What We Break

Chapter Thirty: What We Break

Ardyn's Pov

I didn’t cry.

Not at first.

I sat there on the cold tiles of the corridor outside his office, frozen in the silence that followed the sound of Caelum’s moan. Mirelle's name had tasted like acid on his tongue ever since she appeared in that photograph—but now, it was something worse. Now it was real. Breathing. Moaning. Sinking her teeth back into what was mine.

And he let her.

He begged for her.

I should have run. Should have picked up what little self-worth I had left and walked the hell out of this house. But I didn't. I sat there in that corridor, shaking, as the truth sank in like rusted nails to the chest. I had been used. Replaced. Like a doll taken off a shelf to warm a bed until the old one returned.

I didn’t confront him that night.

I couldn’t. My legs refused to move. My mouth wouldn’t form words. And when the doorknob turned and Lucien stepped out, he paused mid-step. Our eyes met. He knew.

He didn’t say anything. He just looked do