Chapter 75: Apologize to him.

Soren froze. His head snapped toward her.

In that brief moment of distraction, Theron stumbled backward and fell to the ground.

"Soren, don’t hit me, okay?" he pleaded, his voice shaking just enough to sound convincing. "I told you that I admired Elowen because she saved me. Why can’t you understand that?"

Soren’s eyes blazed with fury. "You... Shut the fuck up."

"Soren." Elowen hurried toward him. She yanked him backward.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, clearly displeased. "I thought you were talking with each other, sorting things out. But you were actually hitting him?"

She took a quick look at the door, fearing Alaric and Charlotte would come out and witness the mess. When she looked back at Soren, disappointment glinted in her eyes.

She tugged at his hand, trying to pull him further away. "Have you lost your mind? Fighting here?"

Soren stared at her, disbelief and hurt crossing his face. "You are doubting me?" He pointed at Theron, who was still sitting on the ground. "He is pretending. He is deliberately twisting everything."

"I saw what happened," Elowen said, her tone grave. "You raised your fist to hit him. Then you pushed him."

"Yes, I raised my fist. But I didn’t hit him. I didn’t..."

"You would have punched him if I hadn’t stopped you," Elowen cut him short.

Soren’s mouth fell open. He wanted to explain. He wanted to tell her what Theron had said, how he had challenged him, and why he had lost control. But the words refused to come.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Theron lowered his head to hide the satisfied smirk tugging at his lips.

In Elowen’s eyes, Soren was the aggressor. She had seen him getting violent, and it made her furious.

Theron knew he couldn’t make her fall in love with him overnight. But he could make her doubt Soren. He could plant suspicion in her mind until every mistake Soren made became another crack in their already fragile marriage.

One misunderstanding might not be enough to break their relationship. If he kept creating them, eventually, Elowen’s trust in Soren would crumble completely.

And once that happened, she would leave him.

’So what if the dinner was ruined?’ Theron thought smugly. ’In the end, I got what I wanted.’

Elowen looked at Soren with a mix of hurt and disbelief. "We are here to have dinner. It was supposed to be a peaceful evening. But you ruined everything."

She poked at his chest. "I shouldn’t have brought you here. I should have turned your request down."

Soren’s eyebrows drew together. "You are regretting bringing me here?"

"You embarrassed me."

"Elowen, listen to me." Soren caught her hand. "You have no idea what happened here. He..."

"Elowen," Theron chimed in before Soren could say anything further. "Don’t be mad at him. He is just jealous of me."

He pushed himself up and straightened his suit jacket. "He thinks I am trying to come between you two."

He looked at her with a wounded expression. "I was trying to explain myself. But he lost his temper. And..."

"Don’t," Soren interjected sharply. "Elowen, don’t listen to him." He seized her shoulders and turned her toward him. "He is lying. He is twisting the fact. You have to believe me."

"Then stop giving me a reason to doubt you," she muttered. "You caused a scene here."

Her voice dropped to a whisper, but her anger remained.

"His parents are right inside. What will they think of you if they find you attacking their son? At their own place? Have you no shame?"

Soren froze, his eyes never leaving hers. Beneath her fury lay concern for him.

Elowen was angry with him, yes, but she was also worried about how his actions might damage his image in front of Theron’s parents.

Warmth spread across his chest despite the lingering tension in the air.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her how much that meant to him. But her next words wiped out that thought from his mind.

"Now apologize to him," she demanded.

Soren stiffened instantly. "What did you say?"

"You heard me."

Soren went still. "You want me to apologize to him?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in her eyes. "Now. Or I’ll never forgive you."

Theron smirked sneakily.

This was even better than he had expected.

Elowen had sided against her husband. And now, she was demanding that Soren apologize to him.

As far as Theron was concerned, he had successfully driven a wedge between Elowen and Soren. He had made Elowen force the proud heir of the Vale family into a position where he would have to lower his head before him.

Soren’s grip on her shoulders loosened. "You didn’t even try to find out whether I was hurt. You didn’t ask what he did or said to make me react that way. You just saw me raise my fist and decided I was in the wrong."

Elowen’s expression faltered.

Soren was right.

She had rushed outside to check what they were doing, fearing Soren and Theron might engage in a fight. The moment she saw Soren was about to hit Theron, she lost her cool.

She had seen him hitting Theron before and had assumed he had been doing the same again. She hadn’t considered that Theron could have provoked him.

Instead of asking whether he was okay, she had started accusing him.

For the first time since stepping outside, guilt flickered across her face.

"Fine." Soren stepped back. "If this is what will make you happy, I’ll do it."

"Soren..."

Soren didn’t wait for her to finish. Turning toward Theron, he straightened his shoulders.

"I am sorry, Theron. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have hit you."

He lowered his head as if to bow to Theron.

Standing a little away, Theron felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. His chest swelled up with pride as he watched Soren bow to him.

Across from him, Elowen’s heart lurched.

She could bear Soren being angry. She could even bear him being unreasonable at times. But watching her proud, arrogant husband bow before another man was something she couldn’t tolerate.

Before he could lower his head any further, she grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"That’s enough. Let’s go. I want to go home."