Bound By A Broken Night novel Chapter 116

Chapter 116

+25 BONUS

“It becoming the villain was the only way to make you walk away,” he said quietly, his voice heavy but resolute,

“then I was willing to be the one you hated—if it meant you would finally leave the people who were slowly destroying you.”

“I would do anything for your freedom, Cassidy,” he said softly.

“Even if it was a freedom you refused.”

A brief pause.

“Even if the price of it… was losing you.”

Cassie stared at him, tear stains marring her beautiful face. No fresh tears fell now, but the shock held her captive, leaving her mute and motionless. Her throat felt dry, as if words themselves had abandoned her.

After a long, fragile silence, her lips finally parted.

“That… that night, I… was drunk…” she said hoarsely.

She swallowed, her brows knitting as she struggled to form the question that had been clawing at her mind.

“How…?” Her voice faltered, the rest of the words dissolving in uncertainty. She shook her head helplessly.

Ashton watched her for a moment, understanding the question she could not finish.

“How… did it happen?” he asked quietly.

“How did I find you in that bar?”

“How did we end up spending the night together?”

Cassie didn’t answer, but the tension in her eyes was enough.

He exhaled slowly, as if the memory weighed heavily on his chest.

“I was at your graduation,” he began.

“I went there to see you. I wanted to approach you… but I stopped myself. I couldn’t show myself to you.” His jaw tightened.

“I knew you were waiting for them. Hoping they would come. Because you never learned to stop hoping–even when they had already proven they never would celebrate you.” A bitter scoff left him.

“And when they didn’t come… it broke your heart again.”

Cassie’s fingers balled at her sides.

“I followed you,” Ashton continued, his voice quieter now.

“I watched you walk into that bar. I stayed there the whole time… watching you drown yourself in alcohol, questioning your life.” He shook his head slowly.

“I was angry. Angry at them… angry at your situation. And at the same time… I pitied you.”

His gaze darkened with the memory.

“When you got too drunk, and men started approaching you, I decided to take you back to the Knowles residence.”

He paused briefly.

“I was planning to bring you straight to your room,” he said.

1/3

“But you kept clinging to me.” The change in his tone made heat rush to Cassie’s face.

+25 BONUS

“You wouldn’t let go. You were holding onto me… touching me… looking at me like I was the only thing you could see.” His voice lowered, honest and unguarded.

“And I’m just a man, Cassie.”

A beat of silence passed.

“Yes, I was tempted,” he admitted.

“My feelings for you won. I ignored my judgment… and I brought you to my room.”

His eyes held hers steadily, refusing to look away from the truth.

“And yes… I crossed the line,” he said quietly.

“Even if you were the one reaching for me… even if you were the one pulling me closer.‘

Cassie’s breathing grew shallow.

“You kept saying it was a dream,” Ashton continued, his voice softening.

“You said that on your graduation day, your dream had finally come true… that you were finally with me.”

Emotion flickered across his face–something raw, almost vulnerable.

“So I granted your dream that night,” he said.

A faint, bittersweet breath left him.

“and maybe, I granted mine too.‘

“A dream I knew I would have to hold onto,” Ashton said softly, a bitter smile touching his lips, “for the day I would have to let you go.”

The expression sat painfully on his handsome face–gentle, yet filled with quiet resignation.

“And yes,” he continued, his gaze warming as it rested on her, “that memory has kept me company all these years, Cassie.”

The tenderness in his eyes made her breath catch, heat rising to her cheeks despite the heaviness in her chest.

“I held onto that night,” he went on, his voice turning distant, almost reverent.

“The way you looked at me… like I was your whole world.” His eyes softened, shadowed by longing.

“That night was the only time we were honest with each other. No pretenses. No walls. No expectations. Just you and me… untouched by the betrayal waiting for us when morning came.”

A faint, wistful smile curved his lips, but the pain beneath it was unmistakable.

“I was happy that night, Cass,” he admitted quietly.

“Happier than I had been in a long time. A part of me wished the night would never end.”

His expression darkened.

“But I knew that once you sobered up… you would go back to being the Cassie who kept hurting herself. The Cassie who kept hoping, kept clinging, kept living for people who would never choose her.” His smile twisted, becoming strained, almost tormented.

“So I made a decision that morning,” he said.

2/3

“1er de band was of two holes Why Temna vocneed a bow frock w

Agile, tile formed on his lips.