Shadows Gathered Under Fading Lights by Nyx Rowan novel Chapter 8

A wave of gasps rose around us as the shadow charged in, and Henson went down hard under the first punch.

The man lifted his fist again, ready to keep swinging, and I shoved myself between them, palms out, blocking Henson with my body.

“Tristan,” I said, voice steady even as my heart hammered, “what do you think you’re doing?”

It was Tristan, and if the fireworks hadn’t flared at the exact moment and lit his face, I would’ve

sworn it couldn’t be him.

He looked gaunt, thinner than when I’d left, and the tailored suit that used to fit him like a second skin now hung loose and baggy.

His hair was a wreck, his jaw shadowed with dark stubble, the kind of slovenliness he would’ve despised on anyone, especially himself.

If I hadn’t known him so well, I wouldn’t have recognized him at all.

I couldn’t understand why he’d turned himself into this.

I was gone, he was supposed to be living happily ever after with Natalia, so why did his eyes look like they were carrying pain?

People nearby finally noticed the commotion, and a few younger residents moved in close, forming a protective wall around Henson and me while they watched Tristan like he was a threat.

Henson got to his feet, dragged me behind him, and wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth with

the back of his hand.

“It’s fine,” he told the crowd, calm and controlled. “Go on, keep celebrating.‘

Then he guided me inside, and he didn’t stop Tristan from following.

”

Once we were in, I found the first–aid kit and started cleaning Henson’s cut, hands careful and

practiced.

Tristan stood off to the side, face tight, voice edged with resentment. “Fiona, you cared about him that much?”

His eyes burned into me. “You didn’t care how I’d been living these past two months at all?”

Chapter 8

6.96%

I didn’t look up, I just kept dabbing antiseptic onto Henson’s skin. “We were divorced,” I said, cold enough to make the tension in the air palpable.

Tristan stepped forward like he couldn’t help himself, and Henson immediately pulled me farther

behind him.

“Say what you needed to say from there,” Henson warned, voice flat. “Or leave.”

Tristan stopped, gaze sliding past Henson to lock onto me. “Fiona, you knew I didn’t really want this divorce, everything was urgent that day.”

Before I could speak, Henson cut in, calm as still water. “You were already divorced.”

That sentence lit something ugly in Tristan, like it struck a nerve he’d been trying to ignore.

He stared at Henson, jaw clenched, and forced the words out like a dare. “I know what you’re capable of, Uncle, but I’m not letting go this time.”

His voice cracked into something desperate. “I’ll give you anything, just give Fiona back to me.”

I looked at Tristan and felt nothing but confusion, like I was watching someone act in the wrong

movie.

Our marriage had started as a scheme and an exchange, and now he was performing devotion like he didn’t know I’d seen the script.

Henson’s voice drifted in, quiet and lethal. “Natalia’s pregnancy, how were you planning to handle

that?”

Tristan’s swagger collapsed on the spot, and the only thing I felt was a faint, distant ache for the child who hadn’t even gotten a chance to exist.

He didn’t answer Henson, he turned those eyes on me instead, pleading. “Fiona, come back with me and I swear Natalia will never appear in front of you again.”

He rushed the promise out as if that solved everything. “She won’t affect us.”

A laugh slipped out of me, sharp and humorless, and I hated myself for how long I’d been blind.

“If you’d ever bothered to step onto the third floor and actually look at how I lived,” I said, “you wouldn’t be here begging me to go back.”

I turned away and guided Henson upstairs, leaving Tristan staring at the space where my patience

Chapter 8

6.96%

used to be.

Behind us, great?”

Tristan’s voice followed like a desperate accusation. “Fiona, you think he’s all that

“He could’ve dodged that punch; he chose not to.‘

“And he didn’t have to bring up Natalia’s pregnancy, but he did.”

“He’s trying to drive us apart!”

Chapter 8