CHAPTER 21: BAD POINT

ATHENA'S POV

I stand frozen in the hallway, with my hands on belly trembling.

I don’t even remember how I got here—whether I followed instinct, or suspicion, or something else.

But now I know.

And the way Xander is looking at me as if I’ve already slipped through his fingers tells me everything I need.

But I still want him to tell me with his words.

He should tell me just how long he'd been fooling me.

“I asked you a question,” I say, my voice coming out quiet and tight.

“How long have you known?”

He doesn’t speak. His jaw clenches, a muscle ticks at the side of his face, but nothing comes out of his mouth.

He just stays silent.

“You knew about the genetic contract,” I whisper.

“You knew that they picked me, that I wasn’t just some random mistake. That someone chose me— and you didn’t tell me?"

Xander moves closer to me, going away from the door he was standing in front of. “Athena, it wasn’t like that.”

“No?” I ask and laugh, the sound seeming so broken to my own ears.

“Then explain it, because from where I’m standing, it looks like you knew I was never supposed to have a choice.”

He reaches for me, but I pull back immediately and he stops short, looking defeated.

“I didn’t want you caught in this,” he says in a low, raw voice.

"At first, I thought it didn’t matter... I thought that if I could control everything that was happening, I could protect you, protect the babies— then I could fix it all.”

“But you weren’t fixing it, Xander,” I snap. “You were controlling it and you were controlling me.”

His nostrils flare, “Because I had to. This world I live in doesn’t care about fairness or feelings at all. If I didn’t take control of the situation, someone else would’ve and they wouldn’t have just played games, they would’ve destroyed you.”

I shake my head, feeling hot tears sting at my eyes.

“You don’t get to justify betrayal with obsession. And you don’t get to cage me right here and call it protection.”

Suddenly his voice turns a bit sharp.

"Do you think I wanted this? That I planned to be tied to a woman who makes me lose every ounce of logic I have? Athena do you think I don’t hate myself for how our situation is right now, for letting my father pull the strings behind our lives like we’re marionettes?”

I stare at him, not believing a word that comes out from his mouth.

“You had a choice. You always have a choice, and you chose silence.”

He doesn’t reply to that, because he can’t, he knows I'm saying the truth.

I take a step back, rubbing both of my hands over my little round belly like it’s the only thing that I have left.

“I’m done," I tell him and his head jerks up.

“What?”

“I said I’m done.”

My voice doesn’t tremble this time when I say it.

“I want nothing more to do with you, your empire, your lies, and definitely not your father’s twisted legacy. I’ll raise this child alone if I have to— but I will not do it here as your prisoner.”

“You’re not a prisoner,” he says, stepping forward again.

“Then let me leave,” I challenge.

“Right here and now without stopping me or locking any more doors behind me.”

He doesn't say anything to that, and his silence says it all.

And that’s when the last thread of patience holding me together snaps.

“I hate you for this,” I whisper.

“I hate that I let myself feel anything for you. I hate that a part of me thought maybe you were something more than your last name. But you’re not, you’re just like him.”

He recoils, like I just slapped him. “Don’t say that.”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?” I laugh bitterly.

"The coldness in your voice, the need to control, all that manipulation. You are exactly what Richard Knight raised you to be.”

Xander flinches like I just drove a knife through his chest, and I almost feel bad.

Almost.

But then I remember the nights I stayed in the bathroom and cried alone, the constant fear I felt, all those bodyguards that were always around me, the assassination attempt, the threats AND the lies.

I owe him nothing.

I turn and walk away from him without saying another word.

Back at the front of my guest room------- my prison that is------ I yell at the guards to get me food from the kitchen, pedicure kits and all sorts of things that I know will keep them busy for a while.

Then I go into my room, moving quickly and throw open the closet and then start tossing things into my duffel bag I’ve kept neatly behind a long line of coats.

My heartbeat pounds in my ears and my fingers tremble as I pack, but I keep on with it.

I keeping moving my hands because if I stop, I might feel again.

... And I can’t afford that right now.

I finish packing the last of my clothes, including the burner phone and then zip up the bag.

For a beat, I stand still, waiting and expecting him to burst in, grab me and maybe, threaten me to stay or plead with me.

... But he doesn't.

So I lift my bag up, although it's a little heavy and walk out of my room door and down the long hallway of the penthouse.

Just then I feel my babies shuffle around and stop, flying my left hand to my belly.

I look down at my slightly swollen belly--- my little round baby bump---- looking down at the proof that life is growing inside me.

Two little forms of life that I swear to protect even if it means walking away from the man who gave them to me.

Yet for some reason, I feel alone in the truest and most terrifying way while I walk towards the elevator door.

... And then I push a button.