His breath hisses out between clenched teeth. “You don’t know the things I’ve done. The thingsI’m doingto make sure this kingdom survives. To make sure—”
“This kingdom?” I shake my head, my voice rising over the wind that batters the castle and rattles the windows in their iron frames. “I get there are things here that need to be dealt with, but this isn’t our home!”
Lightning flashes again, illuminating his face in a harsh silver glow. His jaw flexes. His fists clench.
“For fuck’s sake, Gemma, you’re still doing it,” he snarls. “Still clinging to that naive little fantasy where everything works itself out. You think if you just run away from it, it’ll fix itself.”
My brow furrows. “What are you talking about?”
“This is your Manhattan move all over again. Running like that solved nothing. You thought leaving me was the answer, but it was the worst decision you could’ve made—and you know it.”
Something cold settles in my chest. “You think Iregret leaving you?”
“You should,” he spits. “I had to fix it. I had to. Because you don’t know what’s best for you, Gemma. You never have.”
My stomach drops.
“When do I get a break? When is it my turn to be done cleaning up your fucking messes?” He laughs, low and bitter. “This small-town, homegrown, sweet-Caroline romance bullshit is not worth it. No matter what my PR team says about making you come back beingthe smart risk.”
The cold in my chest turns to ice.
I blink once, twice—and then it clicks. The missing piece. The thread I tugged but never followed.
“Oh my God.” My voice is quiet. “You sabotaged my career.”
He says nothing. But he doesn’t need to.
The moment when he parroted the exact words the publisher used when they let me go—words I never repeated out loud, not to anyone, not even Amanda—I should’ve known immediately. I would’ve had I not been distracted by this…world. Wherever it is we are.
He knew. He’s always known—because he orchestrated it. Because the moment I walked away from him for good, he made sure I had nowhere else to run.
“You left me,” he growls. “What did you think was going to happen? That I’d just sit back while you made a mess of everything I built?”
Rage crashes through me. Hot and immediate. My chest caves around it, my heart a live wire sparking behind my ribs.
“You’re unbelievable,” I spit. “You lied to me.Manipulated me. And now you’re standing here justifying it? Do you have any idea what my career meant to me?”
His jaw clenches.
“You ruined my life,” I yell, the words ripping out of me. “You’ve been the villain in my story this whole time—and I didn’t even know it.”
And before I can take another breath, he grabs me.
His fingers clamp around my wrist. Heat sears through the fabric of my sleeve. His face is inches from mine, eyes wild and furious, mouth twisted.
“You are so fucking delusional,” he hisses. “You think I did this because I have some evil agenda? I did what I had to. You were destroying everything and were too ignorant see it. And then I tried to save you. I tried to give you a soft landing. But you’re too damn proud, or, I don’t know, too fucking stupid to comprehend the reality of our situation.”
“Let me go, Alder,” I grind out, wrenching against his hold.
Wind howls down the corridor. Thunder shakes the windows. My heart thrums hard and fast, my breathing shallow as I strain to free myself.
“Stop fighting me,” he growls, his other hand latching onto my arm.
“Then stop forcing me!” I shout, fury rising like a tidal wave.
Something cracks. Not in the storm. Not in the stone. In him.
Alder stills. He looks at me then, really looks at me, and whatever rage had consumed him drains in an instant. His grip loosens and his hands fall away.
