Chapter 349: HUSBAND.
VINCENT.
It’s always him.
Every single time.
No matter what we were talking about, no matter what was happening around us, her thoughts always found their way back to him.
Noah.
The mere thought of his name was enough to make irritation coil tightly inside my chest.
Sometimes, I found myself wondering if there was something I was missing.
Something nobody else could see.
Because the way Maria constantly worried about him, thought about him, and defended him made me question everything.
I was beginning to think he might actually be her mate and not the quadruplets.
The thought alone irritated me...more than irritated me, It infuriated me.
But regardless of whatever connection she thought she had with Noah, I didn’t want her thinking about anybody else.
I wanted her attention on me.
Only me.
Was that really so difficult?
It shouldn’t be.
It really shouldn’t be.
Yet somehow, Noah always found a way to occupy her thoughts.
"Why do you keep thinking about him?!" I suddenly yelled.
The words exploded out of me before I could stop them, and my calmness shattered completely.
The frustration I had been suppressing finally broke through.
Maria looked startled for only a second before her expression hardened.
"If I don’t think about him, Vincent, who else would I think about?" she fired back furiously.
Her question hit me harder than I expected.
I opened my mouth immediately.
"You... any—"
But she didn’t let me finish.
"He is my husband, Vincent. I need you to understand that!"
Her voice rose as she spoke.
Though it was obvious she was trying to calm herself down, her frustration was equally visible.
Every word she spoke seemed filled with conviction.
And that only made my irritation worse.
Her husband?
How exactly was Noah her husband?
The title alone annoyed me.
They hadn’t even performed the wedding rites, and there had been no ceremony nor a proper union between them.
So how could she keep calling him her husband?
Noah wasn’t worth all this loyalty.
He wasn’t worth all this devotion.
Most certainly, he wasn’t worth her choosing him over me every single time.
I clenched my jaw tightly.
"Noah is not your husband, Maria," I said firmly, taking a deep breath in an attempt to regain control of my temper.
The effort barely worked, as my frustration was still there burning beneath every word.
"And you will only have one husband." I paused briefly, and then I looked directly into her eyes. "And that would be me."
The declaration left my mouth with complete certainty.
Maria stared at me for a second.
Then she scoffed loudly.
The sound was dripping with disbelief.
Almost mockery.
Immediately, she wrapped her arms tightly across her chest, creating even more distance between us.
"Your confidence stinks, Vincent." She released a slow breath before shaking her head. "I suggest you check yourself out."
The disdain in her voice was unmistakable and somehow, that irritated me even more than her constant defense of Noah.
"Look, Maria, whether you like it or not, I won’t let any other man become your husband!" I said immediately.
The words came out with more force than I intended.
My jaw was clenched tightly, and every muscle in my body felt tense.
"Never!"
The declaration echoed through the room, carrying all the determination and possessiveness I could no longer hide.
Maria didn’t flinch and she didn’t look intimidated. If anything, her expression only hardened.
"Well then, I would rather remain single than be married to you."
Her response was immediate, as she held my gaze without blinking, refusing to back down.
And honestly...
My heart ached.
The pain was so sudden and intense that it nearly stole the air from my lungs. It felt as though a million tiny needles were piercing through my chest all at once.
Every word she spoke seemed to dig deeper into me.
I had faced battles.
I had faced enemies.
I had endured pain my entire life.
Yet somehow, nothing hurt quite like Maria rejecting me.
My eyes remained fixed on her face as a troubling thought crept into my mind.
Does Maria not like me because I am the Lycan Prince?
The question lingered there.
What if my title was the problem?
What if everything she hated about me was tied to the crown I carried?
If I wasn’t the Lycan Prince...
Would she have loved me?
Would she have looked at me differently?
Would she have smiled when she saw me instead of glaring at me with resentment?
The thought refused to leave me.
Honestly, ever since I was born, my life had been surrounded by darknes, responsibility, expectation, power struggles and loneliness.
Everything had always felt cold and empty.
But Maria...She had been different and she was the only thing that brought light into my life.
The only person capable of making me forget, even briefly, the darkness that followed me everywhere.
And I wasn’t going to lose that ligh.
Even if it meant eliminating every threat standing between us.
Even if it meant doing things I normally wouldn’t consider.
Even if it meant erasing her memories for good.
The thought crossed my mind again.
I could have easily given her the pill.
I could have controlled everything and made things easier for myself, but every time I imagined it, I stopped, because despite everything, I couldn’t bear seeing her suffer.
I couldn’t stand the idea of causing her pain.
"Arrrrghhhhh!"
The frustrated scream remained trapped inside me. I yelled inwardly, trying to suppress the storm raging within my chest.
I was actually losing it, slowly, painfully.
Every day that passed seemed to push me closer to the edge.
Taking a slow breath, I stared at Maria one more time, as though memorizing every detail and then I slowly shook my head.
A mixture of determination and frustration settled inside me.
"I will make you change your mind, Maria," I said quietly.
The words were spoken slowly, carrying a certainty that surprised even me.
After that, I turned awa, without another word and without another glance.
I headed toward the door, opened it, and left the room.
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