Jaden's POV
Love was an emotion I scorned, a treacherous path I had vowed never to tread as I embraced solitude, finding comfort in the predictable patterns of my existence as the vampire prince and next in line to rule. I had my life all planned out, and love was not part of it. I can have a queen and children, but that doesn't force love into it because I can marry without falling in love.
In my eyes, the world was a constant cycle of fleeting connections, leaving behind scars of betrayal and shattered expectations, so I had vowed to shield myself from such entanglements, locking my heart away, safe from the agony that love brought.
My heart was the most precious part of me and the most vulnerable—the easiest path to my destruction—so I vowed to protect it and never hand it to any wom
