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My hand fell to my side as a sob escaped my lips. Ashton pushed Nicole away and his eyes widened in shock as he stared at me. She rolled her eyes as soon as she saw me before refocusing her attention on Ashton with a triumphant smirk.

“Elizabeth-” Ashton started, but I didn’t wait for him to finish.

I ran away from the room, but instead of going downstairs, I ran to the room furthest away from the one that he was in.

I didn’t want anyone to see me crying like this. I was about ten seconds into my crying session when I obstinately wiped the tears away. I was not going to cry anymore. Not here and definitely not over Ashton.

I opened the door and was about to make my way back downstairs, when Ashton appeared in the doorway.

I tried to ignore him and step around him, but he blocked my path with his body and closed the door.

“Move,” I snapped, pushing past him.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“Elizabeth, what you saw just now was nothing.”

“Then we don’t have to talk about it then,” I said as calmly as I could and tugged my arm away from him.

He stepped in my way again as I started to leave and ran a hand through his hair.

“Please just allow me to explain,” he implored.

“No thanks. Your girlfriend is probably waiting for you. Don’t let me interrupt,” I scoffed and tried again to step past him.

“She is not my girlfriend."

“Wow,” I said, looking at him. “Aren’t you great. What is she then? Just another one of your toys that you play with when you get bored?”

“You’re not giving me a chance to explain what happened,” he sighed in frustration.

I rolled my eyes. “Tell me, do I have a painted face and a red nose?”

“No,” he answered with a perplexed expression.

“Then why are you treating me like a clown?”

He stared at me bewildered.

“Or maybe I’m the whole circus, since I’m only around when you want entertainment.”

He sighed. “You’re overreacting”

I forced a smile. “Good night, Ashton,” I said as I stormed towards the door.

“She kissed me, Elizabeth,” he turned around to face me. “She was the one who kissed me.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” I said through gritted teeth.

He caught my hand and pulled me back towards him. “You have really awful timing, you know that?” he grumbled. “As soon as she kissed me, you appeared.”

“I said I don’t care,” I persisted.

“I don’t believe that,” he said softly.

I glared at him. “You don’t have to.”

“Did you come here just to argue with me?” he asked in confusion.

“You think I don’t have anything better to do with my time?” I retorted.

I sighed and tried to get a hold of myself. Why was I being angry right now? I literally had no right to be upset.

“Since I’m here, I guess I’ll tell you what I came here to say,” I said. “First, Kevin told me a little about what your dad has been doing. It really irritates me the way he uses his authority to try and control you.”

I was going off script here. This was not what I practiced, but I continued.

“You really upset me with what you said that night, but I’m willing to try and understand your point of view more. The date might not have been real for you or the kiss. And at first, it wasn’t real for me either, but I really enjoyed the time I spent with you. I enjoyed the entire night.” I sighed. “And it ended up becoming real for me… That’s why I got so upset.”

Before he responded I held two fingers up. “Second, I did not throw your necklace in the trash. I don’t know how on Earth it ended up in there when I left it in the box in my room. I really like it and I’m not even wearing it tonight because I’ve somehow developed anxiety over losing it,” I huffed. “I would never throw a gift away, even if I was angry at the person who gave it to me,” I muttered.

I exhaled and gave him a pointed look. “That’s all. Bye.”

I pulled open the door, but as soon as it opened, it was closed. I looked behind me to see him standing there with an undefinable look in his eyes.

“Don’t I get to say something too?” he asked.

I turned around to face him and crossed my arms.

“You’re pretty scary when you’re angry,” he chuckled. “First,” he held up a finger. “I’m sorry for what I said to you on Monday. I could just excuse it by saying I was feeling pressured, but that’s still no reason to behave how I did and I’m sorry.”

“Second,” he held up two fingers. “Just to give you some peace of mind, I would never place the soulmate mark on you without your permission. I don’t have the right to do that. You deserve to choose what you want. The king told me to do it, but I just couldn’t go through with it.”

I tried to respond, but he shushed me.

“Third, it was not my intention to break up with Nicole yet and go on a date with you."

I rolled my eyes. I knew that, but it still hurt to hear him say it.

“But that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it,” he continued. “I actually enjoyed the time I got to spend with you and learn more about you. And the kiss... for me, it was as real as it could get. In that moment there was only me and you,” he smiled.

Did he really mean that? I looked down at the ground with a blush. I didn’t know he actually felt like that.

