TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 175

CHAPTER 119: WHEN SO MUCH IS ON THE LINE–2

Something tugs painfully in my chest. She means it. I can see it in her eyes – the genuine warmth, the hope that I’ll accept what she’s offering.

Which makes what I have to do next so much harder.

“I want to ask you another question,” I say quietly. “And I need you to be honest with me. Really honest.”

Queenie’s smile falters. Her fingers tighten almost imperceptibly around her wine glass.

“Okay…”

“Have you had any contact with Logan Reeves?” I hold her gaze, watching for every flicker, every tell. “At all?”

The change is instant.

A flash of something – fear, guilt, panic – that she covers almost immediately with a nervous laugh. But

not fast enough. I saw it. I know what I saw.

“Logan? No, why would I?” She takes a too–large sip of wine, not quite meeting my eyes. “That man is trouble. I hope I never cross paths with him again.” Another sip. “Did something happen?”

I don’t answer right away. Just look at her, letting the silence stretch, letting her squirm in it.

“Of course not,” I say finally, keeping my voice light. “I was just asking. It’s just… Logan has a way of sinking his claws into people. I know because he made me an offer once. An offer that would have destroyed

Knox completely.”

Queenie goes very still.

“I refused,” I continue softly. “But I know how he operates. How he gets into your head. How he makes you feel like you have no choice, like your back is against the wall and the only way out is through him.“! pause, letting the words land. “And if someone ever did something bad because of Logan’s schemes would understand. I would want to help them. Not judge them.”

Something cracks in Queenie’s expression.

Guilt flashes in her eyes raw and unmistakable, there and gone in a heartbeat – before she plasters on a too–bright smile and hides behind her wine glass.

“I know, right? The man is a piece of work.” Her laugh sounds hollow. Forced. “You’re stronger than most people, Ember. Most people would do what they had to do when so much is on the line.”

When so much is on the line.

The words stick to me like tar.

I’m about to push further

about to ask directly, Queenie, what did you do? What did Logan offer you? when Nathaniel What was on the line that was worth betraying me while kissing my ass to my face?

< CHAPTER DV WHEN SO MUCH IS ON THE LINE

appears in the doorway.

“Give us a minute.”

It’s not a request. There’s something in his voice–cold steel under the calm – that reminds me he’s not just Queenie’s partner.

He’s Knox’s head of security. His beta. The man who has bled and killed and sacrificed for over a decade. Queenie glances between us, clearly sensing the tension in the air, but she doesn’t argue.

She squeezes my hand once – a gesture that might be comfort or might be apology – and slips away toward the kitchen.

And then it’s just me and Nathaniel.

The silence stretches between us, thick with everything unspoken. He never did get back to me about that flash.

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