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34*> PROMISES

CLAIRE'S POV

PRESENT DAY

Stop Dorothy,

That was the thought that kept reoccurring in my head as I sprinted out of my dressing room.

Because of the length of my dress and veil, I couldn't catch up to her. As I tried pulling the veil from my hair, I tripped and fell down the stairs causing the bottom of my dress to rip.

I didn't let the fall stop me. I stood up almost immediately and continued scampering around the mansion in search of Dorothy.

After twenty minutes of my fruitless searching, I saw Lionel and Mark by the stair chattering about how Dorothy barged into Noah's room with a gun.

Fuck!

My head was banging as I quickly ran in the direction of Noah's bedroom to stop her before she caused irreparable damage.

When I arrived, I almost lost consciousness when I found Dorothy aiming a rifle at Noah with a tenacious look in her eyes.

The resilience in her eyes showed she was set on shooting him and nothing I said would dissuade her.

I couldn't let her shoot him though because there would be consequences. If she manages to kill Noah, Mr Alonso would definitely behead her; and if she doesn't manage to kill him, he will torture her to death.
M
It was a tough feat but I finally broke her resolve after defending Noah and saying nasty things to her.

"I choose him. I choose Noah!" I declared.

I saw how her spirit broke after my declaration but I preferred her to be upset rather than dead.

When I saw tears course down her cheeks, I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

"Dorothy, I hope you understand why I chose him. It's not that I don't love you...- I swear I do." I pleaded in tears.

"I wish you the best in your life," The way she said it felt like a goodbye, but I couldn't do anything.

'It was the only way,' I sniffled as I watched her walk out of the room with a lifeless face.

"No one has ever insulted me like that and gotten away with it," Noah spoke up.

I swallowed as I brushed away the tears that had spilt, "I'm sorry. Dorothy is just emotional because of everything. Don't take offence, please. It won't happen again, I promise."

"If I was going to hurt her, I wouldn't have let her leave." he simply said and I realized that was true.

"Do you know why I let her go?" he asked as he took slow steps towards me.

I shook my head as I couldn't find the voice to respond.

He stopped in front of me, "Because I love you and I don't want to see you sad today," he used the back of his hand to rub the tears on my face.

I cleared my throat before saying, "Thank you,"

He cupped my cheeks with his hands and pulled my face closer to his, "You look breathtaking, magnificent, ethereal," he whispered before planting a brief kiss on my lips.