la's
plan to go to his house either, but m
s gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles lost color. Sophie's voice
ase-just bre
ldn't hold steady. Not when everyth
out resistance. That w
still belonged here. As if my name
the estate itself was watching me decide whether to turn ba
stepped out of the car and the air met my skin. My heels struck the stone path in uneven rhyth
he door wit
on schedule. As though I were expected. Immaculate suit. Tie loosened j
artbeat, my bo
-my lungs remembering him b
A ring. Another woman's hand sliding
so tightly my nails
tore out before I could shap
, measured, like I was a probl
ce even. Controlled. "
my ribs snapped
ere?" My voice rose before I could stop it. "I was your fiancée
se. Like I was the one disrupting order, not
the place f
ad etiquette. As if humi
, heat flooding my throat. "You stood in front
just a few s
t tension in his jaw. The way his fingers f
e." That was what
rp and cold ro
ng closer. "I care about how you looked at me three
A change so small it
't lie,"
made my sto
again, but it brok
lower now. "You just... didn't t
ce str
e stood on the same level. The air around
ade m
s time, but harder underneath. "My f
irst. They hovered. Meaning
Until something in my ch
d once, t
d, voice thin. "That's
tly, like I was misinter
ve in," he said. "Appearance
his tie when he came home, how he always reached for my hand without thinking, ho
im felt like a dif
shook, but I didn't step back
trolled. "A good woman. But not the
e edges. From disbelief
tly. "So that's what I was.
gain in his gaze. It d
," he said. "Prestige. Alig
t without realizing it, as I coul
on came out raw. "What
wered first. "It
it open completely. A breath lef
g closer until there was no space left to pretend
on mine. "I mea
ened so hard it
"Then fight for it. Tell me you didn't h
expression changed
changed,"
er of it and pressed against his ches
ard," I w
reath
, voice breaking open. "You don't get to hide behind words like '
into the fabric.
s before,
. I stepped back
d, but it didn't feel like d
et me find out like everyone else. Like I was n
tly. "I thought distanc
me then. "Easier," I
dn't r
resting over my stomach. Something in
rose. I'm carrying your chil
Why hand him somet
re. I stepped
owed me, but h
the worst part is
r, but he didn't
our empire hated me. Even if the world d
ut I forced it steady again. "But
tightened onc
that answered everything
use I leave. But because one day you'll
my voice could
r that wanted to pull me back. My body remembe
my stomach again as I
n't nee
e. And the sound it mad
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