. She must have purposefully chosen to hide in the area of the mansion that was furthest from the main entrance, trust Alina to test my patience like this.

"Alina!" I called, walking into the glass room, suddenly hit in the face with nature. The number of plants that littered this place was probably in its thousands; From pine trees to grapefruits, and lemons, pomegranates, avocados and more, the sound of rushing water signalled the water fountains in the area, and even a few bird tweets were heard.

When my parents were still alive, this place was filled with animals. My parents loved shoving their wealth in people's faces, I think my mother even owned a peacock, but that's probably long gone by now. I don't visit this place a lot, but I do have someone maintaining it.

And once Alina discovered this place, she fell in love.

This place which was once filled with so many horrible memories is now being drowned out by all the good ones that she gave me.

"Alina! Do not ignore me!" I shouted, stopping by the garden table, sitting myself down on one of the cushioned seats, crossing my arms and legs as I heard a distant huff, and appearing from behind a bunch of bushes, she walked down the steps from the second floor, stopping a few feet away from me.

"I said that I wanted to clear my head," She muttered, not meeting my gaze, a single thick book in the grip of her manicured hand.

"Clear your head of what?" I bit out.

"Trying to figure out which one is the real you," She gave me a look as if the answer would appear on my forehead.

"The real me? What do you mean by that?" I furrowed my brows.

"Is the Evander Moretti that is sitting in front of me right now a guise? Or is the Evander Moretti that asked me to marry him the real one. The personalities are so different, I can't help but seriously contemplate if you have dissociative identity disorder,"

"To answer your question, no, I do not have dissociative identity disorder, all versions of me that you have seen are real, but they are all me in different mindsets, the 'me' that you see now is more agitated while the 'me' that got down on his knees was happier,"

"But... Evan... Why do I feel like I am married to a different man right now?... I don't want to prove my father right when he said that it was too early for marriage... I don't want to say the wrong things, and I don't want you to feel as though I am a burden... What should I do?"

She whispered, eyes clouding up with tears as she shook like a leaf, and I hurriedly stood up, rushing to go and envelop her in my arms.

"There is no such thing as perfect timing when it comes to marriage, we figure it out with each day, and each step we take. Mistakes will be made, regrets will come as second nature, but at the end of the day, as long as we love each other, then everything will be alright," I hugged her tightly as she hugged me back, berrying her face in my chest.