<spanng="EN">Holden’s POV


    <spanng="EN">Ana looked lovely. Her hair was twisted up on top of her head, and she wore no makeup, but she still looked great. Her leggings hugged her body. I could see how slim her legs were from across the room. Ana has lost a  significant amount of weight over thest few years.


    <spanng="EN">The moment she saw me, it looked like she had sucked on a lemon. She immediately took the chair that Seth had been sitting in, next to her mother. As anticipated, she didn’t respond to my greeting. Seth sent her a look beforeing around the table to sit next to me. It was better for me that she took his seat. I now had a full view of her. I wouldn’t have been able to look at her without making it obvious if she were sitting next to me.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana, I know you have some sort of issue with Holden. But it’s very rude not to reply to a greeting,” Alicia stated. Her no–nonsense tone told Ana what she expected.


    <spanng="EN">I watched Ana press her lips together before looking at me and saying, “Well, hello, Holden. Good to see your again. How long are you staying this time?”


    <spanng="EN">Only she spoke in a totally fake bubbly voice. We could all tell that it was the total opposite of what she wanted to say, but it made me smile. I was going to enjoy messing with her. I couldn’t wait for them to tell her the good news.


    <spanng="EN">I had deliberately parked in their garage. I knew that if she saw my car, she would have just driven away. I was d when Colins outed her. Seth and her father made her enter the dining room, I know that she was about to leave after hearing his outburst about having to get married. It made me smile to see what a little wildcat she had be. I know for a fact that if she had known I was here, she would have left without them even knowing that she was here.


    <spanng="EN">Seeing me smiling at her set her off. I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity to keep messing with her. Her parents had already decided her fate, along with Seth. Unfortunately for my little wildcat, she was going to have to ept the arranged married, whether she wanted to or not.


    <spanng="EN">“What the hell are you smiling at?” Ana asked. She was pissed.


    <spanng="EN">“Analise Elizabeth Caldwell,” her mother gasped out.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana,” Seth growled out at the disrespect that she was showing me.


    <spanng="EN">“It’s fine. I hadn’t realized what a little wildcat Analise has be. I shouldn’t have set her off,” I replied.


    <spanng="EN">Her father looked at me like I had grown another head. “Holden, maybe today isn’t the day to push Ana too far,” he suggested. He was right, it wasn’t the best idea that I’ve ever had, but it was worth it. At least she was talking to me now. That’s much better than the radio silence that she had been giving me previously.


    <spanng="EN">We all knew that she could clearly hold a grudge. But I have spent years trying to get back into her good graces. This has been the most reactive she has ever been towards me, so I know this is the route that I need to take from now on. I have to admit that I think it’s going to be fun. I recall hearing that there’s a thin line between love and hate. Make no mistake about it, Analise hates me right now. I’m going to see what I can do to change that back into the love she once had for me.


    <spanng="EN">The dishes were uncovered, and everyone started to eat. I couldn’t help taking another quick nce at her. Ana has always been a beautiful girl, regardless of her size. However, seeing her today, I was taken aback. I haven’t seen her in years. Correction, I hadn’t been able to get a good look at her in years. She would show up, but upon seeing me, she would manage to slip away and leave. She didn’t care about offending my mother, or hers. I’m going to get the reason why she decided to cut me out of her life soon. Whatever I had done to upset her, I would make it right.


    <spanng="EN">Ana had piled her long brown hair on top of her head into some kind of a bun. She hadn’t dressed up toe eat with her family, but I am sure she was still mourning the end of her rtionship. Her face was much slimmer than it had been. I was stunned by her appearance and even more by what it was doing to me. Her full lips kept calling to me.


    <spanng="EN">I was having dirty thoughts about having them wrapped around my cock, and had to stop myself. I don’t know where that thought hade from, but that didn’t slow the sudden tightness in my pants. I shifted ufortably, trying to adjust. Her gorgeous eyes, caramel colored with some flecks of blue–gray in them, held visible contempt for me when I caught her eye again. That helped my hard–on dete pretty quickly. She hated me, but I still didn’t have any idea of what I could’ve done to make her so angry.


    <spanng="EN">Analise was no longer the same young woman she had been. She was three years younger than Seth and me. She just turned twenty–seven a few months ago and had blossomed into a confident woman. One who was now a stunner, without even trying. I hate the fact that Roger has had the pleasure of putting his hands on her. They’ve been together for five years now, building up their business, and have been engaged for thest nine months. I’m surprise by my sudden interest and possessiveness over Ana. I have done what I wanted to for thest decade. I’ve had rtionships before, but I felt better knowing Ana didn’t want to go forward with the arranged marriage. I have no idea why the thought of losing her suddenly scares me so much.


