333 To Propose Or Not To Propose
Anna took Lucien to the balcony and spoke to him for a long ti, but Lucien was not ready for the conversation.
He kept telling his twin sister that he needed ti to process everything. They had to postpone the talk until the next day at least. He needed ti to think.
Needless to say, Annalynne was utterly dejected.
The following dinner was more solemn than a funeral.
Lucien refused to say anything beyond hums, occasional “Yes”ses and “No”s. Annalynne was busy bribing her brother with food, which Lucien eventually left uneaten once he was full.
The suite was full with cakes and candies and fruits that eventually landed in the refrigerator.
When Lucien refused to share the bed with her that night, Ronan was overjoyed but Annalynne burst into tears imdiately.
“Lulu, you promised,” she begged while hugging her brother from behind. “Don’t be like this, please. You can’t be mad at . I know I was wrong.”
Lucien sighed.
.....
“I am not mad,” he said finally. “I just need to sleep on it. We will talk tomorrow.”
“I won’t disturb you!” Annalynne insisted. “I will not make a sound! You can take your ti to think!!!”
Lucien sighed.
“Fine.”
Lucien kept his promise, but he could not be colder in deanor.
Whenever they spent the night together, Lucien always let Annalynne sleep in his arms while soothing her with a soft voice.
Annalynne was so used to her brother’s gentle treatnt that she took it for granted.
Tonight, for the first ti in her life, her brother turned his back toward her and refused to even give her a goodnight kiss.
Annalynne was beyond miserable.
She could not sleep until late at night.
When she woke up the next morning, Lucien already left the master bedroom.
Annalynne jumped out of the bed in search of her brother. Lucien told her that he only needed a night to digest the news. They should be able to talk now, right? Right???
Lucien sat by the pool outside with a book in his hands. It was clear that he was not reading at all. His gaze was directed at the endless ocean that extended ahead of him.
“Lulu? Elder brother...”
Annalynne pressed her lips together and approached Lucien carefully.
“Can we talk now?”
“Mhm.”
Lucien gestured for Annalynne to sit down.
“I am not angry,” Lucien repeated what he told his sister the previous night. “Anna, you are an adult. I told you months ago that I trust your judgnt. I just didn’t expect that you would take the next step so quickly.”
Lucien closed the book in his hands with a sigh.
“The past few months had been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster for . I am sorry if you did it because I was not there for you.”
Annalynne shook her head fervently.
“Lulu, that is not it,” she insisted. “He didn’t force . It was maybe a spur-of-the-mont decision, but it was purely consensual. And I... I didn’t regret it.”
Lucien raised a hand and caressed Annalynne’s cheek.
“Then, in that case, why didn’t you two register your marriage? Don’t tell that he refused to.”
Lucien furrowed his brows. “I am going to teach him a lesson if that’s the case.”
“No!” Annalynne exclaid.
“Lulu, I do want to marry him, but I don’t want to marry him because all of you force him to marry !”
“... Anna...”
“I just... I want him to propose because he wants to. Not because we had sex. Or because he felt that he had to. Even if he doesn’t want to marry , I... I will bear the responsibility on my own.”
Lucien cracked his fingers.
What?
As Annalynne’s big brother, he could not just stand to the side and watch his sister be humiliated. Of course, he had to do sothing. Having anticipated Lucien’s reaction, Annalynne quickly dragged her brother to sit on the lounge chair when he rose to his feet to beat the proposal out of Lowell.
“Lulu, please,” she begged. “Give him ti, alright? Don’t force him!”
“Arghhhhh...!!!”
Lucien roared in frustration.
“If... If the worst case happens, you will still stand by , won’t you, Lulu?” Annalynne asked with a trembling voice. “You will still be my big brother, won’t you?”
Tears built up in Annalynne’s eyes. She looked so pitiful.
Lucien heaved a sigh. He pulled his sister into a hug and kissed her on the forehead.
“Of course,” he mumbled. “But if he ever hurts you, I am going to break his arms and legs.”
Annalynne chuckled.
“I thought I should reserve the right to do that.”
“Hmm. Okay, you can do that. I will massage your hands after you are done.”
The siblings giggled together.
Ronan and Lowell erged from their bedrooms in ti for breakfast. There was relief on Lowell’s face when he saw Lucien and Annalynne smiling at each other.
Ronan slid the glass door open and stepped into the deck.
“Good morning, my love,” he greeted Lucien.
“Mmm, good morning.”
Lucien walked toward Ronan and hugged him.
Ronan gave Annalynne a aningful look before he buried his nose into Lucien’s hair and kissed the side of his head.
Annalynne pursed her lips in disapproval, but she went back into the living room to join Lowell after closing the glass door behind her.
‘Are you alright, Baby?’
‘I am okay. We are good.’
‘So we don’t need to string Lowell up and make him choke out a wedding proposal?’
Lucien looked up and smiled at his mate.
‘No. Anna wants him to propose on his own. Let’s just hope that Lowell doesn’t let us all down.’
He stood on tiptoes and leaned against the Alpha to kiss him on the lips.
‘I love you, Alpha. Thank you for marrying .’
Ronan chuckled.
‘I proposed to you twice before you said yes, Lucien Clearwater. I would have proposed a thousand tis if need be. I should be the one to say thank you for marrying .’
The two n fell into another round of kissing again.
From inside the living room, Annalynne and Lowell could only see Ronan’s back and Lucien’s arms around his mate’s neck.
It still made them blush and avert their eyes.
“Anna, I think we should talk,” Lowell said after a while.
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