All Chapters of Rejected as the Fat Mate: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Ronan's POV"Say it again. Watch my face while you say it, because I want you to understand exactly how little that warning changes."Selene studied me for a long moment, something between grief and reluctant respect crossing her composed features. "You truly intend to proceed. Even now, even understanding what the prophecy warns.""I intend to proceed because I refuse to let fear dictate a decision that belongs to me and Tahlia alone. Not to you, not to some vision recorded decades before either of us existed, not to a seer whose interpretation none of us can verify with any certainty." I held her gaze steadily. "You've spent two years manipulating a rebellion, orchestrating violence, betraying your own husband's throne, all based on your reading of a warning that might mean something entirely different than what you've decided it means.""And if I'm right? If proceeding with this marriage genuinely triggers the war the prophecy describes?""Then we face that war together, the same w

Tahlia's POV"The council has reached its decision."My father-in-law's voice carried across the throne room, heavy with exhaustion that had only deepened since the previous night's deliberation. I stood beside Ronan, both of us braced for an outcome neither of us had been permitted to influence directly."Neither Ronan nor Corin Northridge will inherit this throne," the King announced, and I felt Ronan go rigid beside me. "The prophecy's warning, combined with the ongoing political complications surrounding both potential heirs, made either choice untenable given the stability this kingdom currently requires.""Then who?" Ronan's voice carried barely controlled tension.The throne room's side entrance opened, and a young man strode through with confident, measured steps, his resemblance to the royal bloodline evident even before formal introduction—the same sharp jaw, the same commanding presence I'd come to associate with Silver Ridge's ruling family, though something colder lived b

Tahlia's POV"I won't fight him."My voice carried clearly across the training ground, and I watched surprise flicker across Talon's carefully composed expression."Refusing forfeits the trial, Lady Osadebe. You'll lose whatever standing this council might otherwise grant you.""I'm not refusing the trial. I'm refusing to participate in what you've actually orchestrated—an execution dressed as legitimate testing." I met his gaze steadily, refusing to let fear color my voice despite Reyes's blade catching the morning light barely twenty feet away. "This council should know exactly what they're witnessing before they allow it to proceed.""The council has already sanctioned this trial's parameters.""Then let them sanction it fully informed, watching a traitor granted weapons against an unarmed opponent, understanding exactly whose interests this serves." I turned toward the assembled council members, several of whom carried visible discomfort at the proceedings unfolding before them. "

Tahlia's POV"My name is Osric," the stranger said, remaining kneeled despite the guards' weapons still trained on him. "I serve a lineage sworn to the Moon-blood line since before the founding houses first divided their strength. My family has waited generations for this exact moment.""That doesn't explain how you knew to arrive here, tonight, mere hours after what happened in the training ground." I gestured for the guards to lower their weapons, though I kept careful distance between us. "Explain that first.""The awakening carries its own signature, Lady Osadebe. Those attuned to sense it feel the shift regardless of distance." Osric finally rose, moving with the careful deliberation of someone conscious of his own precarious position. "I've spent decades traveling between territories, watching for exactly this sign, praying I'd live long enough to witness it manifest before my own line's knowledge died with me.""What exactly does Moon-blood mean? The scholars mentioned it brief

Ronan's POV"'The real king.' Say what you mean plainly, Talon, or this council has no reason to extend you any further consideration."Talon remained silent, guards still gripping him firmly, his earlier confidence settling into something more calculated now, as though he'd already decided exactly how much he intended to reveal."I'll offer this much," he said finally. "The man who approached Bethany, who fed Corwin his instructions, who armed the coalition's rebellion and manipulated Selene's fears into active conspiracy—he's never shown his face to any of us directly. Every instruction arrives through intermediaries, coded correspondence, resources delivered without explanation of their origin.""Then how do you know he exists at all?" Cassian demanded. "This could simply be another layer of manipulation, a convenient fiction designed to distract from your own guilt.""Because I've received his instructions myself," Talon said, something almost resentful entering his voice now, as