Chapter 3

I hung up the phone and refused my best friend's offer to come keep me company. But the memories from last night kept forcing their way back into my mind.

The way his arms had wrapped around me so tightly. The heat of his breath on my neck when he was lost in the moment. The sweet, empty promises he whispered in my ear while the bed creaked beneath us all night long.

I shook my head hard, trying to shake the memories loose. I curled up on the bed, pulling my knees to my chest. The kind Damian from before and the cruel Damian from today kept switching places in my head, over and over.

It wasn't until nearly dawn that I finally sank into a restless sleep.

Damian hadn't sent me a single message all night.

There was a time once when I got too drunk at a party and he couldn't reach me. He had nearly lost his mind with worry. After that night, he texted me every evening to say goodnight, just to make sure I was safe. It became our habit.

It took years to build that habit. And apparently, it took only one night to break it.

Maybe that was for the best. We were already over.

The next morning, I woke up groggy and disoriented. I felt myself being pulled into a warm, strong embrace.

I was instantly awake.

It was Damian.

I had forgotten that he still had the code to my door.

When he saw my eyes open, he let out a soft laugh near my ear.

I shoved him away and scrambled to the farthest edge of the bed.

He followed. He wrapped his arms around me again.

"What? You don't want to?" His voice was low and coaxing. "You enjoyed it yesterday. Don't you want a second taste?"

I didn't know how to face him. I just pressed my lips together and stayed silent.

Damian put on a fake frown. "You didn't even say goodnight last night. You know that worries me. I'll forgive you this time. But there has to be a punishment. Let's see… how about you use that pretty mouth to—"

I struggled against him. I couldn't understand why he was coming to me when he already had Juliette.

My resistance annoyed him. His grip tightened.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Is this because I didn't take you to prom? Because you weren't my date?"

I said nothing. Damian assumed I was jealous. He let out a dismissive laugh.

"You're mad? Juliette didn't have a date. I was just helping her out. Is that really worth getting upset over?"

His words only made me angrier. But I couldn't blow up at him without revealing what I knew. So I said nothing. I just turned away, got out of bed, and walked downstairs.

The only person in the house was the housekeeper.

Damian followed me down a moment later. His expression was dark. I rarely gave him this kind of cold treatment. In the past, he would have already started a silent war with me.

But he had just landed Juliette. Maybe that put him in a good mood. He tried to be patient.

"Fine. If you don't want to, you don't want to. Eat something."

He pushed a plate toward me. I pushed it back and silently took the cereal the housekeeper had prepared.

Damian's smile froze on his face. His patience snapped.

"What is your problem?"

I sighed. "Nothing. Why aren't you with Juliette?"

Damian's jaw tightened. "So this is about Juliette. You just can't stand her, can you?"

"Who do you think you are? We slept together once. What makes you think you have the right to control me?"

His voice turned vicious. He swept the plate off the counter. It shattered on the floor.

The sound made me flinch. My body jerked. And then the tears came. All the humiliation and hurt from yesterday came rushing out at once.

Damian clearly hadn't expected me to break down like that. He looked almost panicked.

"Hey. Stop crying. Did I scare you?"

My shoulders shook violently. I curled in on myself, trembling.

He was about to pull me into his arms when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, annoyed. Then his expression went cold and serious.

He stood up immediately. No more concern for me.

"Something urgent came up. Calm yourself down."

"Don't expect everyone to revolve around you."

He left.

Not long after, my father arrived. He wiped my tears away and told the housekeeper to clean up the broken plate and the food crushed into the carpet.

"Don't bother cleaning it," I said. "Just throw it away."

Even though that carpet had been a gift from Damian. I gathered everything in the house that he had ever given me—every little thing I had treasured like gold—and threw it all into trash bags.

Everything I had held sacred was just something he tossed at me to shut me up.

The days after Damian left were silent. Not a single message.

I only found out where he had gone when I saw Juliette's social media post. They had gone to see penguins together.

I let out a bitter laugh.

Then I blocked Damian on every platform. I packed my bags and went to the airport with my father.

Just as I reached the gate, my phone rang. An unknown number.

I answered. A familiar voice came through, barely hiding its anger.

"Aurora. You ignore me for days, fine. But blocking me everywhere? What's wrong with you?"

"You have such a temper."

"Go ahead. Keep me blocked. See if I care. Without me, who's going to give a damn about you?"

His tone was sharp, the usual prelude to one of his rages.

But I didn't say anything. I couldn't exactly tell him I was going back to the North. I couldn't tell him I was the Alpha King's daughter.

"I'm busy. I have a flight to catch. Unblock me when you're done sulking. I'm going abroad for a few days. Won't have time to talk."

I bit back the urge to scream at him. I just hung up.

Then I took my father's hand and walked toward the gate without looking back.