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This is the last part! Hope you guys enjoy it! Please bare with me on this one lmao
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Your blood ran cold. You felt like you were about to faint. Did you imagine that? You were letting out shaky breaths, your gaze was set forward but not looking at anything in particular. Did you just hear that right?

What brought you out of your stupor and forced you to realize that what you heard was real was when you heard murmurs of surprise amongst the guests. Both Levi and Hange halted immediately in their steps and turned their heads to look at each other in shock and then over to your figure, and you appeared to be stuck to the ground.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin's eyes all widened and their mouths dropped open in sync. Erwin's eyes were the same and he couldn't help but let out a laugh of disbelief in victory for you. Not a single drop of Grisha's money or possessions would go to Zeke, Floch, Karina, Yelena, or anybody else.

And it went to the person who deserved it the most. You. You won, and they no longer had anything to hold over you anymore. The part of your family that had been sitting down at the table didn't react any better.

The moment they heard your name, Zeke shot up from his seat as he slammed down his hands on the table as an indignant and enraged look took over his features, and that cocky smirk was wiped off his face.

Karina gasped and covered her mouth with both hands as her eyes widened with horror. They were thinking the same thing you were. Did they hear wrong? The betrayal from his own father started to bubble up inside him with unimaginable anger.

They must have, right? Meanwhile, Falco and Gabi were both sharing shocked looks as well, that turned into smiles as they tried not to laugh.

Neither of their parents were happy about this either. If it affected Zeke and Karina, it affected them too, knowing you won't be willing to give up or share any of the inheritance with them.

Everybody was looking at you. You couldn't have heard that right, could you? Grisha never ever talked to you about the possibility of you inheriting it all to you. You always assumed it would go to the eldest, like Zeke had been assuming, but no.

Grisha left this world and left you with 100% of the inheritance, and not a single part of it would go to his flesh and blood except for the evenly distributed and required statutory shares he left for each family members. His biological family. Everybody was wondering if they had heard the same thing. Nobody expected it.

Especially because Zeke had practically auto-declared himself the inheritor, so hearing your name was sparking gossip among everybody in that memorial. It hadn't even occurred to you... that he'd leave all of it to you. You never considered it.

The flashing of cameras and the sound of pictures clicking just by the exit made you realized that this was reality. Grisha really had left it all to you, no exceptions. Their disloyalty and manipulation against Grisha over the years backfired on them spectacularly in ways anybody could barely fathom.

Hange finally came into the realization that this really should not have been a surprise. A smirk came onto their lips as they crossed their arms in front of them. "You had one last trick up your sleeve, didn't you, Grisha?" They muttered to themselves. Levi had been noticing how much attention you've garnered over the last couple of seconds, and a smug look started to take over his face as well.

The assholes in your family wouldn't get what they wanted after all, and you had all the power now. Ironically. But a smirk of his own came to his lips as he realized that you had all the leverage against them now. And it gets better, because the attorney wasn't done reading the will either. There was more.

When you heard the voice of the attorney again, you slowly started to turn your head to look back and saw all the people there already looking at you, including your family. You turned your body fully to face everyone, and your eyes darted all over the place, you didn't know where to look.

"The inheritance will only be contingent upon Y/n L/n registering her marriage within one year following the passing of the testator, Grisha Jaeger," The attorney said and you nearly let out a gasp of disbelief. This was really the last trick up his sleeve, wasn't it?

That was the suspensive condition. You could get absolutely everything Grisha left to you, you'd become the new chairwoman of Eldia Group, as long as you got married from now in a year.

Even if he wasn't there to witness you getting married like he always wanted, he wanted to make sure that you still did it after he died and he could make sure you could have the happy ending he always thought you deserved.

And it didn't end there. It only got worse for the family members who continued to seethe the more that the will continued to be read out. Bet they regret having it read out in public now, huh? You only felt even more eyes on you after that. Erwin's eyebrows and his blue eyes wavered as he started to think about what this meant.

Levi also turned back to look at you and saw that the look on your face indicated you still weren't believing anything you were hearing right now. "If the condition is not met, her share will be automatically bequeathed to the Eldia Welfare Foundation in its entirety" The attorney said, so that meant that if you didn't get married by then or rejected the inheritance, not a single part of it would go to any of your family members that were hoping to get it.

Hearing this, Zeke's eyes narrowed dangerously and his jaw clenched, not being able to look back and face all of the people he'd practically bragged and made certain to that everything that was getting listed would be his, and now, it was the farthest thing from the truth.

Yelena looked up at Zeke, not saying a word, not knowing what he'll do if anybody tries to talk to him right now. Karina's teeth were clenched in anger as she let her hands drop from her mouth and muttered your name bitterly. "Y/n...will be our chairwoman..?" Karina muttered to herself in absolute horror, realizing what this meant. This is her worst nightmare and you were the one taunting them in the most torturous way possible.

