Bound By A Broken Night novel Chapter 22

Chapter 22

As though the scandal had never happened. As though three years hadn’t torn everything apart. “Ordering,” he replied with a shrug, looking at me as if I were being unreasonable.

My fingers curled tightly in my lap as I struggled to steady my breathing.

“How can you be so sure I want to eat with you?” I finally asked, my voice taut as I fought the frantic rhythm in my chest.

He studied me, and I met his gaze head–on. It was intent, probing–but no matter how closely I searched his face, I found nothing. As always, Ashton Pierce was unreadable.

“Well,” he said after the silence stretched between us, “it’s the first meal we’ll share after three years. Consider it my treat.”

My treat.

The words rang absurdly in my ears. He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t possibly act this casual after three years of silence–after a scandal that had shattered my life.

“What are you doing, Ashton?” I asked again, drawing in a slow, steadying breath before my frustration spilled over.

We couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened. I couldn’t. Not after I had been thrown away. Disowned. Cast out for allegedly scheming my way into his bed. The guilt and shame still gnawed at my soul–and here he was, acting as though he hadn’t looked at me with cold disdain the morning we woke up naked.

“Having dinner with you, Cassidy,” he replied calmly, his eyes never leaving mine.

Something inside me snapped.

“Then maybe I shouldn’t have accepted the severance f*e you gave me,” I muttered, my jaw tightening, “so I wouldn’t have to disappear from Bay City. Out of the Knowles‘ life. Out of your life. Out of Miriam’s.”

He barely reacted.

“I didn’t mean everything you just listed,” he said dismissively, as though correcting a minor misunderstanding. “As I remember it–and as I intended–it was a severance f*e for leaving the

Knowles household.”

The casual way he said it made my chest ache.

“Is that really any different?” I asked, bitterness seeping through.

“It’s a whole lot different,” he replied quietly.

I waited.

Chapter 22

+25 BONUS

For an explanation. For remorse. For something. But he said nothing.

“So,” he continued instead, infuriatingly casual, “how’s your life here? Is this city better than Bay City?”

I nearly rolled my eyes.

“Look,” I said flatly, “I’m not here for small talk. I’m not trying to catch up. I don’t think I have that privilege.”

He ignored that entirely.

“Seeing you in a place like this says a lot about what you’ve become,” he remarked. “These prices aren’t for ordinary employees.”

“I can’t believe you can act like nothing happened between us three years ago,” I pressed, dragging the conversation back to the wound he kept refusing to acknowledge.

“I’m glad you threw away that pathetic side of yourself,” he said calmly. “Being away from Bay City helped you.”

Something inside me snapped. I could no longer grit my teeth and let him speak as if he had the right.

“Yes,” I shot back, my voice rising despite myself.

“Being away from everything, and from everyone—has helped me these past three years.”

I didn’t care if heads turned. I was done swallowing my words for his comfort.

“So I won’t start reconnecting with anything–or anyone,” I continued, my voice trembling despite my effort to steady it.

“I’ve lived in peace, and I won’t ruin that for one dinner. Not even for a treat.”

I let out a rough breath, the truth tearing its way out before I could stop it.

“I left Bay City because I had nothing there,” I said quietly, “I had no one.”

The silence that followed felt deliberate.

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