Chapter 181

Chapter 181:

I gasped, panic spiking through my chest. I yanked my hand back, ripping it from Braydon’s grip as if I had been burned. “Dallas, wait—” I looked back at the door, desperate to explain, to tell him I had thought it was him.

But Dallas didn’t speak. He didn’t scream. He didn’t roar. He simply looked at me, then at Braydon, and finally back to me. The betrayal in his expression was a physical blow — heavier than the water that had tried to drown me.

He took a step back. Then another.

“Dallas!” I cried out, ignoring the screaming pain in my broken ribs as I tried to push myself upright.

He didn’t stop. He turned his back on me, shoulders rigid, and walked out the door. The soft click of the latch was the loudest sound I had ever heard.

“Dallas p>

I thrashed against the sheets, but a hand pressed me gently back down.

“Shh, Adella. You need to rest,” Braydon’s voice was smooth, sickeningly calm. “You’ve been through a lot p>

“Get off me!” I slapped his hand away, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps. “Where is he? Why did he leave? Go get him p>

Braydon sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the closed door with a strange, unreadable expression — something like pity, but sharper.

𝘙е𝗮𝖽 f𝗋𝘰m yо𝘶r ph𝗼ո𝘦 𝘰n

“He’s not coming back, Adella,” he said softly.

“You’re lying,” I choked out, tears streaming freely now. “He saved me. He was… he was crying over me p>

Braydon shook his head, his eyes locking onto mine. “He came. He saw you were safe with me. He saw us together p>

“I thought it was him!” I sobbed. “I told him I loved him p>

“He didn’t hear that part, Adella. Or maybe he did, and he just didn’t care.” Braydon leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low, conspiratorial murmur. “He told me to tell you something before he left p>

I froze, my heart hammering against my bruised ribs. “What p>

Braydon’s lips curled into a sad, apologetic smile. “He said his duty was done p>

The word shattered me.

Duty.

Not love. Not fear. Not the mate bond. Duty.

It was the same argument we always had — the King and his obligations. He had saved me because I was his responsibility, not because I was his heart. And now that I was alive, now that I was safe, he was done.

The fight drained out of me. I sank back into the pillows, the physical pain in my chest nothing compared to the agony tearing through my soul.

I turned my face away from Braydon and stared at the blank white wall while the tears fell silently, soaking into the pillow.

He had left me. Just like I had asked him never to do.

And this time, I knew he wasn’t coming back.

Dallas

The whiskey burned going down, a liquid fire that did nothing to touch the ice settling into the marrow of my bones.