Chapter 303. I Don’t Want to Forget, Please

Elizabeth’s POV

“I’m impressed,” he said slowly, his voice carrying that familiar mix of arrogance and mockery, “and disappointed, too.”

He stepped closer to us, boots crunching softly against the gravel. Every instinct in my body screamed danger. Without thinking, I reached back and pushed Iris behind me, my arm stretching protectively across her small frame. I could feel her trembling, her tiny fingers clutching the fabric of my coat.

“Why do you make it so difficult to love you?” Princeton asked, tilting his head as though the answer genuinely baffled him. His eyes searched my face, not with affection, but with obsession—cold, possessive, and entirely wrong.

My jaw clenched.

“I don’t want you to love me,” I snapped, my voice sharp despite the fear pounding in my chest. “And