I MARRIED MY ENEMY FOR REVENGE

The Tension Between Us

For a long, heavy moment, neither of us said a word.

Ryan was already calling again. Shadric hadn't taken his eyes off me.

The silence stretched until it felt suffocating. I took a long breath, then picked up Ryan's call.

"Avalan?" Ryan's voice leaked through the speaker, putting pressure for a response.

I blinked, forcing myself to look away from Shadric first.

"I'm here," I said.

Even to me, I sounded completely zoned out.

On the other side of the line, Ryan felt it instantly.

He paused, the background noise on his end fading as he asked carefully, "Are you okay? You sound... off."

Before I could figure out what to say, Shadric finally moved.

He didn't rush. He just took a few slow, quiet steps into the room and closed the door behind him without taking his eyes off mine.

The faint snap of the lock sent a chill straight to my gut. It felt way too intimate and deliberate.

Suddenly, I was hypersensitive to how small the room felt and to Ryan still on the line, listening to the quiet.

"I'll call you back," I said quickly into the phone.

"What?" Ryan sounded caught off guard and a bit frustrated.

"Wait, Avalan, don't hang up"

"I said I'll call you back, Ryan."

I didn't give him a chance to argue.

My voice came out sharper than I intended, heavy with an authority that didn't leave room for discussion. I tapped the screen and ended the call, cutting him off while he was still talking.

I set the phone face down on the mattress, trying to stop my hands from shaking, then looked back up at Shadric.

"You were listening," I said. It wasn't a question.

Shadric frowned slightly, his shoulders dropping just a fraction. He looked exhausted, the sharp edge of his usual confidence dulled by the late hour.

"I was standing right outside your door, Avalan. It's a thin door."

"That doesn't make it okay," I said, a sudden flare of irritation warming my chest.

"Since when do you care who calls me?"

"This isn't about that."

"Then what is it about?" He didn't snap back.

Instead, he just looked at me, keenly, as if he was trying to read between the lines of my anger.

That quiet scrutiny only made me more defensive.

I walked over to the window, staring out at the dark yard.

"You really should stop doing that," I muttered.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at me like I'm some kind of problem you're trying to solve."

I heard the faint rustle of his suit jacket as he moved behind me.

"Maybe I look at you that way because lately, you look completely overwhelmed by your own life."

The comment cut right through my defences because it was true.

I spun around to face him, crossing my arms tightly.

"I am not overwhelmed."

"Really?"

His voice wasn't mocking.

If it had been, I could have handled it.

Arrogance was easy to fight; it gave me something to push against. But this quiet, genuine tone? It completely threw me off balance.

"You hear a few seconds of a phone call, and you think you have me all figured out?" I challenged.

"No," he said quietly, leaning back against my dresser.

"But I think Ryan still has a massive hold on you. More than you want to admit."

I felt a shiver in my chest. My breath caught in my throat, not because I knew he was right, but because a terrifying part of me didn't know if he was wrong.

"Who I talk to is none of your business," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

He looked at me the way someone looks at a person determined to misunderstand them.

"You sounded terrified the second you realised it was him, Avalan. You almost vanished."

I let out a dry, bitter laugh.

"And now you're analysing my reactions? Is that what we're doing now?"

"You couldn't even give him a straight answer."

The observation stung because it was true.

I had noticed the weird, tight energy in Ryan's voice, too—the overly careful phrasing. The subtle, sharp anger that flared the second Shadric's name came up. And the worst part was that, now that Shadric had pointed it out, I couldn't unsee it.

"You're reading way too much into a phone call," I replied, though the words felt empty.

"Am I?"

The question just hung there between us.

Shadric pushed away from the dresser, taking a couple of slow steps toward me.

"You've known him a long time, haven't you?"

"Yes. He was my best friend."

"And you trust him with everything."

The answer should have been automatic. It should have been a fierce defence of the guy who held my hand when everything else burned down. Instead, I hesitated.

A heavy, awkward silence filled the room before I finally forced out, "Of course I do."

Shadric smiled in pretence.

It wasn't satisfaction, and it definitely wasn't relief. He just looked profoundly weak, almost disappointed.

"What?" I asked sharply.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He held my gaze for a second longer before looking down at the floor.

"Nothing."

"No," I insisted, taking a step closer to him. "Don't do that.

If you have something to say, say it. Stop with the secrets."

He was quiet for a long time.

Then, softly, he said, "You trust people too completely, Avalan. You always have. You assume that just because someone was nice to you when you were down, it means they have good intentions."

The words made my blood boil. "That is incredibly rich coming from you."

"I'm serious. I've already told you that isn't what happened."

"There you go again! half-truths and weird warnings. You keep acting like there's some hidden story that magically makes you the good guy."

"Because there is a story."