"Grisha Jaeger also wrote letters to all of her family members. He imagined the news would be quite a shock to many of you," The attorney concluded and you didn't know why, you didn't know how, but even if you wanted to leave before, your feet started moving again and you walked past both Levi and Hange and started to head back towards the front, with all eyes still on you.

You were still only focused on one thing, and you could see the way that Karina rushed to get the letter addressed to her from the attorney, as Zeke grabbed his as well and the attorney handed Floch his letter as well. The others hadn't come up yet to get theirs just yet, but it was only those two who wanted to get to the bottom of this and see if there was some kind of mistake.

With every step you took, you could hear cameras clicking and flashing even more, wanting to capture every angle of you. Of the newly announced inheritor of all of Grisha's will. The expectations of the public, the judgement, the pressure.

You didn't even want to know what the news articles would look like tomorrow. Levi was sure that being up there with just your family members, who were clearly enraged with you, would be a shitshow so was quick to start following after you to make sure they didn't try anything.

The close you got, Karina's desperate words quickly reached you. You silently watched the way that she practically ripped her letter open.

"There must be some kind of mistake. There has to be more to this He would never do this to me! He would never-!" Karina said hurriedly and hopelessly, but eventually cut herself off when she read the contents of her letter and she froze.

She began to read out what she was seeing, in complete disbelief of what was happening to her. "Money ruined all of you. You don't deserve an ounce of my inheritance, and I plan to keep it that way-" She started but couldn't even finished before she just couldn't read anymore and crumpled up the paper into a ball with a frustrated yell, sitting herself down in frustration.

Zeke was a lot better at hiding what he was reading, acting as if rage wasn't coursing through his body just from reading what his father had left to say to him in that letter. Yelena noticed the way that Zeke's face was neutrality, but there was a clear crease in his features that indicated that he didn't like one bit what he was reading.

She rose up from her seat and stood next to Zeke with concern written all over her face. "Zeke. What does it say?" Yelena asked, and it took a couple of seconds for Zeke to be able to rip his eyes away from what he was reading, but when he did.

He folded up the paper again, slammed it on the table, which startled Yelena, sat down as he propped up an elbow on the table, and put a hand over his mouth. His hand dropped from his face and looked up at Yelena.

"Its done. You don't want to know," Zeke muttered as he tried his best to contain every emotion that was coursing through his body and Yelena's eyes widened. Was it really that bad?

What was on that paper? On his, Karina's and Floch's that indicated the very reasons as to why they didn't get the inheritance. But then Zeke's attention was directed towards something else, and so did Karina's and the rest of the family.

You'd made your way across the party and were now walking up, with slow and measured steps up to Grisha's memorial picture. Levi was still behind you but a good distance between the two of you.

You stopped just in front of Grisha's picture and looked at it with so much pain in your eyes. Why did he do this? Why didn't he ever say anything about it?

You didn't understand any of this You know he liked to surprise you but this was a little much, right? You were so focused on the picture in front of you and al the racing thoughts in your head that you didn't feel the glares boring into the back of your head. Glares from Zeke, Yelena, Floch, Karina.

All at once, but you didn't notice any of them or how the fury inside of them was growing from just seeing you stand there, as if you didn't just rip away everything they've ever wanted, what they were hoping for. It pissed them off even more.

Zeke was staring at you with a eyes that looked deadly and they spoke volumes. Just seeing you standing so close was really a test to his self- restraint.

Meanwhile, all you could was feel your own eyes brim with tears, struggling to get any of this to make sense in your mind. He wanted you to succeed him all this time, become the chairwoman, get everything he earned throughout his life and give it to you so suddenly like this.

"Grisha...what did you do?" You muttered to yourself, and when you heard slow and hesitant steps getting closer to you, you turned your head to the side to see the attorney standing next to you.

He looked at you with condolences and with apologies underway for your loss. "You should know that he made this decision after a lot of contemplation," He said, and you nodded numbly at his words, but then you looked down and saw that he was extending his hand over to you, with Grisha's letter to you in his grasp.

Your eyes widened and your vision got glassy at the sight of it. He left you a letter, too. You didn't know why you were surprised at all, because he left everyone a letter, but you just didn't know what to expect to read in there.

Would he explain why he gave you his entire inheritance to you? Would he reminisce? What would you find in there? What kind of reaction would you have? You know you needed to read that when you knew you were alone, because otherwise, you'd breakdown on the spot.

You shakily raised your own hand to take the letter from the attorney, and once you held it in your grasp and the attorney retracted his hand, your body didn't stop trembling. You didn't know what to do now.

