Rose POV

"My good Lord, man! This is irrefutably the slowest carriage we could have chosen!" Adrian bellowed and hit his fist on the roof of the carriage. "Faster, I tell you! It would have been quicker had we walked!" He declared, and noticing the sudden acceleration, he leaned back into his seat with a satisfied 'Humph'

I could not help but sneer as I looked at him. The man was a brute. He was conceited, rude and petulant and had only got away with his impudence due to his handsome looks and relative social status.

He lay there still, and I sighed heavily, thankful to have a moment's peace. He had been incessantly roaring for the entire journey, and thus had given me the most dreadful pain at the forefront of my head.

Just as I thought he may have dozed off, his eyes sprang open manically and he roared again, "If you do not hurry up, I will force you onto all fours alongside the horses, and whip you into running this damn thing faster!"

I scoffed at him, and before I thought better, I said, "Whatever is the hurry? There is no way or means for anyone to know where we are. I have not told a soul."

He curled his lips up in a sneer, "Women are so foolish. Gretna Green is a common place for elopement. People must cotton on shortly."

It was my turn to laugh at him in scorn, "Then why in the devil would you direct us there?!" I exclaimed, and laughed when I saw his cheeks blush as I pointed out his stupidity, "And you have the nerve to accuse women of being the foolish ones." I chided, and his lip trembled as he attempted to keep his temper at bay.

"Do you not realise how many Churches would turn us away? The very nature of such an elopement is sordid and pitiful. The Church is hardly welcoming us with open arms."

I smiled at him mockingly, and raised my eyebrows at him, "Sordid and pitiful, you say? You don't half know how to make a woman feel special."

"If I could have had you without all of this hassle, believe me, I would have done. You are nothing but a cheap thrill to me, Little Damsel. I actually rather find your company irksome, to say the least."

"You speak of me with such distaste. Pray tell, why bother to marry me?" I asked, partially to occupy his mind for sometime, lest his shouting add to the dreadful, dull ache at the front of my head, but also due to a slight curiosity on my part.

He seemed to genuinely ponder this for a few moments before meeting my eyes with a cool, detached blankness one could only describe as being similar to that of a murky pond, that shade of dirty green that lacked any signs of vibrancy and life.

"I may as well tell you why I am going to such lengths. For while it is true, you are a handsome woman, that any fellow should desire, your family and lack of grace hardly make you a desirable wife." I snorted at him loudly, and he arched an eyebrow in response, as if I just demonstrated his point exactly.

"You see? Hardly a lady in the making. So that brings about my other reason for wishing to marry you.

Your dear friend Belikov, whom I believe you have grown more than attached to, is a man I seek very much so to destroy."

I sat upright, my heart leaping to life at the mention of the very man who stole it.

"But for whatever reason! He is a sweet, dear man. A generous soul, and unlike another of his social standing!" I exclaimed, and he smirked, some remnants of joy dancing in those dead eyes at provoking a reaction from me.

"But that is where you are wrong. His father was a cruel, perfidious man. And I am not talking about the way he treated his women. In fact, that may be the only thing I respect him for. The way he would use the women around him for his own pleasure, without his wife or other husbands batting an eyelid is quite remarkable. Inspirational, if you must." He stated, a look one could not quite liken to being awe upon his face, and he rolled his eyes at the look of disdain that I did not try to keep hidden from my features.

He continued, "However, his ways with woman was not enough to earn him my respect. He ruined us. My father, the fool, was a man of reasonable reputation and wealth. And it was no secret that Lord Belikov disliked any man who dared challenge his power, unless they pandered to his need, such as the Ozeras were known to do on occasion. This would often come in the form of lending him their wife for the evening, perhaps even their daughter, if she was of age. That was if they were let off lightly. In other instances, the demands would be much higher. Selling off land, people, machinery for pittance, compared to what they were worth. And this is what he asked of our family. A large chunk of land that was ludicrous and unreasonable by anyone's standards. My father, for all of his good ways, was a stubborn man, his pride being his major downfall. And where others had bowed and prayed before Belikov, he stood his ground and refused to pay up. Little did he know how much that would cost us all..." His voice trailed off, and a look I did not recognise crossed his face; one that made him appear human for the first time since I had met him. His features softened, his eyebrows raised slightly, and a faraway look in his eyes gave way to the melancholy he was experiencing as he recounted what happened.

And heaven forbid, for I do not know why I did it, I reached out to touch his arm in a soothing gesture, my heart genuinely filled with some form of sympathy for him. His eyes settled upon me, and for a split second, we were at peace. This was the man behind the beast; the soul within the statue. But just as soon as it came, it departed, and he blinked a few times as if realising where he was, before batting my arm away dismissively.

