Page 156 of Broken Blades

"Then don't."

He kissed me again, softer this time but no less intense. And as his hands slid beneath the shirt I wore, I realized with startling clarity that I'd never been more certain of anything in my life.

Whatever came next—whatever burned in the aftermath—we'd face it together.

My father's office felt colder than usual. Mahogany desk gleaming under harsh overhead lights. City skyline stretching behind floor-to-ceiling windows like a kingdom he thought he owned.

Thomas Harrington looked up when we walked in. His eyes landed on Wyatt immediately. Fury ignited. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Then he looked at me. Something shifted in his expression—calculation warring with control.

"Did he tell you?"

My chest tightened. "Tell me what, Dad?"

He slammed his hand on the desk hard enough to make me flinch. "Don't play games with me." His glare snapped back to Wyatt, venomous and sharp. "You couldn't ruin me fast enough, so now you're poisoning my daughter?"

Wyatt didn't move. Didn't flinch. His voice came out flat, emotionless. "She came to me."

"Bullshit."

I stepped forward, heart pounding so hard I heard it in my ears. "I heard Mom last night."

My father froze.

Every muscle in his body went rigid.

I held his gaze, refusing to back down.

"The affair. Barbara. Everything."

The room went silent. The kind of silence that swallowed sound and left nothing but the truth hanging naked between us.

My father's jaw worked. His hands flattened on the desk like he was bracing himself. "Chastity⁠—"

"Don't." My voice cracked, but I forced it steady. "Don't lie to me anymore."

His face shifted—anger dissolving into something uglier. Desperation. "You don't understand what you're talking about."

"I understand perfectly." I took another step closer. "You had an affair with Barbara. For years. While Mom stood beside you pretending everything was fine."

His eyes cut to Wyatt, venom seeping back in. "He's using you."

I laughed—a sharp, bitter sound I barely recognized. "You think I'm that stupid?"

"He orchestrated this entire thing to destroy me." His voice rose. "The garden photos. The relationship. All of it."

"I know."

That stopped him.

His expression twisted with confusion.

I swallowed hard, forcing the words out. "I know he planned it. I know he wanted revenge." I glanced at Wyatt, then back at my father. "And I know why."

My father's face drained of color. "Chastity, listen to me⁠—"

"No." The word came out harder than I intended. "You listen." I stepped up to his desk, hands trembling but voice steady. "You ruined his life. You slept with his wife. You destroyed his reputation. You made him look like the villain when you were the one who betrayed him."