Just looking down at his handwriting of your name made you want to cry on the spot. You didn't even have nearly enough time as you would've wanted to contemplate when you'd read this letter, what you'd do from here on out, or how to react to any of this because your thoughts were all cut off by Karina's loud, shrill-sounding voice.

"You!" You heard her yell out, and you whip your head to the side to see that Karina was charging towards you. You took several steps back and multiple people gasped at what Karina was trying to do. After that, all hell came loose.

"Oh, shit. Come on!" Eren said as he immediately went into fight or flight mode for you. Erwin and the trio's eyes all widened and immediately started to race towards you, not knowing what she'd be capable.

As everyone raced towards you, Karina got to you first and grabbed ahold of your shoulders. "What the hell? Let go of me!" You yelled out at Karina as you felt her tighten her grip on your arms and you yelped, feeling that her hands were digging into your clothes, all while you were trying to wiggle yourself free.

"You little bitch! What did you do? You were in on this, weren't you? This is all your fault! You screwed us all over!" She yelled in your face, and soon enough, you were ripped away from her, and not because Karina let go. You knew it wasn't because of that. She wouldn't let go on her own.

You blinked for a second, and while you still felt pressure in your arms, and also gentle hands on your back but not the kind of hold that Karina had on you.

You turned your head on both sides and you gaped when you saw Erwin on one side, and Mikasa on the other. They were both looking at you in concern, silently asking with their eyes if you were okay. You nodded shakily and looked at both of them with gratitude.

You were still a little disoriented and everything has felt like a blur from the moment you left the office, but it was getting easier. You looked forward and saw three people standing in front of you like a barricade, and you could recognize all of them even from behind.

It was both Armin and Eren standing in front of you as Zeke had to hold back Karina because she was letting herself get carried away with her emotions and making a fool of herself. Levi had been keeping his distance, not knowing if he should step in too, seeing as you've already been surrounded and protected by so many.

"Karina, pull yourself together! You're making a fool out of yourself," Eren said as he watched Karina still fight against Zeke and Floch's hold. She wasn't thinking straight and it was clear she had been relying entirely on this inheritance for herself, and that's probably why she's losing her mind over it.

You haven't had a chance to think properly for a second and all of these voices you're hearing at once weren't making it any easier. You couldn't even hear yourself think. How could you coherently make a decision about any of this. You could barely see past your teary vision.

You suddenly heard another set of hurried footsteps rush towards you and you looked up to see Yelena standing in front of you with panic all over her face, as if she was pleading for compassion.

"Y/n. You're not going to accept the will, are you? It's not right and you know it," She asked, in a tone that she was clearly using to try to sway you while you were vulnerable. But before you could even try to think about how to answer, since you were still trying to comprehend it all yourself, Mikasa stepped in.

Mikasa glared at Yelena and brought you closer to her. "Why wouldn't she? Stop getting in her head. This is none of your business, Yelena. Back off," She shot back, not giving Yelena an ounce of sympathy for her, Zeke, Karina, or anybody.

This was yours and everybody who didn't see it that way didn't deserve to be asking for any favors. Mikasa turned her head to look at you to see that you were already looking at at her with nothing but gratitude in your eyes. She knew you weren't at a state to give anybody a straight answer right now, and she said exactly what you would have.

But just as everyone halted in their chaos and turned to look at you, waiting to hear what you had to say. Not from Mikasa, not from anyone else, and only from you.

Even if it was hard to try and figure out what this meant, you still knew one thing. That you had to continue fighting to make sure that Grisha didn't die in vain, or that what he gave you after his death didn't fall in the wrong hands. Like Zeke's or Karina's.

The person who killed him was still in your vicinity, in this memorial, and you knew it was one of the people who were hoping to get even just an ounce of the inheritance, or most of it, who were responsible.

And whether they were the one who killed Keith or Grisha themselves, or if they were the person that was after you, or even if they were just the ones who called the shots for someone else to do their dirty work, you were now willing to put yourself out on the line.

You didn't know if it was the all the adrenaline talking, but you knew that you couldn't remain in the sidelines anymore. You did not want to be passive anymore.

You needed to risk your life, in order to be able to save it. There was no other way. You're going to get your hands dirty, and you wouldn't think twice about it this time.

And who would be the best person to have by your side to do just that? You got your answer when you looked down at your hand that was holding Grisha's letter to you, and then your eyes trailed over to your exposed wrist, with Levi's tattoo on it.

To fight demons, you needed one by your side too. Everybody was looking at you, expecting an answer and hoping it would be what they were praying for in their heads. But you'd do the exact opposite. The more you looked down at that tattoo, an idea certainly crawled into your head.

