Revenge amnesia upgraded to his brother (Norah and Lucien) novel Chapter 211

Chapter 211

Norah’s POV:

He went silent.

Finished

His eyes drifted away from my face and fixed on the flickering flames, looking utterly alone.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice dropping low.

“I need to be married.” He tugged at the corner of his mouth, a bitter smirk creeping out. “Being the head of the Constantine family’s wife means a lot of eyes on you A young, single person in charge? That just invites a shitload of messy flings and sketchy marriage proposals. But a miserable marriage tied down by duty? That keeps most of the unwanted attention off me. Makes things easier. And there’s more…”

His reason was practical, cold, exactly his style.

“More?” I pressed, my heart suddenly tightening.

He fell silent again.

Just when I thought he wouldn’t say another word, he turned to look at me, eyes locked on mine.

“Because I don’t deserve it.”

I froze.

“I thought you really chose Mateo.” His cracked lips twitched into a grim smile. “I thought you’d never come back, Norah. I lost you.”

“When I should’ve been protecting you, trusting you, I let my pride and stupidity trap me in the enemy’s snare. I nearly killed myself, made you watch it all, broke your heart, and drove you away.” He raised his hand and wiped his face hard.

“What right do I have to clear things up? To say I’m single? What right do I have to think about a fresh start, to chase happiness?”

His voice was thick with self–loathing. “That fake marriage? It’s like a brand burned into me. A reminder of how badly I screwed up, how much I lost. It’s the punishment I deserve.”

The fire’s warm glow wrapped around us, but it couldn’t chase away the cold and sorrow in his words,

I stared at his face, at his pale lips, at the slight tremble of his lashes.

Three years of hate, pain, and bitterness–the tough shell that got me through countless dark nights shattered in this calm, hopeless confession.

So, there was no betrayal.

At least, not the kind I thought

What there was, was a desperate gamble from a proud at backed into a cortier, a long and dangerous revenge, the pain of two people caught in a misunderstanding, and the sentence he handed himself three years of punishment

My heart clenched tight, a sour ache spreading though, followed by a dissying wave of emptiness

111

But after that rush of relief, heartache, and even a little shameful sense of luck, another feeling crept up- cold, sharp, and cutting.

I slowly sat up from his arms, putting some serious space between us.

A cold breeze blew into the cave, cooling my overheated mind just a bit.

“So, you did all this. You played the dangerous game with your enemies, swallowed your pride, planned everything out, got your revenge, and even punished yourself,” I said, my voice calm but distant.

He looked up, surprised, like he didn’t expect me to react this way.

“But Lucien,” I looked him straight in the eyes and asked softly, “throughout this long, dangerous plan- when you decided to play along, when you put up with Amélie getting close, when you gathered evidence, every step of your revenge…”

“Did you ever even once think about telling me?”

His pupils suddenly shrank.

“Did you ever think that the me you lost might have had the right to know the truth? Instead of piecing together some twisted story in someone else’s arms–based on scraps of info and terrifying guesses–that you, because of power, betrayed our love and even married the person who hurt me? And then holding onto that story, hating you, fearing you, desperately trying to forget you, even…”

I stopped dead in my tracks, swallowing hard to choke back the words “even hiding the fact that we had a child.”

I clenched my fists so tight my nails dug into my palms, using the pain to keep myself grounded.

His face, lit by the firelight, slowly stiffened and grew anxious.

He opened his mouth, like he wanted to explain, to defend himself, but all that came out was a strained, “I- I thought it was safer that way for you. The Veyron familly is everywhere; the less they know…”

“Safer for me,” I cut him off, tears finally spilling down uncontrollably. “But Lucien, did you ever ask me if 1 wanted that kind of safety?”

“You always do this–time and time again, deciding wha’s best for me without asking, protecting me in your own way by kicking me completely out of your world, out of your real pain, your struggles, and your dangers. Then leaving me alone, knowing nothing, carrying twice the hurt–the pain of losing you and the pain of being betrayed by you.”

“You protected me, in the way you thought was right.”

“But you also pushed me away with your own hands.”

“In your heart, I’ll always be that Norah who needs you shield me under your wings, someone who can’t handle the storms, right?”

“You never really believed I could stand by your side and face those wild storms with you

“That’s the biggest problem between us