Chapter 37

Victor's POV

I sat in my office with the door locked and the curtains pulled shut. The room was very quiet, but my chest… it wasn’t.

My heart was beating fast, like I had just run a mile. My hands were on the desk, but they wouldn’t stay still. I kept tapping. Kept clenching my fists. Then I would stop. Then do it again.

All I could think about was Selene.

She could have ruined me tonight. She could have pointed at me and screamed. She could have let the prince order my arrest, let me get dragged through the mud in front of everyone. But she didn’t.

Instead, she defended me. She looked me in the eye, and even with tears running down her cheeks, she bravely stood up for me. And that meant something.

I leaned back in my chair, closing my eyes.

That woman still loved me. She might say she didn’t. She might act cold. But she wouldn’t have stood there and taken the blame if she didn’t still feel something.

I could feel it in the way she shook, the way her voice cracked, the way she didn’