“What? You thought I was just using you?” he asked incredulously and I nodded honestly.

“That’s because you always run away before I have time to explain,” he scolded me. “About the necklace… if you say you didn’t throw it away, then I believe you. But it didn’t walk to the trash can. Someone put it there and looking back at what Kevin told me it was probably Demetri,” he scowled.

“I don’t know,” I said uncertainly.

“You’re so smart but so naïve at the same time,” Ashton sighed.

“Anyways, I know it hurt your feelings, so I’m sorry about that. And you used your money to buy it for me, so I really do appreciate it,” I told him honestly.

“It’s not about the money. There’s a reason why I gave it to you,” he blushed.

“Oh?” I prodded curiously.

“I’m not telling you now, though,” he said as his face heated up some more.

He cleared his throat and turned around so he wasn't facing me. It was always so fascinating seeing Ashton blush. Usually he was confident and collected, but when he blushed it was pretty cute.

“And last,” he said. “Nicole and I are not together. I just officially said it to her face because I don’t think she took the text seriously.”

That would make sense as to why she didn’t go out of her way to plot some attack on me this week. Wait… text?

“Ashton, tell me you did not break up with her over text,” I asked horrified.

“I did. I was given an hour to break up with her. I couldn’t meet up with her so suddenly.”

“But still. Not even a video call or something. Over text?” I repeated in complete bafflement.

Ashton shrugged. “I think she finally got the message now though.”

I sighed. “I thought you two got back together.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“Umm, the fact that you were hanging out with her at school and completely ignored me?”

He rubbed his hand along his neck and offered me a sheepish smile. I scowled at him.

I looked around. “I didn’t even know that you were planning a party.”

“It was something I decided on Tuesday. I was pretty upset with you,” he admitted.

“I never noticed,” I informed him sarcastically. “So is that like your default setting? You just throw parties whenever you get upset?”

Ashton puckered his brows as he thought about this. “Pretty much. But not all the time. If anything, this one is to upset the king. He probably figured out where I am by now.”

“He doesn’t know that you’re throwing a party?” I asked quizzically.

“Nope,” he grinned proudly.

“You and your rebellions,” I laughed.

He led me over to a sofa and we sat down.

“I also kinda thought it would have helped me to stop thinking about you for a while,” he admitted.

“How’s that working out?”

“No luck,” he said with a small smile. “You were all over my mind. That’s why I came up here. I wanted to get away from everyone for a while.”

“And Nicole followed you up,” I chuckled and he sighed.

“I’m really sorry I tried to pressure you into accepting me,” he apologized again.

“I know that you were doing it for Brooke,” I reminded him. “How does it work though? The mind thing that your dad does.”

Ashton looked troubled as he pulled something out of his pocket. He opened his palm to reveal the ring he always wore at the palace.

“He uses this.”

“Your ring?” I asked, taking it from him to examine it.

It held the royal crest, so I could see why it would be too conspicuous if he wore it in public. But there didn’t seem to be anything unusual with the ring itself.

“Under here,” he said, pointing to the inside of the ring.

I ran my index finger across the smooth gold underside of the ring. I felt a tiny bump in the metal. It was barely noticeable and the wearer probably wouldn’t even feel it.

“The slight bump?”

He nodded. “That’s the trigger. It’s connected to his ring. Whenever he wants to, all he has to do is press a small button on his and it sends an electric current through my body.”

I stared at him stupefied. “Electric current? Are you serious?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of like a taser.”

“A taser that you wear on your finger? Ashton, that’s abuse.”

“Report it to the king,” he laughed drily. “Cav has one too. I haven’t exactly figured it out, but I have to be close to the king for it to work.”

“Like in the same house?”

“Like on the palace grounds.”

“That’s still quite a big distance,” I said in surprise.

“That’s why it’s so damn annoying,” he hissed. “It’s hard to explain, but he activates it and then tells me what he wants me to do through the mind link. He’ll usually do that until he finds something he can use as leverage. It’s usually my family or the guys. Then he drills his wishes into me over and over again like hypnosis. When he does that I can’t sleep or do anything else.”

I stared at the ground with a deepening frown. That didn’t resonate well with me.

“It sounds really painful. Are you okay?” I asked softly.

Ashton moved closer to me and put his arm around me with a smile. “Are you worried about me?”

“Yes, I am,” I told him seriously. “It’s not fair to you.”

He nuzzled my hair. “I’ve learned to deal with the pain. It’s just when he uses Cav or Brooke or my mom… I just get so angry.”