You had to get married to get the inheritance, right? That's all you had to do. What was the best way to get under your family's skin, to really rub it in their faces that their tyranny and control over everything was over? To show them that you weren't scared of going through with this and that you'd go head to head with them if it was necessary.

The more your mind convinced you that this was remotely a good idea, the more another part of your brain started to tell you how crazy it really was. Were you really about to do this?

All you had to do is get married, right? Then, you'd be in complete control and find who did this to Grisha with nobody to stop you or hold you back.

God, you were really about to do this weren't you? You weren't sure if you would regret it later, but a part of you knew you would. Maybe just doing it, even if you didn't get the outcome you were hoping for, would be enough to show everyone that you meant business.

That you weren't scared of any of them and that you'd go to any lengths to show that you were going to defend what Grisha left behind for you with every last shred of energy in your body.

So before you jumped into the lion's den, and made a choice that you hoped you wouldn't regret, you stepped away from Mikasa and Erwin, walking away from them, stopping and then turning around just so you could stand on your own, look at them all dead in the eye, so they could all see you and hear what you were about to say.

This was something you had to do, and whether you were going about it the right way...well, the jury's still up. So, you were about to find out.

"The only way that you'll get me to give this up..." You started, raising your voice so they all heard you loud and clear. The ones who were most desperate for you to hand over your inheritance were the ones who perked up the most at your words, while the others who believed you should keep it all to yourself were awaiting your words with utter puzzlement in their faces.

Before saying your last words to them today, you turned your head to look at Grisha's picture and your face hardened. You swore, you'd make him proud. You swore you'd avenge him and do everything your power to do just that. You'd work with the very same person who entrusted his loyalty and commitment to you.

From wherever he was, you hoped he was watching. You would reveal the truth and make that person pay. And if you had to leave all of your morals behind and join hands with a demon, then that's exactly what you'd do. Fight monsters with monsters, right? And then with confidence suddenly surging through you, you found the courage to speak, yet again.

"...is to kill me," You said, and you didn't even want to stick around to see the looks on their faces as soon as you said. You turned your head and made eye contact with the exact person you needed in this very moment, and who was also looking straight at you, raising their eyebrow and narrowing their eyes at you. They wouldn't get you to give this up so easily either. They won't get rid of you that easy.

Erwin, the trio, Reiner, Zeke, Yelena, Floch, and Karina all watched you walk away from them as mixed reactions came across their expressions. What were they supposed to do with that?

All they could do now was watch as you walked with certainty towards something, or rather someone, not knowing what your goal was here. "Y/n..." Erwin muttered as he realized that you would truly go through any means necessary to make sure Grisha was avenged, even if it costed you your life. And that...that terrified him.

Every guest, every single one of your family members, your employee and every reporter and photographer watched your every move as they noticed that you weren't heading towards the entrance, but more toward someone. Levi.

Your eye contact with him didn't waver for a second as you walked towards him and it truly felt like the world was slowing down the closer you got to him, and he waited in place for you to get to him with a light smirk tugging at his lips while he kept his hands at his pockets.

But once he realized that there was a certain spark, a dangerous spark, in your eye. Levi's entire face changed. His brows furrowed ever so slightly, a faint flicker of something in his eyes. Was it confusion?
Surprise? Acceptance?

Whatever it was, you caught it, and it made you feel more certain than ever. You made a choice, you know its reckless, maybe even incredibly insane. But you couldn't go back now. Not after everything that's happened.

You truly couldn't even look away from him if you wanted to, with how hypnotizing and enticing his eyes really are as his bangs well over his face and his subtle, pale complexion drew you in further the closer you got to him.

All you could think about is that if Levi had promised his commitment and loyalty to you you hoped this would be one of those moments where he stood by your side no matter what happens.

All eyes were on you and Levi as people started to catch on that he was the person you were walking towards and were looking at with such decisiveness and confidence, or maybe it was just the urgency raging inside of you.

Every step you took toward Levi felt like a drumbeat, each echo that became louder than the last, pulling you closer to whatever your next step was. People were staring- no, staring. But you couldn't turn back now, not now. You were already committed and in too deep.

Levi himself didn't know what was going behind your eyes right now, seeing such certainty and sureness behind him made him start to wonder if he should be worried or not, or if he should prepare himself at all. What were you thinking?

What were you planning? What was going on in that head of yours? Levi didn't speak, but the look in his eyes was more enough to know that no matter how much he tried, he couldn't tell what was compelling you to walk towards him with a clear yet unknown goal.

And when you stopped right in front of him and Levi realized that something very, very real was happening right now, aside from any suspicions he had before.

