?Chapter 292:


    With a guarded posture and a tone as sharp as the morning breeze, Elena demanded, “What brings you here?”


    Disregarding her contempt, Darren spoke with soft earnestness. “I arrived early hoping to catch you, but I feared you might reject me. It seems there was a misunderstanding between us at Gerald’s banquet the other day…”


    “Misunderstanding?” Elena’s voice was sharp, her smirk icy as she regarded him with a mix of amusement and incredulity.


    Encouraged by her engagement, Darren’s face brightened, his voice swelling with emotion.


    “Yes. I spoke as I did because the thought of you with someone else terrified me. You’re so breathtaking, and seeing another man at your side instead of me was painful… I announced our engagement out of sheer desperation. I love you like crazy. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you!”


    Darren’s voice was tempered with a restraint that suggested a profound affection for Elena.


    He artfully recast his treacherous behavior as mere expressions of jealousy, portraying himself as a man besieged by devotion.


    Elena responded with a sharp click of her tongue, her face twisted in revulsion. His maniptions were downright repulsive.


    “Have youpletely forgotten about Sylvia?” Elena challenged, her voice ringing with usation.


    A flicker of guilt shadowed Darren’s face for a moment before he regained his mask ofposure. A hollow, bitter chuckle escaped him as he responded with feigned tenderness, “Do you really think I care for Sylvia? Oh, Elena, you’ve got it all wrong. Sylvia deceived me. When the Reed family discovered you weren’t their true daughter and nned to cast you out to the harsh life of the countryside… How could I stand by and watch? I believed that if I stayed with Sylvia, she would relent in her scheming against you, and the Reeds might treat you with kindness. But I didn’t expect…”


    His voice broke as he dramatically clutched his chest, feigning deep sorrow. “I never expected the Reeds would still send you away. You might not know this, but I even journeyed to Cloudstream Vige in search of you.”


    His tears gave way to a sly grin. “Luckily, your parents aren’t mere farmers… It’s all behind us now. Elena, I no longer have to y games with Sylvia. My heart has always belonged only to you. There’s no one else in our way!”


    Find more chapters now g?lnσv??ls?c?m


    He delivered these words with deluded conviction, as if Elena shared his feelings.


    Elena stood defiantly, arms crossed and lips twisted in a sneer. “Dream on. I never want to be with you.”


    Darren’s smile wavered, his usual poise teetering on the edge as he struggled to maintainposure. For a moment, the mask slipped, revealing a flicker of raw emotion before he steadied himself.


    “Elena, don’t throw out words you might regretter,” he implored, his voice a blend of desperation and assurance. “You can shout, you can rage against me, but please don’t bury what you truly feel.”


    His eyes locked onto hers, filled with unyielding belief. “We’ve been entwined in each other’s lives since childhood. If your heart truly despised me, why would we ever have dreamed of marriage? Tell me, what’s troubling you?”


    He paused, his next words heavy with resolve. “I’ve severed my ties with Sylvia—she’s in the past. I swear, I’ll stay here in the, right by your side—”


    .


    .


    .