Ruthless 🗡️/ Fourth Wing

Chapter 60

"I will not," I said, my voice cold as ice, the words firm and final, leaving no room for debate.

Xaden's gaze never wavered. His eyes locked on mine, steely and unreadable. "It's certified and signed by our fathers," he said, his tone calm but thick with the weight of expectation. A challenge, veiled beneath the surface of formality.

We sat across from each other at the long table, the space between us wide and cold. The air was thick with tension, the others around us watching silently, waiting for the eruption they were all anticipating. But I wasn't about to give them the satisfaction. I wasn't here to play by anyone's rules.

"I'll kill you, then we won't have to worry about it," I said flatly, as though the solution were obvious, almost too simple to even discuss. "I'll be a widow, and I'll conquer the world in my husband's honor. Simple. Done."

Garrick's voice broke through from my right, hesitant but determined. "It doesn't work like that, Nora."

But I didn't even glance at him. My eyes were fixed on Xaden, and I could feel the heat of his glare burning into me. Imogen, ever the unpredictable one, chimed in from my left with a half-smirk. "I mean, it could," she said, though the amusement in her tone was tempered by a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

Xaden's expression hardened. His jaw clenched as the words ground out between his teeth. "I don't like this any more than you do. Think of everything I would have to sacrifice for this."

Sacrifice. I couldn't help but laugh, the sound bitter and sharp as a dagger.

"Are you kidding me?" I snapped, my voice rising with the anger I could feel coiling in my gut. "What do you have to give up?"

I leaned forward, my eyes narrowed into slits, the words coming slow, deliberate, each one cutting through the tension like a blade. "My title. My power. My strength—hell, my balls are bigger than yours, Riorsen." I didn't flinch as I stared at him down, not even when the room's attention shifted to the rising intensity between us. I could feel the weight of their eyes on me, waiting to see how I would react.

I didn't blink.

"The power I hold would be yours. You'd be married to me. My title would be yours. It's an honor, a great honor. And yet you think it's a sacrifice? You think you're the one losing anything?" I leaned back in my chair, my words deliberately slow. "It's a shame, really. You'll get the power, but I'll just end up with a vengeful whore trying to kill me." I side-eyed Violet, my words dripping with disdain.

Violet flinched, her eyes burning with fury, but I didn't care. My gaze never left Xaden.

Xaden's face grew harder still, his voice a low growl. "Well, I'm sorry, but you have no choice."

My blood boiled at his words. How dare he try to dictate my life, my future?

Before I could stop myself, I shot to my feet, the chair screeching against the stone floor like the warning of a storm about to break. I met his gaze head-on, the room holding its breath.

"Let me see the paper," I demanded, my voice sharp, a blade cutting through the heavy silence.

The parchment was passed down the row, the rustle of it barely audible over the thudding of my heart. My fingers closed around the paper as I took it in my hands, my eyes scanning each word with a cold, calculating precision. Every letter, every line felt like a shackle trying to bind me to something I refused to accept.

I stood, the chair scraping harshly against the floor. The sound echoed like thunder in the tense silence. I didn't look away from Xaden for a second. The moment was thick with the power of defiance, the weight of a hundred battles fought within me.