Semua Bab TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING: Bab 81 - Bab 90

EMBER'S POVThe SUV pulls away from the resort and something tightens in my chest, because this is the first time we've left the Summit grounds since we arrived and suddenly it feels too real, too fast, too much.Knox is driving, his hands steady on the wheel, but I can see the tension in his jaw and the way his eyes keep flicking toward me like he's waiting for me to shatter.He's worried. The Lycan King, who fears nothing and no one, is worried about me."Talk to me," he says quietly.I open my mouth to tell him I'm fine, but the words won't come because I'm not fine, I'm the opposite of fine, and the closer we get to that restaurant the more my body seems to understand what my mind has been trying to deny.I'm about to see Gale.The thought hits me like a physical blow and suddenly I can't breathe, my lungs are shrinking and my heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat and there's a ringing in my ears that won't stop.My hands are trembling in my lap and when did they sta

EMBER’S POVMy mother stands in the doorway, draped in designer everything as always.A silk dress in garish emerald that probably cost more than she can actually afford. Jewelry dripping from her neck, her ears, her wrists, every piece fighting for attention.Hair and makeup done to perfection, not a strand out of place, like she’s walking a red carpet instead of entering a private dining room.She wanted to make an impression.Our eyes meet across the room.The color drains from both our faces.I didn’t know she would be here. Harrison didn’t mention her.He said family, he said Gale, but he never said anything about my mother and now she’s standing there staring at me with an expression caught somewhere between shock and fury and I can’t breathe, I can’t think, I can’t—“You,” she breathes.Before I can respond, before I can form a single word, someone else steps through the door behind her.And my entire world tilts on its axis.Maurice Aragon looks older than I remember.His aubu

EMBER’S POVMy mother, young and hungry and desperate to claw her way out of poverty, latching onto the first man who seemed like he could give her more.My father, spinning elaborate lies about wealth and status, letting her believe he was the rich alpha driving those flashy cars when really he was just the chauffeur, borrowing someone else’s shine to make himself look brighter.I think about the moment she found out. Pregnant and trapped and furious, stuck with a man who had nothing to offer but broken promises and empty pockets.She’d gambled everything on a lie and lost, and she never forgave him for it. Never forgave me for being the proof of her mistake.I think about the years that followed. The cramped apartments that always smelled like cigarette smoke and stale alcohol.The screaming matches that started before dinner and didn’t end until one of them passed out or stormed off into the night.The crashing glasses, the slammed doors, the words that cut deeper than any sword. W

EMBER’S POV“Knox.” I grab his wrist, yanking him back with all the strength I have. “Knox, don’t.”He’s trembling under my grip, vibrating with barely contained rage, his golden eyes locked on Harrison with murderous intent.Harrison doesn’t even flinch. He sits there, wine glass in hand, watching the Lycan King snarl at him like he’s observing something mildly amusing.Unbothered. Unfazed. Like he wouldn’t care if Knox actually did tear him apart right here in this dining room.“Sit down,” I whisper urgently, tugging at Knox’s arm. “Please. This is what he wants. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”Knox doesn’t move.“Neutral territory, remember?” I force a smile that feels like a lie on my face. “It’s in the past now. I’m okay. I’m right here. Please, Knox. Sit down.”For a long, terrible moment, I think he won’t. I think he’s going to fling me away, then vault across this table and murder Harrison Crawford in front of everyone and damn the consequences.Then he exhales, sharp and ra

EMBER’S POVThe question catches me off guard, hitting somewhere soft and unprotected.“Every day,” I hear myself say, and my voice sounds strange, distant, like it’s coming from somewhere outside my body. “Every single day, I thought about leaving. About packing a bag and disappearing in the middle of the night. About starting over somewhere he couldn’t find me.”“And yet you stayed.” Harrison tilts his head, studying me like I’m a specimen under glass. “For eight years, you stayed. Why?”Because I was scared.Because I had nowhere to go.Because he convinced me I deserved it.Because every time I tried to leave, I’d stop dead by the door.Because my own mother blamed me.Because my own father was too drunk to answer the phone.Because everyone I was supposed to be able to trust had already proven they couldn’t be trusted, and I had no one left, no one who cared, no one who would help me escape the prison they’d sold me into.Because if I never met Knox, I would have gone back to him