Finnian ignored her question. “What did you just say to Amara?” he demanded, his voice dangerously low. “Is this how you talk to her every day?”

There was an undeniable threat in his tone as he stepped halfway in front of Amara, shielding her from Antonia.

Fear and resentment warring in her chest, Antonia took a step back. “We weren’t saying anything. I just came over to chat with her…”

She wasn’t stupid enough to admit she had been bullying Amara while he was standing right there.

But Finnian didn’t buy a word of it. “Get the hell out,” he ordered.

66

His voice hadn’t been loud, but the icy finality in it made Antonia shiver.

She cast a fearful glance at him before darting her eyes to Amara.

Amara just stood there, her expression unreadable. She made no move to stand by Finnian’s side or acknowledge what had just happened.

Meanwhile, Finnian looked like he was seconds away from having security throw Antonia out by force.

Humiliation burned in her chest. She was the princess of the Everly family-she had never been treated like trash before.

But she didn’t dare challenge him. She shot Amara one last venomous glare and fled.

The moment Antonia was gone, Amara turned to leave. Finnian immediately caught her arm. “Don’t go. I need to talk to you.”

He had come all the way to the set just for her. There was no way he was letting her walk away.

He had seen the trending topic about him and Liliana and had already instructed Will Zade to wipe the article from the internet and bury the hashtag.

But he knew Amara had likely seen it already. He needed to explain himself face-to- face.

Amara scowled, trying to pull away. “Let go of me. I don’t want to talk to you.”

The blatant rejection stung, twisting his tone into something possessive and dark. “If you don’t want to talk to me, who do you want to talk to?”

“You really want absolutely nothing to do with me anymore?”

Amara glared at him in disbelief. Wasn’t he just playing the devoted partner at the hospital? What the hell was he doing here?

no

Right. Liliana’s surgery was over, now he had free time to come harass her. He really thought he could juggle both of them perfectly The sheer audacity made her sick.

“Yes, I want nothing to do with you,” she stated clearly. “Now let go of me. We’re in public and people are watching.”

Finnian glanced around, noticing the curious eyes of the cast and crew lingering on them.

Not wanting to make a scene, he pulled her into a secluded hallway nearby.

“I said let go!” Amara demanded furiously as he dragged her out of sight. He completely ignored her protests.

“Amara, I came here to explain,” Finnian said, suppressing his own rising panic.

“Liliana had surgery today. I went to

check on her, and I left almost

immediately. Whatever that article

online says that’s not what my

relationship with her is like”

He spoke frantically, terrified that she had misunderstood his intentions. But his

words only ignited Amara’s fury.

Why was he telling her this?

If he cared about Liliana, he should

just own up to it. Why was he

playing house with her while suffocating Amara with his

attention? Did he think she was just a toy he could string along?