    <spanng="EN">I clenched my fists under the table at the thought of Roger touching her. She was supposed to be mine. She was before, and she will be again. I’m willing to do anything to get her to love me. I miss how she never hid her emotions from me. She was thrilled that we would one day get married. I tried to take another discreet nce at Ana. She caught me, as she was already looking at me when I looked.


    <spanng="EN">“Why do you keep looking at me, Holden? You know what I look like,” she stated coldly. She was calmer when she spoke this time, but it wasn’t because she was trying to be respectful. She just didn’t like upsetting her parents.


    <spanng="EN">I cleared my throat and said, “You’ve been avoiding me for a long time, Ana. I’m sorry for whatever I did. You’ve grown into a stunning woman. I just can’t understand why Roger would let you go. He has to be an idiot to choose her over you,” I replied. There’s no way she can be offended by myment. I was very careful with what I said, yet I was very, very wrong about that assumption.


    <spanng="EN">“I was pretty back then, too, Holden. But it wouldn’t be the first time,” she mumbled.


    <spanng="EN">What the hell was that supposed to mean? Had someone done this to her before? Why didn’t Seth and I know about that happening? We would have straightened them out. The air in the room felt much colder now.


    <spanng="EN">“You have five minutes, Seth. I would stop wasting time, just say what you want to say. I wasn’t bluffing when I said I was going to leave after lunch. As I’m sure you’re all aware, I have a lot to do this week, and I need to get a jump on it,” Ana said.


    <spanng="EN">“How do you know that I’m the one who wanted to speak to you?” Seth huffed out. He felt bad for her, but he also didn’t want to be the bad guy. He was fine with leaving that to me.


    <spanng="EN">“Because I saw Mom and Dadst night, Seth. Dad even helped mee up with a n of attack. Now, all of a sudden, I get an invitation to lunch, and blindsided,” Ana said. “Of course you’re involved. Stop insulting my intelligence. You’ve inserted yourself into my embarrassing situation. So, what exactly do you want to say? That I make bad choices in men? Wait, let me guess, you want to beat up Roger to defend my honor? You feel terrible about how I was treated? Or do you all of a sudden want to protect me? Which one is it, Seth? Because I already have a n in ce. My list of tasks toplete continues to grow. A list I’ll start implementing tomorrow. So please, stop wasting my time, and just spit it out.”


    <spanng="EN">“I do feel bad for you, Ana. You’re my little sister, how could I not care how you’re treated?” Seth asked, his face showing the same confusion as mine.


    <spanng="EN">“Why start now?” Ana persisted.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana, I’ve always cared about you. I did everything I could to make sure you would be safe without me. We even asked Tiffany to look out for you in her senior year. I’ve always had your back, Seth refuted.


    <spanng="EN">What he said was true. We had both asked Tiffany to keep an eye out for Ana. Tiffany was starting her senior year when Ana started her junior year. Tiffany was pretty popr and well–liked. We both felt that she would ensure Ana’s safety without us in school.


    <spanng="EN">We both watched Ana as her lips pressed together. It was clear that she was really trying to bite back whatever response she was going to make. We were horrified to see her eyes start to fill with tears. Seeing them, Seth immediately jumped up and ran over to Ana.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana, what’s wrong? I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to upset you, but you’ve changed so much since I left for college. I tried to be there for you since the moment you were born. I wanted to be the person you could depend on. A brother you could trust to keep you safe. Even when I went to college, I still made sure to check in and ensure that you were happy and safe while I was away. Dad and I both did, which is why you had security with you in yourst two years of high school.


    <spanng="EN">“I’m not going to talk about that today, Seth. What is so important that I had to be ambushed at lunch?” Ana asked. Her voice wavered slightly as she tried to keep from crying. She was almost as cold to him as she was to me now.


    <spanng="EN">“Ana, the invitations have already been sent out. Our friends, investors, and clients have all been invited. You know there’s nothing we can do to stop this. We can’t back out of it now. A wedding has to take ce. Holden has agreed to go through with the arranged marriage to you. It would help you and our family to save face,” Seth replied.


    <spanng="EN">We all watched as Ana’s face paled, and she looked to her father for confirmation. His jaw was set. I could tell he hated to do this, but at his slow nod, Ana cried out, “No! Please, Dad, don’t make me do this.” Her pleading tone made me feel terrible. I was trying to help her. Why was she so against it?