"I need not your concern, so do not look at me with those pitiful eyes. Yes, that man ruined us. He took everything we had by force, both because we did not comply to his demands, and simply because he took everything from us. Our home, work, money, land and reputation. My mother and father died without a coin to their name, their hearts broken by the cruel way in which their world was destroyed. And thus, I had nothing anymore in this world to drive me. No family, no wealth, no respect from peers. So I set upon the task of ruining the man that ruined us. It took me years to plan everything. I had to change my name, make a living for myself, and find a way to destroy Belikov. And I found a way, too."

He laughed bitterly and shook his head.

"But all of that was irrelevant, in the end. The poor bastard died with a weak heart after all of that meticulous planning. The coward cheated vengeance in death, too. So the only way I can seek my revenge is to target the heir instead. And that is where your dear Dimitri comes into play. He is exactly like his father. Cold, calculating and snobbish. The only difference is, he does not play women the way his senior did, and thus, I cannot hold him even the slightest of my respect."

My heart stopped when I realised the passion and drive this man before me possessed to undo the man that I loved. "You wish to ruin a man for what is perhaps his greatest character strength? The fact that he respects women as his equals?" I asked incredulously, and he chuckled at me.

"Dear, naive, little woman. Don't you see it? He has everything I should have had. The money, the land, the reputation and name. I want all of that. And seeing as that is not possible, I shall strip it away from him. I will gain my satisfaction from bringing another man to his knees."

I buried my head in my hands, unable to believe what I was hearing. The fact that my sweet gentleman, the only man I have ever known to treat me with respect, albeit after a long time, was to be undone because of that very quality was heartbreaking. What was more painful was the fact that I did not know how to get myself out of this mess, that I regretted the decision to leave Dimitri. I thought I was being kind to him, by letting him lead the life he wanted, with a woman of his social calibre that he deserved. When in truth, it was blatantly obvious that I was the thing he desired the most. As Adrian stated, he had the money, the land, the reputation and name to make him a wealthy man. He could have bought the affection of another woman, and chose not to. But what he lacked was that love. The love that I knew I had for him. And by endeavouring to be selfless, I had unwittingly taken away the one thing he didn't have. I took that decision away from him, and the bastard in front to me knew that this entire time.

I stared at the man in front of my between my fingers. That same, disinterested, smug look upon his face. He knew he had succeeded. He had played us all.

I expected to feel some sort of rage towards him. Upset. Hurt. Melancholy. But there was nothing. Only a strange numbness that seemed to shroud me, as if protecting myself from the turmoil of emotions that would hit me if I let my heart feel them.

I lifted my head out of my hands, and when I spoke I barely recognised my own voice, it was so devoid of any emotion.

"It is not the fact that he has money, land or a reputation and name for himself that makes him twice the man you shall ever be. No. It is because he is good. He is loving, compassionate and without a doubt the most selfless man that I have ever met. That is the difference between you and he. And to think that I felt sorrow for you, thinking that your motivations were based on the fact that he ruined your family. Evidently, you are only capable of thinking about yourself."

Whether it was the words I said, or the way in which I spoke them, it seemed to jolt him slightly, and he scoffed at me, as if unable to believe that I wasn't taking his side after he had confided in me.

"It is the fact that he can get what he wants, and I can not! So I will take away the one thing that he desires more than anything else! I will make him see that life is a cruel mistress, one that can only serve to-aarghh!"

His cries cut off the rest of his speech, as the carriage came to an untimely stop, lurching is both forward at an unholy speed.

After a few moments of stunned silence, he appeared to collect himself, and turned to face me, face red from the boiling rage building inside of him

"What in the devil was that?!" He shouted, visibly looking as though he may implode at any moment's notice.

But it was not I that answered him, for instead the coachman piped up with the words I had been dreading since I stepped foot into the carriage;

"We have arrived at your destination, Sir."


Author's note

Okay. So. This is not my best chapter. I know that. Please go easy on me.

I am sorry for the delay in updating this story. It's been a hard few weeks, and very recently, I did try to take an overdose. Obviously, it wasn't successful, but it did succeed in the sense of giving me the motivation I needed to do the things I enjoyed. One of which was writing.

So this chapter is really just my way of apologising to you all for the delay. It is a bit of a filler, but I did think the plot line needed something a bit more to drive it upon reading it again, hence the backstory.

I am so excited to be back. And these upcoming chapters are where the real action is that.

On that note, please vote in reviews or PMs. Which perspective should I write from? Rose or Dimitri?

Finally, last but not least, I want to say thank you. Reading your comments genuinely made me cry. The love I have received from you all has touched me deeply. I promise to reply to all of your messages, and I also promise that I read each and every single one. Maybe more than the once haha.

All my love, and sincerest apologies,

Emma xxxxx