Unknown Identity

Chapter Twenty-Four

He sat up. "We have to tell Elliot."

I immediately sprung up. "No!"

"Why not?"

I told him everything: why I'm in Stonebridge and who I am.

"What? Cameron is your brother?"

"No. Cam and my brother just happens to have the same name."

Nick nodded. His eyes were fixed on the ground as he tried to take in everything. "So that's why you seem to have a class and not some homeless freak or a normal person. You are from a royal family..." he was saying almost to himself.

"I don't want Elliot to think that I'm using him to save our kingdom," I explained, my tone almost pleading.

Nick nodded once more. After a moment, he raised his eyes to me. "What do you plan to do?"

"I want him to know everything. Except the part where I came here to look for another rich heir for the merging. I don't want to lose Elliot. He means everything to me. Please understand, Nick."

Nick breathed heavily. He looked at the ground and shook his head. "This would be the first time that I will be keeping a secret from him."

"Nick, I want it to be him. I want to marry him, but I wish his money isn't involved--"

"But it is!" Nick stormed. "You want to marry him because you know it can save your country. You're using his weakness. You are his weakness! Do you realize how much this would ruin him again, maybe even worse, if he finds out that you want him to fall in love with you and to marry you just to save your petty country--"

Tears exploded from my eyes. "Shut up! I fell in love with him without knowing who I was or what I was in Stonebridge for! Don't you accuse me for using Elliot! It wasn't my fault if he'd loved me back! I loved him and I thought that it was it. That I thought was only up to that point: a one-sided feeling. I didn't know he'd catch me!"

The room was in strained silence.

Nick didn't meet my eyes. "What do you plan to do?"

I tried to stop my sobbing before answering his question. "I don't want to marry him."

He looked at me. "What? But I thought you said you love him?"

"Marrying Elliot means merging. If merging wasn't my goal and if it was just a tradition, I would love to marry Elliot. Maybe I'll marry someone who's willing to just do the merging and divorce him a month after. You know, just to keep crowds silent and make them think it just didn't work out. Then, I'll marry Elliot. Although, marrying another heir still means merging, but at least by the time our family and Elliot's have merged, we are not in need of money anymore. That way, I won't seemed to have married him for money. It would already be out of the question."

"Why didn't you just marry Jonathan? Merge, then divorce him afterwards?"

"He isn't just willing to do the merging," I emphasized. "He wants me. I will be entrapped for the rest of my life."

After a long moment, Nick finally broke the silence.

"I'll do it."

"What?" I wasn't sure what I heard.

He looked into my eyes. "I'll do the merging. Then, we divorce afterwards."

"But...why?"

"Cam, El and I grew up together. We treat each other like blood-brothers and not just best-friends-brothers. He's been through enough shits and he's been alone for 22 years of his life. This was the first time Cam and I saw him this happy, that's why we support you and him whatever happens. And this could be the biggest thing I could do for him."

I sighed. "Should we tell Cam?"

After a beat, he nodded.