I looked down in horror to find my panties still around my ankle. That paired with my torn dress and my eyes that were still red from worry over Briar’s accusations, and it didn’t paint a good picture.
I saw Zara hurry into the lobby, eyes wide. Rumors must have spread throughout the rest of the gala. Her beaded gown clinked as she stilled, looking at my disheveled state, then at Severn’s angry stance.
“Severn—” I started.
“Willow, leave it!” he snapped.
Gasps went through the hushed audience. They weren’t used to seeing Severn as anything but an enigmatic playboy billionaire; his angry display was going to be in all the gossip magazines tomorrow.
It’s too much to handle, a voice whispered in my head.Briar’s story about his short-lived affairs, his unpredictable nature, his relationship with another human, his power issues. And now here he was, after getting rough with me in the coat closet, doubling down by assaulting a stranger who, while a certifiable asshole,wasonly doing his job.
I can’t do this anymore.
“No,” I seethed, still clutching my torn dress. “I won’t leave it. I’ll leaveyou. Consider this my resignation.”
More whispers radiated through the crowd, traveling like spring rain. Soon all the gala would know that Severn and his girlfriend had broken up after a dramatic and borderline violent incident. One girl lifted a shocked hand to her mouth. Zara only looked worried for me.
Severn spun on me, breathing hard. I knew he wasn’t going to take my resignation without a fight.
“Quit?” he snapped. “You can’t. I won’t allow it.” That uncontrolled fury was in his eyes, that need to be the regent, the prince, the leader. To control every situation and every person in his circle.
But I’m not bound to his court. I can walk away.
Aware of the hundreds of witnesses, I tugged the diamond earrings off, thrust them into Severn’s shocked hand, and turned and, shaking, made my way toward the hotel exit.
“Willow!” His voice was a growl, but then he seemed to reconsider, given my state and the audience, and said a sharp “Kell.”
I felt an immediate presence fall in step with me, holding the front door open. Dressed in a black suit, Kell had blended in with the other security guards, but now I felt immense relief to have him with me, not just for protection but also as a friend. I hurried out onto the sidewalk, where the valet station attendants were scrambling to get our car.
“Willow, wait!” Zara came charging out of the hotel, her purse clutched in one hand. Her red lipstick was tellingly smeared—it looked like she’d spent some time in a coat closet with someone, too.
Locke?The fleeting thought came and went, drowned by bigger concerns. My relationship had just ended.
Cameras flashed on either side of the velvet ropes as Zara threw her arms around me. “Are you sure about this?”
I wasn’t sure of anything. Already, my mind was racing with fears that I’d made a mistake, that I should go back and tell Severn I didn’t mean it. Quitting not only meant leaving him but also saying goodbye to Henry and May. Could I really do that?
More cameras flashed. “Zara, I need to get out of here,” I whispered.
“I’ll come with you.” She turned and exchanged a few words with Kell. The valet finally brought Severn’s car around, and Kell opened the back door for us before getting in the driver’s seat.
Cameras continued to flash, filling the night with starbursts. Shielding my hand from them in the back seat, I glanced once more at the hotel to see Severn just on the other side of the gilded front doors, hands balled into fists, face laid bare and showing true anguish.
I squeezed my own hands in my lap. Had I just made a terrible mistake? “Drive, Kell.”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
Once I was home and in my own bed, I shed so many tears that my pillow felt like I’d doused it with a cup of salt water. Zara had returned to Wilde Tower with me and helped me wipe off my makeup and get into pajamas, then curled on the bed beside me, stroking my back while she muttered reassuring curse words about the Gifted Realm. Especially the fae.Faeprincesin particular.
Eventually, I managed to pull myself together and think through the decision I’d made at the gala.
Flashing cameras. So many witnesses. My torn dress.
It wasn’t going to look good in the gossip websites and newspapers. Severn had practically assaulted a paparazzo, and given my torn dress and disheveled state, they were going to make assumptions that he’d gotten violent with me, too.Iknew that Severn had only torn my dress on accident and that he’d only gotten aggressive with Phone Dude to protect my reputation. Severn’s temper could get out of control, but he wasn’t the monster that the media was going to portray him as.
And I had only made it all worse by breaking up with him in the middle of it all.
Wiping my eyes, I sat up on the bed. “I’ve made such a mess of everything.”
