My steps faltered. My heart betrayed me first—it still wanted to give Kayden a chance.
Please, say something. You can still refuse her. Tell me you just didn't react in time...
But no miracle came. Reality was even crueler.
"Kayden." Victoria's voice took on a coy note, crushing my last shred of hope. "The elders are still waiting for you. About our wedding. Father said we need to book the venue for the Full Moon Ceremony in advance, and there are pack traditions we have to follow. He especially emphasized..."
I couldn't listen anymore.
My steps quickened, almost to a run.
I could still hear Victoria's voice chattering about weddings, full moons, ceremonies... each word like a needle stabbing into my heart.
See? He's still that same Kayden who only cares about the Alpha's interests, who never cared about you.
Why did you soften just now?
Why did you let yourself hope?
I bit down hard, forcing myself not to think about that journal, not to think about him saying, "I've dreamed of you, every night for seven years."
It was all lies. All his games.
He just wanted to toy with my feelings. Nothing more.
When I got back to the studio, Anna was organizing files. She startled at the sight of me. "Ella? What happened?"
"Nothing." I shook my head, my voice hoarse. "I just need to use the restroom."
I practically fled into the bathroom, shut the door, and leaned against the wall for a moment.
My chest felt tight, suffocating.
I turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on my face, trying to clear my head. The water was freezing, stinging against my skin, but I needed that sting to pull me back from the chaos of emotions.
Hands braced on the sink, I stared at the mirror. Wet bangs plastered to my forehead, foundation-streaked water running down my cheeks, smudged eyeliner, smeared lipstick. Only those fake blue eyes stared back like they were looking at a stranger.
Then I took out the contacts.
My amber eyes emerged, exposed to the air. Layla Gray's eyes—the eyes of the girl who'd been abandoned, framed, forced to jump into the sea. Eyes that belonged to a past I didn't want to acknowledge.
Seven years.
Seven years, and I thought I'd grown strong enough to face the past, to handle things with Kayden calmly.
But Victoria's appearance had shattered every illusion.
I'd actually started to trust Kayden again—when he pulled out my journal, when he said he'd dreamed of me, when he looked at me with those silver eyes full of regret and pleading...
I thought maybe he'd changed.
Maybe he at least cared about me.
But reality had slapped me in the face again.
He was still Kayden Blackwood—perfect, selfless Alpha, always putting the pack first. And I was just a momentary diversion, a substitute to ease his loneliness, gossip fodder, a joke!
I should hate him. How could he be such a liar again and again, saying those cryptic things, dragging me back into fantasies I should have forgotten, then slapping me down? How could he pursue me likesome lovesick fool when he already had a fiancée? How could he be so cruel—I had to hate him, I would hate him—