You weren't just heading towards him to tell him that you wanted to leave and you wanted him to come with you, but you had another intent swirling around in your head amongst the chaos flooding your mind. Levi's face contorted into one of confusion, not being able to hold his facade anymore.

You wanted something, from him. What could you possibly want from him? Aside from everything else that the two of you have already agreed to do for each other? Should he be worried that you were looking at him like that? What were you planning?

In front of every single person in this memorial that was watching the both of you like hawks. Nobody knew what was about to happen; not the guests, not Levi, or anybody. Just you.

Or maybe not even you, because even you were aware that what you were about to do, was going to sound really stupid and reckless to anyone here and you were only doing it on the hope that it would work out.

And absolutely nothing, could have prepared Levi for what you were about to do. But hey, this was a day full of surprises, wasn't it? Your heart was pounding against your chest so hard that you felt like it would leap out of your body and you were standing tall despite all of the voices in your screaming at you not to do this. But you had to.

Even if it was just to assert your newfound power over the people who looked down on you since you met them and only wished on your downfall, then you would do it. And you wouldn't hesitate.

Not anymore. You knew deep down that it was just the adrenaline talking, but if adrenaline is what you needed to finally act on this, then its fine with you. Which is why you refused to break eye contact with Levi, as much as you felt his gaze burning into yours that told you that he had no idea what you were about to do.

You kept your focus on his sharp, narrow, and gunmetal eyes, ignoring the chills it sent up and down your body as you held your hand that had the two rings that Grisha gave you. Were you really about to do this? Throw away every sense of reason and dive into the unknown? No. As far as you knew, this was the only way. if you didn't do it now, you will never have the chance again.

Without giving yourself a moment to think it twice, you pulled off one of the rings, the one that you had on the pointer finger, and you kept the one that was on your ring finger. You exhaled shakily and held it up to Levi as you swallowed and watched as his face dropped in realization on what you were doing right now. What are you doing right now?

You were choosing him, to have him continue standing by your side, who you knew would help you take this to a new, and dangerous level.

People started murmuring amongst themselves more when they saw you holding up that ring. Were you really about to do what they thought you were about to do? In such a public and exposed setting?

And you knew you had reached the point of no return when you opened your mouth and allowed the first few words to go out into the world without a chance of ever taking them back.

"Levi Ackerman," You started, saying it loudly enough for everyone to hear, as you held up the ring higher for him to see and you swallowed hard, locking your gaze on his despite the hesitation and confusion in his eyes.

You ignored every voice in your head that was telling you to stop before it was too late, and continued. You were about to make the biggest bet of your life, on this man in front of you.

So despite all the eyes on you, all the murmurs that were wondering what you were about to say, all the cameras flashing, and feeling like you were holding the world on your shoulders, you decided to just go for it.

But before you did, as if your mind was protecting you from the reactions of everybody else around, the world surrounding you suddenly became distorted, muffled, and to the point where it felt like it was only you and Levi and nobody else who were there. It helped tremendously to help you finally speak.

You inhaled sharply and just said it. "Marry me," You finally said, letting out a breath as you did. The moment you said those words, at the same time you felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders but that you had entered a new phase in your life that was too late to attempt to get out of. You almost closed your eyes shut to avoid his reaction but he needed to know you were serious about this.

A new issue that you were willing to fight for no matter what and that you entire life would turn upside down for. But you didn't care. Not one bit. This decision to ask him this had nothing to do with feelings, and it was all part of your plan.

You thought things between you and Levi would stay simple, just him being your bodyguard, given that it was so hard to get here at all in the first place. But that was before everything changed. You were following his words. You were letting things flow.

Both of you had to adjust The dangers of you being killed just like Grisha did are higher than ever, and you had to take measures like these, to make sure you and Levi were more united than ever.

You may regret it later, but right now, you didn't Despite you saying those words and tightening your hold on the ring in your hand and Levi's eyes narrowing dangerously at you from your words, you didn't regret it. Even if this backfired, you can at least tell yourself you tried. And it's really all that mattered to you.

Levi didn't even think he heard you correctly. Did you just ask him to marry you? In front of all these people? What was your goal here? Levi didn't mind the stares, the whispers, the gasps, but he knows deep down that you do.

Was it out of spite for your family or did you actually have a plan in mind? He was definitely shocked, that's very clear. But his eyes darkened as he realized if this relationship between you and him was about to go farther than the realms of him just being your bodyguard.

He could see that from the way you were holding up the ring with your right hand, the one where his tattoo sat on your wrist, that there was something far deeper here that you were trying to do.

He'd heard that attorney loud and clear before saying that you could only get the inheritance if you got married a year from today, and perhaps that's what you were trying to do now. What you were planning to do after that was still a mystery to him.

