Chapter 68

The crowd buzzed around us, voices overlapping, sharp gasps cutting through the air. It felt unreal, like standing inside a live feed where nothing could be edited out. No privacy. No escape. Just truth laid bare for everyone to see.

Of course, it couldn’t end there.

Mrs. Morrigan pushed her way forward, chin lifted, eyes bright with judgment. I’d crossed paths with her more than once before. Her daughter had once tried to secure a permanent place beside the Hales, and that history made Mrs. Morrigan think she still had a claim here.

When Camilla had failed to be accepted, the Morrigans had tried to buy their way out of the humiliation, throwing money at the problem just to cut ties clean. Pride like that bruised easily.

Unlike her husband, who only cared about rank and numbers, Mrs. Morrigan enjoyed using her voice. And tonight, she smelled blood.

She looked straight at me, concern painted badly across her face. “Mrs. Hale, you’re still so young. For something like this to happen under your watch, at a gathering like this… doesn’t it damage your standing p>

I almost laughed.

Did these people ever stop to think before opening their mouths?

They lived for moments like this. If there was no chaos, they created it.

And just when I thought Lincy’s collapse would satisfy everyone, Mrs. Morrigan decided she wanted her turn too. Was there a line forming?

I stayed calm. Too calm to be rattled.

“Before you decide who should be blamed,” I said softly, “maybe take a closer look at who’s actually involved p>

Theo lifted the flashlight again, angling it carefully. The light caught the man’s face clearly.

Yenik.

The woman beside him remained mostly hidden, her features swallowed by shadow. Because no one could see her properly, whispers started right away. A servant, maybe. A guest who drank too much. Anyone but who she really was.

Mrs. Morrigan still didn’t understand. Honestly, I couldn’t blame her. Yenik had been away for years. Camilla had only just returned. And no one would ever expect a woman carrying a child to end up there.

Lincy, though, snapped.

Whether it was love, pride, or the need to win, the sight shattered her. Years together. Promises made. A bond planned for the future. All of it crumbled in seconds.

She shoved forward, eyes blazing, instincts raw and unrestrained. “You filthy bitch! How dare you touch my mate p>

But Camilla wasn’t fully there.

Whatever had been slipped into her drink had stripped away control. When Lincy rushed in, Camilla reached blindly for the nearest warmth, fingers clinging like she was drowning.

Yenik panicked. He fumbled with his clothes, desperate to cover himself, to undo what couldn’t be undone.

Camilla held onto him, mumbling, voice thick and broken. “Don’t stop… I need more p>

Silence fell.

Heavy. Suffocating.

Yenik froze. His face drained of color as he finally looked toward the door. Toward me.

His lips parted. “Why is it… you “

He stopped.

Because I wasn’t the one tangled with him.

Camilla was.

And I stood beside Lewis, steady and untouched, a faint smile resting on my lips as I watched understanding crash into him.

Even Yenik, slow as he was, could see it now.

This wasn’t an accident.

It was a trap.

Lincy stared too, shock locking her in place. She hadn’t expected Camilla. Not her.

Lincy and Yenik didn’t matter much in the bigger picture. But Camilla did.

She was known. Respected. Pitied. For years, she had worn innocence like armor while tearing me down in whispers. Smiling sweetly while spreading rot behind my back.

But tonight?

Tonight, the mask shattered.

Everything she’d built collapsed in front of the very people who once defended her. No more gentle glances. No more sympathy.

From now on, she’d be remembered for this. The woman who crossed another’s bond. The one who broke the rules everyone else feared to touch.

But now?

With one sharp turn of fate and timing that felt almost guided, everything shifted.

Lincy had always liked taking what wasn’t hers. Especially other people’s mates. She wore it like a badge, as if it proved her worth, her pull, her power.

Tonight, I handed that feeling right back to her.

So this is what it feels like, I thought.

Riley… if there’s still a part of you somewhere inside me, I hope you see this. I did it for you. Yenik was only ever a man you once cared for. Nothing more. He was never worth your pain.

Lincy snapped.

She lunged at Camilla with a scream that cut straight through the room. “You filthy thing p>

Her hand swung hard.

The slap rang out, sharp and loud, echoing off the walls.

That was when Mrs. Morrigan finally broke out of her shock. She rushed forward, voice trembling. “Camilla! What have you done p>

People surged in at once. Camilla was carrying a child and clearly not herself. No one wanted this to turn into blood on the floor. Hands grabbed arms. Bodies pressed in, trying to pull them apart.

The space exploded into noise.

Sensing things tipping too far, Theo moved fast and restored the power. Light flooded the shed all at once, bright and unforgiving.

There was nowhere to hide now.

What had once felt like a dark secret now looked like a poorly staged performance, with an audience packed at every doorway.

And the scene itself?

A mess.

Camilla clung to Yenik like she’d lost all sense. Her grip was desperate and painfully misplaced.

“Let go! Let go!” Yenik yelled, panic cracking his voice.

He tried to yank his pants up with one hand while shielding his face with the other, twisting away from the crowd.

Camilla moved stiffly, eyes unfocused, her body driven by something she didn’t understand. “I need it… please… it hurts she kept mumbling, voice rough and broken.

Yenik cried out again. “You’re insane! Get off me p>

Gasps rippled through the onlookers. Some looked away in horror. Others couldn’t stop staring.

As for me?

I had to fight not to smile.

Inside, something warm and fierce curled through me. This was balance being restored. The kind that didn’t ask permission.

I bit my lip hard. Even pinched my thigh. Still, laughter threatened to spill out.

Go on, I thought. Tear it apart. Scream. Claw. Expose everything.

Hair was pulled. Fabric ripped. Whatever image they once had shattered in front of everyone who mattered.

This was the same man who had once flirted with me behind Lincy’s back. And now, there was nowhere left to hide what he was.

Still, appearances mattered.

I stepped forward, schooling my face into concern. “Please, stop,” I said softly. “This isn’t the place for this p>

But inside?

I was laughing harder than I ever had in my life.