I spun back so fast my hair whipped across my face.

"Then TELL ME! Stop hiding behind excuses and say it!"

The air in the room felt incredibly thin. For a long moment, neither of us moved.

Then Shadric let out a long, heavy breath and ran a hand through his hair, the carefully controlled mask finally cracking.

"You think this is easy for me?"

I stared at him, caught off guard by the raw frustration in his voice.

"Easy for you? You're the one holding all the power here! You're forcing this marriage!"

"Yes, easy for you." his voice hardened, a rare edge of emotion bleeding through. "Because no matter what I say, no matter what I do, you've already decided who I am. You made me the villain a long time ago, and you're terrified to see anything else because it means your anger was wasted."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Mostly because, in a quiet, terrifying way, I knew he was right.

I had built an entire wall out of my hatred for him, and I didn't know who I would be if that wall fell.

"You gave me every reason to hate you," I whispered, my voice cracking.

"I gave you one moment that looked terrible," he said softly, his eyes searching mine. "And you built years of resentment around it."

The quiet intensity of his voice made my chest ache with a dull, familiar pain.

Suddenly, the memories came rushing back: the whispers in the hallways, the mocking laughter, the crushing weight of standing there completely broken while everyone watched.

I swallowed hard, forcing the tears back. "You stood right there, Shadric. You stood there and let them do it. You didn't lift a finger."

His eyes darkened.

"You ran away before I could even try to stop it. You vanished, Avalan."

I let out a bitter laugh.

"And you honestly think that changes anything?"

"No," he said, his gaze fixed on mine. "It doesn't change what happened. But I think you deserve to know the actual truth before you spend the rest of our lives hating me."

The walls felt like they were closing in. There was just too much history, too much unsaid baggage pressing against us at once.

I looked away, taking a shaky breath to steady my nerves.

This was getting dangerous.

Every conversation with him chipped away at the anger that kept me safe.

Behind me, his voice softened. "What did Ryan say about me?"

The sudden question caught me completely off guard.

I kept my back turned.

"Why do you care?"

"Because the exact second you heard his voice, you changed. You went completely mute."

I hated how observant he was. I hated that he could see through my emotions so easily.

"He just asked if I was completely sure about the marriage," I muttered.

"And?"

"And he sounded angry," I admitted quietly.

"Really angry."

A long silence followed.

Then Shadric spoke, his voice dropping to a low, quiet tone. "That's because he never expected you to actually choose me over the version of events he gave you."

I turned around sharply, my brow furrowed. "What is that supposed to mean? What version of events?"

His expression smoothed over again, the impassive mask returning as if it had never left.

The vulnerability from a moment ago was tightly locked away.

"I think you already know, deep down," he said quietly.

"No, I don't," I said, stepping toward him. "I think you just like talking in riddles to keep me off balance."

He let out a faint sigh and closed the remaining distance between us. He came too close, within my personal space.

I could see the tired lines around his eyes, the sheer exhaustion he was trying to hide. My heart started thumping erratically against my ribs.

"You keep looking at the wrong parts of the story, Avalan," he murmured.

"And you keep acting like you're protecting someone." The words slipped out before I could stop them, driven by pure instinct.

For the first time all night, his face changed completely. It was a tiny gloom, a sudden pull around his eyes, a momentary freeze, but it was real.

A cold realisation washed over me. I had hit a nerve.

"Who are you protecting, Shadric?" I whispered.

"Is it someone from back then?"

He didn't answer. He just stood there, his gaze intense and unblinking.

That silence felt like an admission.

"Shadric... tell me."

His palms gripped each other, tightening his jaw so hard that it showed in his face, before he finally broke the silence, his voice carrying a dark, heavy weight that made my blood run cold.

"You need to stay away from Ryan, Avalan. Cut contact with him. For now."

The demand stunned me.

"What? Are you telling me to cut off my friend? The one person who actually cared?"

His gaze remained fiercely fixed on mine, completely serious.

"Just trust me on this. Don't ask questions. Just stay away from him."

A long, humourless laugh escaped me.

"Trust you? After everything? You really don't hear how insane you sound right now, do you?"

"Avalan"

"No!"

I stepped back, breaking the proximity between us, my anger flaring back up to protect me from the confusion.

"You don't get to dictate my life. You don't get to tell me who I can talk to."

I could see a shadow of genuine frustration, tinged with terror, around his face.

He stepped closer again, his voice dropping to a harsh, urgent whisper.

"I am not trying to control you, Avalan. You're in far more danger than you realise."

My heartbeat stopped for a terrifying second. Because this time, there was no mystery in his voice. There was no condescending arrogance, no riddle to solve. He didn't sound calculating at all.

His voice broke.

Only for a second. But I heard it.

For the first time since he walked back into my life... Shadric sounded afraid.