“I would be mad too,” I murmured. “If someone tried to manipulate me using my family or friends. How can he use his own wife and children as bargaining chips?”

“That way, there’s a higher possibility that I’ll actually do what he wants. If I don’t, then it gets so painful that I can’t even think straight. These parties help me to blow off some steam and defy him at the same time,” he chuckled darkly.

I must have looked pretty distressed, because he nuzzled my hair again. “Don’t worry about me,” he insisted. “I can handle it.”

I looked up at him and his eyes softened.

“Stop trying to deal with all of this alone,” I said, wrapping him a hug. “You have friends; you can rely on them too. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

Ashton hesitantly hugged me back and exhaled.

“I’m not bringing them into this. He’s been wanting to try it on them, especially Jun. Brooke’s not old enough yet, but it’s only a matter of time. If me or Cav stop wearing our rings at home, then he’ll give one to Brooke. He always knows how to get what he wants.” He tightened his hug and rested his head in the crook of my neck.

“Well, he can’t get into my head,” I said softly. “I’m here for you whenever it gets tough. Don’t do this by yourself.”

He smiled, but in a moment it became a frown. “I made you cry.”

“Don’t worry about it anymore. You’ve been having a hard time. Once the betrothal is over, then you won’t have to be pressured with this anymore.”

He was silent at that.

“Right?” I asked, taking in his doubtful expression.

He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “The thing is, it’s not so simple.”

“But the king said I could-”

“Said you could choose what you wanted to do? Yeah, he meant it.”

“So what’s the problem?” I frowned, searching his eyes. “Is there something more to it?”

He hesitated, but I urged him to tell me what was on his mind. He sighed again.

“The king’s plan isn’t just black and white. Him allowing you to choose simply means that he won’t be the one forcing you into the marriage. I will.”

“What do you mean?” That didn’t make sense.

“If you don’t agree to the arrangement, then I will not be crowned as heir to the throne and Brooke’s training will start. I can’t stand by and watch him destroy her. He knows I won’t. So with the mandatory dates, he’s giving me time to convince you to go through with this. He’s controlling me to control you.”

“So you mean, either way…”

“He wins.”

I sighed. Of course, there had to be some catch. And by allowing me to see my mother, he was making sure that I would commit to going on the dates with Ashton. His plan was coming together perfectly. I felt like I walked right into that one.

“So is it possible to get out of this?”

“I don’t know. I’m working on it. I have a friend who might be able to help.”

“Why is he so bent on having me do this?” I sighed. “Literally any other girl would jump at the chance to marry the prince and join the royal family.”

“That’s how he is,” Ashton scowled. “He has this obsessive desire to control everything. That’s why he won’t give you up.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, once he sets his sight on something, he won’t stop until he gets it. If he decides that he wants something, it won’t matter if he gets a million others just like it. He has to get the one that he wants. He thinks settling for anything else is losing.”

He sighed. “Since he already has his eye on you, it wouldn’t matter if every princess in the world volunteered to be my wife. He has to have you. He won’t stop until he gets you. And I think there's more to the contract than he's letting on..."

I sighed and then gave him a small smile. “Let’s not worry about this tonight. You’ve had a long week and I’m sure this is the last thing you want to think about.”

“But-”

“Shh,” I whispered, holding him closer.

I felt him smile and he inhaled deeply and loosened up. “I’m glad you came tonight.”

After a few minutes, Ashton finally let his exhaustion take over and fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn’t want to wake him up, so I gently eased his head from my shoulder and got up slowly, placing his head on some cushions.

I sat on the edge of the sofa and watched him sleep. His chest rose and fell gently with each breath. A few silky strands of his midnight hair fell onto his forehead and his long eyelashes brushed the dark circles under his eyes. His sculpted jawline clenched ever so often.

He looked younger, more peaceful and somewhat vulnerable. I brushed my palm tenderly against his cheek.

“Good night, Ashton,” I whispered and got up to leave, but his hand circled around my wrist and pulled me down on top of him.

“Stay with me,” he mumbled in his sleep as he held my head against his chest.

He sighed in contentment and drifted deeper into dreamland. I blushed at how close we were and tried to remove myself from his grip. Ashton was strong, even in his sleep and I couldn’t seem to escape his iron grasp.

I huffed at my futile attempts and gave up, resting my head down on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat and it seemed like the perfect lullaby. I was soon fast asleep too.

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