He could also see that behind the look of confidence in your eyes, there was hope, panic, and distress swirling around and you were fighting every part of your body to let you keep up that wall of sureness and certainty you were putting up in front of everyone.

There was desperation behind it, and being this close to you right now made him see that clearly. You asked him to marry you, before he could even decipher what you were trying to do, and he could see that even if you wanted to take it back, you couldn't. It was this or nothing in your head.

After you finally got the words you wanted to say out into the open, the world around you cleared and you could hear the reaction your words evoked from the people around you. The guests, your family, your employee's; everyone reacted, albeit in very different ways.

Levi hadn't responded to your proposal and everyone could see that the two of you were just holding silent eye contact with each other without saying a word. Hange's jaw had dropped and their eyes went wide. Their glasses nearly fell out of their face and they were frozen. But behind that look of shock, a smile was tugging at their lips as they held their squeal.

Connie, Sasha, and Jean's forks dropped from their hands onto their plates with a clatter while their mouth's went agape too in utter shock, all the while Sasha still had a mouthful of food.

It didn't help that the flashing of the cameras intensified even more from the moment your proposal was heard by the reporters. As for your family, Zeke turned his body fully to look at you and Levi, his body stiff with indignation. The audacity of it. Was this some twisted form of payback? Were you rubbing it in their faces? Were you doing this to ridicule them further?

A public humiliation in front of everyone to let everyone know you can make the inheritance yours in a second. His jaw was clenched as he stared at you with disbelief and anger coiling in his gut. He hadn't expected this from you, and he hadn't expected to be outmaneuvered this way. It stung and it was humiliating. He was disgusted and appalled.

Gabi and Falco were looking back at you and Levi in shock as well, mirroring the expressions of their parents. Karina trembled with rage, with her fists at her sides. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing.

Your defiance, your need to challenge them. It was an attack and a declaration of war against your own family. Floch looked at the scene and scoffed as he looked away, crossing his arms in front of him. He couldn't believe any of this was happening either. To him, the world must've turned upside down and none of this was real at all.

The trio all had different reactions as well. While Armin's jaw definitely dropped and his blue eyes went wide, Eren on the other hand had a smirk on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest, and Mikasa could barely hide her own shock either.

As for Erwin, he saw your proposal at Levi and his jaw tightened as he tried to look away, but he couldn't, ignoring the pang in his chest. Reiner's eyebrows raised and he looked at the scene in complete disbelief.

As for other people around, Nile and Pixis had still been present at the memorial when they watched the whole thing unfold. And while Nile was certainly shocked, he turned his head to the side when he saw Pixis chuckling proudly at the scene. Nile's face twisted in confusion and Pixis turned his head to look at his partner pointing over to you and Levi.

"See? What did I tell you?" Pixis said, happy to have suspected from the moment he saw the two of you together back at the police station that there was something going on. Nile sighed and shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and looking forward again waiting to see how this ended.

That's what everybody was doing, waiting to see what Levi would do. You more than anybody. Your heart was pounding against your chest, your eyes were starting to waver as you were slowly starting to lose confidence. Levi could tell.

He studied your facial expressions and body language and he saw that the courage you had to do this in the first place was crumbling, so, he was going to give you his answer as simply as he could give it. He looked down at the ring you were holding one more time and then went back to looking at you directly in the eye.

Levi could tell that this was a very spur-of-the-moment decision. With the meeting, you revealing to everyone why Grisha died, the inheritance being announced, Karina trying to lunge at you, trying to get swayed into giving up the will.

He could see it was too much. But this wasn't what the two of you had agreed to. He wasn't about to rush into something like marriage. But even so, part of him couldn't help but wonder if there was more to this than you were letting on.

He could see that a part of you wanted to do this to assert your newfound power over your family, to make them realize that they couldn't step on you anymore. That you had leverage against them. If he was being honest, he respected that a lot. But he can't agree to a new proposal from you aside from what the two of you have already established.

The deal was for you to let him use his powers, and he'd protect you in turn from any threats. That was the deal. But whatever was starting to brew now that the truth was out, even if he was still willing to do his job and protect you from any escalation of this issue, was he really ready to take that leap and jump into this whole new realm of this problem?

No, he wasn't. Which is why it was easy to know what to answer, knowing exactly what he agreed with you in the first place. He was firm on the fact that he doesn't get into relationships, and that includes not getting married. Even if it was just part of your plan.

Levi took in a large inhale and he could quite literally see in the corner of his eye the way people were on the edge of their seats to see what he'd say. So, just like you did, Levi decided to remain as neutral as he's been this entire time and say it as simply as he can, despite how much the pleading look in your eyes nearly made him take back everything he just decided on.

