Chapter 3

I shut off the phone and tossed it aside.

I packed my things and was heading for the door when the low rumble of a luxury car blocked my path.

"Where exactly do you think you're going?"

Ethan kicked my small suitcase out of the way.

His hands locked around my upper arms in an iron grip.

"Stop being childish. Come home with me, now. I just dropped Sera off. Nothing happened between us. Don't overthink this. I'm exhausted, and I haven't even eaten."

I turned my head and noticed the marks on his neck and chest: lipstick, teeth.

I wrenched free with everything I had.

"Then go eat with Sera."

Ethan stared at me, then reached for my hand again, trying to pull me close.

"I know you're upset, but I need you to stop acting like a child. Sera's your sister, after all. What happened is ancient history. How long are you going to hold a grudge?"

When I stopped struggling, he took it as a sign I was listening. He pressed on.

"We have to move forward. You know what these three years have been like for us. If you leave me, what other Alpha is going to want you?"

A grudge, because the wounds had never healed.

He'd witnessed my pain with his own eyes, and now he was brushing it aside like it was nothing.

I lifted my gaze to the handsome face in front of me. It looked so foreign I barely recognized it.

"I left the key in the goat-milk box by the door. I didn't take anything of yours. If that's not enough, I can pay you back."

"How much could you possibly scrape together?"

He still thought I was throwing a tantrum.

"Everything we eat, wear, use, all of it top of the line. Your paycheck wouldn't cover a fraction of our utility bills. You've got no degree, no experience, a few thousand a month. Besides selling that scarred-up body of yours, what could you possibly—"

He caught himself. His voice dropped.

But I was already pulling off my shirt.

"Scarred up, but still functional enough. Right?"

I reached for the clasp of my bra, and he swore under his breath.

"Fuck."

He yanked off his jacket and wrapped it around me, teeth clenched.

"Christ, Nora. You're impossible."

He bundled me into the car and drove me to his real home.

"You're staying here tonight."

The room looked like it had been prepared for me long ago. The clothes were all in my favorite colors and sizes.

The toiletries were the same brands we'd always used.

Was this some new form of cruelty?

"I'll stay with you. A maid will bring dinner soon. Eat, then rest."

My stomach lurched.

I clamped a hand over my mouth, rushed to the bathroom, and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet, cracking my kneecap against the edge of the tub.

Ethan followed me in, hesitant.

"Nora, are you—"

I cut him off. I held up my phone, showing him the group chat.

The color drained from his face. He tried to explain.

"That was years ago. I stopped engaging with them after a while. Nora, I love you. That part is real."

"And these messages? Are you going to tell me you didn't spend three years lying to me? That you didn't want to film me?"

My lips were trembling, but I didn't stop.

"You had so many chances to tell me the truth. Even one day sooner—if you'd been the one to say 'it was all fake' before Sera announced it was a game she put you up to—I wouldn't have..."

The words died in my throat, as if something had clamped around it and wouldn't let go.

Everything I wanted to say turned into tears, turned into shaking I couldn't control.

Ethan reached out to wipe my face. I turned away.

He said nothing. He chose the most cowardly way, letting the damage hang in the air, neither admitting it nor denying it.

"I see."

I forced myself to stand and started gathering my things to leave.

But a massive wave of dizziness crashed over me.

Even then, all I could think was: don't collapse in front of him. That was my last scrap of dignity, pathetic as it was.

His voice reached me from far away.

"Nora!"

He was calling my name. His voice was shaking.