Adrian’s POV

 

The moment the words "Eileen and I are engaged" left my mouth, the suffocating tension in the mansion shattered into a pin-drop silence.

 

Then, my grandfather's sharp gaze shifted from me, to Eileen, and finally to Chris, who was still kneeling on the marble floor, trembling from the brutal thrashing he had just received.

 

“Adrian.”

 

The way he dragged out my name carried a lethal warning. His eyes narrowed into slits. “You should know better.”

 

Around us, the pack elders instinctively straightened their spines.

 

Asher continued, his tone uncompromising. “That girl,” he stated bluntly, “is still your nephew’s fiancée in name.”

 

The words landed with weight in the...