"No," He said bluntly, and after that, nothing but silence followed. You were frozen in place, the ring still held high in your trembling hand after that. Your gaze was locked onto Levi, trying to make sense of the words that had just left your mouth.

Your heart pounded in your chest to the point you could hear it in your ears, but you couldn't bring yourself to move, to say anything. His words hung in the air, thick and heavy as it felt like the world had stopped yet again. Time felt frozen. Levi's rejection echoed in your ears, but there was nothing else.

You could feel every pair of eyes on you, like an invisible force waiting for you to do something, anything at all, but you just couldn't. Even if you were outside, the air around you began to feel suffocating, and the silence that was being tainted with the murmurs of everyone around was deafening.

Your hand was still holding the ring but it felt heavy, in an almost absurd way as your hand didn't stop trembling. You started wondering if your fingers would start cramping from holding it so tightly, but there was nothing else from Levi. No movement, no explanation, nothing. It was just that simple, blunt refusal. You could feel heat rise to your cheeks in embarrassment as your stomach twisted into a knot.

You blinked at him a couple times and saw the way he remained completely still and motionless. Like saying those words meant absolutely nothing to him. Your mind was completely blank, you didn't know what to do or say now.

You didn't know if you wanted to move either. So many people were still staring awkwardly, waiting to see what would follow that rejection. You continued to look at Levi blankly and his eyes were unwavering and fixed on you with an intensity that made your heart start to race in an entirely different way.

They held no emotion—just that sharp, cold edge that made you feel like the fool you were. Just for a moment that maybe, if you blinked, you'd disappear.

It looked like everyone was hit with an electric jolt. Everyone was frozen, waiting, but no one knew what to do. Hange's glasses did end up slipping down their down nose as they blinked in disbelief, trying to find some logical reason behind what they just witnessed.

Jean and Connie exchanged awkward and dumbfounded glances, unsure on how to react. And Sasha? Sasha was practically choking on her food, wide-eyed, as she tried to swallow.

Your family looked like they just witnessed a trainwreck, but in all honesty, this whole memorial became a trainwreck a long time ago. Karina's lips trembled, and her whole body was shaking as she stared at the scene with sheer disbelief.

Even Zeke had his brows furrowed in confusion as his expression darkened the longer the silence dragged on. They still had irritation deeply laced in their faces and couldn't just forget that you tried to claim your inheritance right in front of their faces when they clearly told you not to accept it.

The trio, Reiner, Gabi, Falco and their parents. They were all trying to figure out if everything they were witnessing was real or not. Everyone was. How was all this happening at the memorial?

Even if Levi rejected you, your attempt had struck a blow. Your family was angrier than they've ever been. That was a win...right? That was the only thing that was keeping you sane right now as far too many pairs of eyes were on you and you couldn't bring yourself to turn your head and look at anyone.

So...you admit, that maybe...your bet was just a little off. It was as if Levi's rejection made all of the courage you had before to carry out your plan suddenly crumbled and you were only left with the reality of the situation.

You truly did want to continue with your need to want to avenge Grisha and fight for that, that hasn't changed whatsoever. Though, you might have been a little too rash, feeling like you had a point to prove in front of everyone here.

You didn't even hear the sound of hurried footsteps coming your way until you saw Erwin stop right next to you, panting slightly. He noticed that your eyes had moved away from Levi, but you were still looking ahead, in shock.

His blue eyes darted back and forth between you and Levi, realizing that there needed to be a way to salvage the situation. "Y/n-" Erwin started, but he got cut off when you raise moved back your hand with the ring that you were holding up and held your hand up in front of him. "Don't say anything. Please," You said, almost like a warning, all while still looking ahead, but not at anything in particular.

Now more than ever would be a good time to get out of here. Erwin looked down at your raised hand you had been using to get him to stop talking, and then back at you. He could see you were clearly very shaken and you didn't want to stay here more than you needed to. But he needed to know if you were okay.

"Alright, but-" Erwin started but once again, he was cut off when he saw you start to take hesitant steps forward. "Don't. Just- let me walk away," You said, in a scarily monotone voice that made Erwin nod, realizing he couldn't intervene right now and if you needed time, then what's he'd give you. It hasn't been an easy day at all.

Erwin simply watched you walk away, even walking past Levi, and slowly lowering your hand down to your sides as you headed straight towards the entrance. As Levi gave Erwin a brief glance, your bodyguard then turned on his heel and started walking right behind you.

You could feel everyone's eyes on you as you walked across the backyard in silence all while feeling Levi's presence behind you. He rejected you and was now doubling down by still following after you? You could not handle any more embarrassment today, even if you did it to yourself. Why did you think that was going to work? You felt like an idiot.

