CHAPTER 196-2
“You had control,” he said, his voice cutting through me like a blade. “You made a choice. You chose to
kiss another man.”
“Darius, please…” I reached for him, but he pulled away like my touch burned him.
“Don’t.” He stood up abruptly, running his hands through his hair. “Just don’t.”
I stood too, reaching for him again, but he stepped back. The rejection stung worse than any physical
blow. Worse than any wound I’d ever taken in battle.
“I’m sorry,” I said desperately. “I’m so sorry. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Didn’t it?” His laugh was bitter, hollow. “Because from where I’m standing, it meant enough for you to lie about it. It meant enough for you to sit there and feed me some bullshit about business meetings.”
“I was scared to tell you…”
“You were scared?” His voice rose slightly, and I could see his control starting to crack. “What about me, Clara? What about how I’d feel finding out that my mate was sneaking around with another Alpha? What about the fact that I had to corner you just to get the truth?”
Each word was like a knife twisting in my chest. I could see how much I’d hurt him, how much my betrayal had cost him. The man who had saved me, protected me, loved me when I was broken, and I had repaid him with lies and betrayal.
“That’s what kills me,” he continued, his voice shaking slightly with barely contained emotion. “Not that he kissed you. Not even that you kissed him back. It’s that you lied to me. You looked me in the eye and lied
without hesitation.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you…”
“Well, congratulations. You did anyway.” His voice cracked slightly on the words, and I could see the pain underneath his anger. “You hurt me more than any enemy ever could.”
Tears burned my eyes, but I forced them back. I didn’t deserve to cry. Not when I was the one who had
caused this pain.
“Darius, please. Let me explain…”
“Explain what? How you felt something for another man? How you betrayed everything between us?” He shook his head, backing away from me like I was something toxic. “I can’t do this right now.”
“Don’t walk away from me.”
“I need air,” he said, already turning toward the house. “I need to think. I need to figure out how the woman I loved could do this to me.”
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. The woman I loved. Past tense. Like he was already letting me
* CHAPTER IMPA
“Darius, walt…”
But he was already walking away, his shoulders rigid with anger and hurt. I watched him disappear into the shadows, leaving me alone with my guilt and the horrible realization that I might have just destroyed the
best thing in my life.
I sank back onto the bench, finally letting the tears fall. What had I done? How could I have been so
stupid? So selfish? So utterly, completely wrong?
The worst part was that Darius was right. I had made a choice. I could have pushed Lucien away immediately. I could have told Darius the truth from the beginning. Instead, I’d let myself get caught up in whatever power Lucien had over me. I’d let myself betray the man who had given me everything.
I’d betrayed the man I loved, and I didn’t know if he’d ever forgive me. I didn’t know if I deserved his forgiveness.
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