Natalie~
I sat cross-legged on the soft couch at Zane's Vereth estate, my fingers nervously picking at the frayed edge of a cushion. The fireplace crackled across the room but it didn't warm the growing pit of dread gnawing at my stomach.
I should have told him.
I should have told Zane everything hours ago, when the moment was still mine to claim. But everything had spiraled too fast — the truth about my mother, the real reason my parents had died, and then Zane's father…
The memory of King Anderson's cold, dismissive eyes made my blood boil anew. He had stood there, looking at me like I was nothing. Cursed. Weak. Unworthy.
I squeezed my fists into the cushion until my nails bit into my palms. I had barely held myself together long enough to leave without burning that damn palace to the ground.
And on top of it all — Griffin.
My eyes drifted to the center of of the room, where I had held the small glass case in my hands — shattered now, its fragments long cleaned away.