"Why are you following me out? Couldn't you have waited? You're making this look worse," You said to Levi as he caught up to you and was now briskly walking next to you. The two of you were getting closer to the exit, and leaving the party behind, so the stares behind you felt less impactful now which you were grateful for. You could barely feel them anymore.

You suspect that just talking to Levi was making it easier. But you just know that you wouldn't escape this that easily. You needed to prepare yourself for news outlets tomorrow or even later today. You still had a very long day ahead of you.

Levi turned his head to look at you for a second before he looked forward again and he could spot the next incoming challenge the two of you had to go through before really being able to leave. There was a swarm of reporters by the entrance being held back by security and you knew you'd have to pass through them to be able to get to your car.

All of those photographers and reporters were seeing you coming and were desperately trying to get a picture or get you to answer their questions. "Why else? To protect you. It's still my job, isn't it?" Levi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Just because he said 'no' did not mean that he would stop being your bodyguard. He just wasn't on board with taking it to the level of having to involve marriage. It was absurd to him in every way.

But as soon as you heard him say that, you stopped walking and turned your body to face him as your face expressed your disbelief. "I'm your bodyguard. My ability to keep my work and personal life separate hasn't changed," Levi said simply as his face remains unchanged and you looked at him dumbfounded for a couple seconds before you slowly turned your head back to look forward again and started walking and of course, with Levi following after you.

"I must've lost my mind..." You muttered to yourself. Were you really that hung up on adrenaline that you couldn't have seen another way out?

At least you hoped that the act of what you did was enough to scare your family members into realizing that you were serious about this. But you do know that you should've probably done it another way.

As you and Levi reached the exit and the photographers took this opportunity to start flashing pictures of you in rapid fire, while reporters swarmed you with questions, the security helped to open a path in the middle in between the photographers and reporters so that you and Levi could go through.

You decided to keep your head down as your hair covered your face while walking past, all the while Levi was right behind you and raising both of his hands up in the air to cover you and to prevent the cameras to get any pictures of you.

But as the two of you finally made it out, the ones left at the memorial were left numb and trying to process what just happened, what they lost, and what to think. Erwin watched as you and Levi were out of sight as conflicting sting settled in his chest, while the rest of your family was left to collect themselves and realize that things were going to be very different from now on.

That you weren't going to try to stay peaceful and passive anymore. You had more than enough resources now to make sure that even if more attempts to kill you were sent your way, you had the courage to fight against them. You had a reason bigger than yourself.

And once you and Levi finally made your way out of the memorial, you were headed straight for your car and not looking back. You knew that while you not have handled that very well, your alliance with Levi hadn't changed.

He was still as much your bodyguard as he was before and you were still as willing to help him as you were. In a way, the only thing good that came out that stunt you pulled was that Zeke and the rest knew well that you had power at your disposal and you weren't afraid to use it to fight back.

Even as you're walking out now, you're realizing that while you were willing to get married just to make sure that Grisha's inheritance was safe with you, you should take a little more time to think things through and make a plan.

As Levi and you walked side by side, still hearing cameras clicking and flashing, the clamoring from the reporters, you were content enough to know that you still had him by your side and at least that didn't change. You were ready to take as much time as you needed to think about what your next move will be.

You were ready to start finding the person who killed Grisha and who was most likely out for you too. You weren't leaving it up to the police anymore and waiting for the best and you'd do an investigation of your own starting now.

You needed to act, do something, and today gave you more than enough proof that you've sat around waiting for things to happen on their own for too long. Waiting for the detectives to solve it while you hide.

Getting a bodyguard to protect you while you wait for the detectives to continue their investigation wasn't enough, and while its helpful, you know now that it's time that you take matters into your own hands. You promised Grisha that you were going to fight until the very end, and that's what you'll do.

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Hello! These past couple of chapters had me stressed from just writing them- I went through a rollercoaster of emotions lmao I know things may seem really rough and crazy right now, but just trust me! I promise it will get better!

And I know the end must have been painful to read but it was painful for me to write too- I did love writing the messiness of it all!

I'm sure you guys can see now why I had to divide the chapter into too, because it was just too much shsj It also took me a while to get done because I got really sick all of a sudden when I started writing it so it delayed me even more.

Now, I'm going back to uni in a couple of days so I'm glad I was able to get this chapter done before that!

It also took me a while to get it done because Ive had an idea for a while on how I wanted it to go and I really hope you guys liked how it turned out!

This whole proposal thing is very important so while it might be hard to read, it'll pay off I swear lol those of you who have seen the show know exactly what I mean-

But, anyway, since I'm going back to uni, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled program! I'll see you guys next Sunday with the next chapter! Love you all so much! Thank you for reading and see you in the next one! Love you all! XO

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