The memory of his mother’s words sent a brief, cold shudder through his veins. During that three-day primal madness, he had been an absolute monster, completely out of his own mind. He had blackout periods where he couldn’t recall a single thing. If it was a historical fact that his own blood-soaked hands had torn her family apart, then he could completely understand the depth of her hatred for him. She wasn’t just being a stubborn slum rat; she was looking at the executioner of her mother and father.

But as a dominant Alpha, his guilt didn’t make him want to let her go. It only made him more obsessively determined to keep her. If he needed to have those rare, legendary Enigma kids that his family line required, he would have to make her fall for him. He would have to teach himself to be gentle with her, to go slow, and to treat her like glass—even though his entire nature loathed the very idea of being soft or patient. He hated going slow. He liked taking what was his by force. But looking at her fragile state, he knew he had no other choice if he wanted to break the wall of her hatred.

Dorrent forced his expression to soften slightly, loosening his grip on her shoulders entirely. He leaned back, his eyes studying her pale face. "Get better soon, Jannah. Do not stress your system for now. Your health is the priority. We will talk about the final marriage arrangements later, when you are fully healed."

Guron looked at the two of them, seeing that the initial bomb had been dropped and the reality was sinking in. He cleared his throat, his voice breaking the tense silence. "I will excuse myself now. I need to go see the Moscow family immediately to handle the wedding annulment with Joanne. I will leave the two of you to talk."

With a final, sharp nod, Guron turned on his heel and walked out of the suite, closing the door behind him.

The room fell into a suffocating quiet. Jannah’s chest rose and fell as she stared at Dorrent with rage.

Dorrent pulled up a chair and sat down right beside her bed, crossing his long legs. He studied her fierce expression for a long moment before speaking. "Tell me something, Jannah... why do you hate me so much?"

The question was a test. Although he knew the dark secret his mother had revealed about her parents’ death, he wanted to see if she would finally open up to him. He wanted to hear the truth from her own lips.

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand, his tone casual but intense. "Think about it logically. Many women would literally kill to have me marry them. I am exceptionally handsome, I fuck incredibly well and I know you enjoy it, I possess boundless wealth, and I am willing to give you absolutely everything this world has to offer just for you to be my wife. It is a fantastic deal for a girl from the slums. So why the deep hostility?"

Jannah’s jaw clenched so hard her teeth ached. You don’t need to know, she thought fiercely to herself. You will never know that I remember that storm-ridden night. You will never know that I know you are the monster who slaughtered my parents in the gutters.

In her mind, the loathing she felt for him was a cold, sharp blade. He was handsome as fuck, yes. He was wealthy beyond imagination, and her body couldn’t deny that he was incredible in bed. But she could never, ever overlook the blood of her mother and father. She didn’t want his money or his luxury. She wanted her vengeance. She wanted to see him burn.

"You don’t need to know anything about my reasons," Jannah replied out loud, her voice cold and completely dead. "And I will never, ever appreciate a single thing from you. I don’t care about your wealth or your looks. I only love Damian. He is a good man, a gentle man, and he is the only person I will ever get married to. A cold, heartless man like you, Dorrent... a man who doesn’t understand the first thing about love, will never understand these things."

Hearing Damian’s name pass her lips with such affection caused a sudden spark of jealousy to explode inside Dorrent’s chest. His silver eyes flashed with dark fury. He lunged forward from his chair, his hand snapping out to grab her chin, forcing her face up so she had no choice but to look into his raging eyes.

"What does it mean to be in love, Jannah?" Dorrent demanded, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low growl that vibrated with tension. His grip on her jaw was firm, but he consciously held back his full strength so he wouldn’t bruise her skin. "Define it for me. Tell me exactly what it means, and maybe I will start practicing it just to make you fall for me."

Jannah didn’t flinch. Despite the terrifying pressure of his hand on her face, she stared directly into his eyes, her voice sharp and unyielding. "Love contains a lot of things, Dorrent. It is about respect, kindness, sacrifice, and safety. And I am definitely not about to sit here and name them all for you like a child. The day you actually fall in love with someone, you will find out all of those things on your own. But I doubt that day will ever come for you, because you don’t even have a human heart inside that chest."

Dorrent stared at her, his thumb tracing the soft skin of her jawline. The anger in his eyes slowly began to morph into something else—something deeper, darker and intense.

"Then teach me, Jannah," Dorrent murmured, his voice suddenly losing its harsh edge, turning deadly serious as he looked into her eyes. "You can teach me how to love, since it seems you have so much experience with it."

"Love is never taught, Dorrent," Jannah whispered back, her voice tight as she tried to pull her chin from his grasp. "It isn’t a lesson in a textbook. It just happens on its own, naturally, between two people who care for each other. You can’t force it."

Dorrent didn’t let go of her jaw. Instead, his gaze became completely locked onto hers, the arrogant, untouchable mask of the billionaire Alpha completely slipping away for the first time. His expression turned incredibly solemn, his eyes holding a rare, vulnerable light that she had never seen before.

He leaned in closer, his thumb gently caressing her skin as he spoke in a low, quiet rasp that sounded almost like a plea.

"Then just give me some time, Jannah... and maybe I will fall in love with you."

Jannah’s heart skipped a beat against her ribs. Hearing those soft, pleading words come out of the mouth of this handsome devil sent a sudden, chaotic wave of confusion crashing through her entire system. For a split second, looking at his flawless face and the genuine intensity in his eyes, a small part of her wished with all her heart that things were different. She wished he hadn’t undergone that black cycle rut nine years ago. She wished he hadn’t been the monster who brutally slaughtered her parents in the dark gutters of 3rd Street. If he were innocent, maybe... just maybe, she would have given him a chance.

But the bloody image of her past flashed in her mind, and her heart hardened into absolute ice once again. She would never forgive him. She would never let herself fall for the executioner of her family.

Dorrent kept his gaze locked onto her wide, shocked eyes, his hand still holding her chin gently as he waited for her response.