Chapter 26

Selena’s POV

When the guards came to call me by that time, I knew nothing good could ever come out of it.

At furst I felt anxious at why I should be meeting him at that time

Now? What I feel is more like a pang in my chest.

I didn’t cry when I left his study.

I didn’t cry when the door slammed hard enough to lopsen tye nails that held the portraits to the wall.

I didn’t cry when the guard stationed outside looked at me like he wanted to say something

Who knew what he wanted to say to me,

Maybe he was hoping to ask,

Are you alright? maybe, or He’s not worth it—but thought better of it and looked away.

No.

I held it together.

Because if I let myself cry now, I wouldn’t stop.

Not for him. Not for this place. And definitely not for a man who only knew how to set fires, then complain about the smoke.

The hallway felt colder than usual as I walked. My bare feet made the walk very quiet because there was barely any feet sound , but inside me, everything was loud.

Rage. Shame. Hurt.

And heartbreak.

And worse, I didn’t exactly know or understand why I was feeling heartbroken.

I heard his words in my head, they repeated themselves,

“I hope you haven’t been spreading rumors.”

“This is still a contract.”

“You walk around like this place is yours.”

God.

How does someone take your effort

your presence , and somehow twist it into something dirty?

Like care was a manipulation.

Like love was a threat.

Like I hadn’t stood beside his daughter every day

Patting her hair

Reading her stories, braiding her hair

Doing my own end of the bargain

and somehow still made Cassian feel like I was in the way.

I hated how much he managed to confuse me

To toy with me

And I was stupid enough to fall in the first place

To fall for the first time he smiled at me

I shoukd have known

He was only being nice because his daughter’s health depended on it

I reached my room

No, it was his room

Silly of me to have forgotten

Maybe he was right

Maybe I did roam the pace like it was mine

I pushed the door closed behind me with a soft click. No slamming. No screaming.

I couldn’t even afford to, I didn’t want to wake sisi

Just… silence.

The kind that makes your own heartbeat sound too loud.

Sisi was fast asleep, curled like a comma in the middle of the bed.

Her cheeks were rosy from sleep.

She had one of her arm wrapped around her stuffed animal.

. The dandelion crown we made earlier still sat beside her on the nightstand

The petals were slowly changing to brown, slowly taking the magic away from it.

I sank down beside her, my body aching with more than fatigue.

I watched her chest rise and fall.

Even breaths. Soft ones.

Like the world hadn’t shifted tonight.

Like her father hadn’t stood across from me with cold eyes and words that seemed way worse

I reached out and brushed a few wild curls away from her temple. She stirred and made a small sound.

“Mummy…”

She didn’t even open her eyes. She just whispered the word and curled closer to where I sat, like her little body knew I was there even in sleep.

It hit me like a wave.

Maybe because I didn’t feel like one tonight.

Not when everything I had been trying to build—to hold together

Was looking like a pretense to other people

I could be anything

I could do anything

But I couldn’t pretend

The way I held sisi

The way I felt about her

There was no Pete sef in what I felt

But it didn’t matter, I guess.

Not when I’d just been reminded, yet again, that no matter how much I gave, I was still nothing more than a placeholder in Cassian’s eyes.

I bent down and kissed her warm cheek.

“I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m not going anywhere.”

But as the words left my mouth, they felt like a lie I was telling both of us.

Because I didn’t know how much longer I could stay and keep pretending this didn’t hurt.

Later, after I’d tucked the blankets tighter around her and changed into a clean nightgown, I stood at the window, arms wrapped around myself.

. It looked peaceful in here. Quiet.

A world apart from the fire and fury of the study.

I rested my forehead against the cool glass and closed my eyes.

I hated how Cassian made me feel.

Like I was always one breath away from being too much… or not enough.

Like I was an intruder in a story I wasn’t meant to be in.

And yet—

Even now… even after that awful fight… some foolish part of me still wanted him to see me.

Not as a contract.

Not as the temporary stand-in for a Luna he never had.

And not just as the mother of his child.

But as me.

Selena.

A woman who’d given up everything and still showed up.

A woman who loved his daughter like her own.

A woman with a heart that didn’t deserve to be stepped on every time he felt something.

I turned away from the window and pressed a hand over my chest.

The worst part?

I was beginning to wonder if the only thing more painful than staying… would be leaving.

And now? I couldn’t help but wonder if he was still in his study, holding that whiskey bottle.

***

I tried to make breakfast feel like something soft.

Something warm.

I had long told the helps to let me take care of breakfast

And sisi? She enjoyed helping me.

I pulled out the good plates

They were otherwise known as Sisi’s favorites, with tiny silver suns around the rims.

Took my time folding the cloth napkins into little triangles the way she liked and u even cut the pancakes into wolf shapes

Pointed ears, syrup trails and little blueberry eyes.

.

But the chair at the head of the table was empty.

Just like it had been yesterday.

And the day before.

Sisi was sitting across from me in her light blue dress, her hair brushed and tied with the pink ribbon she lik6.

It was funny how her feet didn’t quite reach the floor, so they swung back and forth

She held her spoon like it was something fragile, tapping it against her bowl in a quiet rhythm.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Her eyes kept darting to the hallway.

Then to the empty chair.

Then back again.

“Mummy?”

She called softly, but I didn’t miss the carefulness in her tone and I already knew what she wanted to talk about.

I looked up and offered what I hoped was a smile. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Did Daddy go away again?”

I paused.

Just a second too long.

And she noticed. She always noticed.

I tried to keep my voice calm. “No, baby. He’s just… busy this morning.”

She blinked. “But he didn’t say goodbye.”

I reached for her hand. “Maybe he had something important come up. Something he couldn’t miss.”

Sisi’s lower lip wobbled.

“He said he was gonna come to breakfast this time.”

I swallowed hard.

“I know he did, sweetheart.”

She stared down at her plate. Didn’t touch the pancakes. Not even the one shaped like a howling wolf.

I leaned in and brushed a curl from her cheek. “Hey… wanna read your fairy book after breakfast? We can do the voices together this time.”

She nodded, but it was slow. Quiet.

“Okay.”

But there was no smile.

No sparkle.

She didn’t even look at me when she said it.

She just kept glancing at that empty chair like she thought if she wished hard enough, maybe it would stop being empty.

I kissed the top of her head, lingering for a second.

And for the first time in weeks, she didn’t giggle.

Didn’t hum.

Didn’t even blink.

She just whispered, “Okay,” again and picked up her spoon.

And I?

I was seated across from her, drowning in silence.

My apetite was long gone and I watched as the pancakes went cold between us.

Wondering how long it would take before her hope grew quiet.

Like mine had.

Because Sisi wasn’t the only one waiting for someone who never came.