I shut Uncle Fridolf’s door behind me, and as the latch clicked, my lips curled into a slow, wicked smile. The fool thought he was the one pulling strings, but I knew better. His idea, his game. He would do the dirty work, and if anything went wrong, I would make sure he took the blame. I need to put a tail on him. I have been in these games for a while, and I knew what to do so that I wouldn’t be a pawn in his game.
I smoothed my gown, checked my face in the polished metal on the wall, and let the wicked smile fade into something softer, broken, fragile, desperate. By the time I reached Rowan and Kael’s chambers, I was no longer Belinda the schemer. I was Belinda, the victim.
The guards bowed as I stood waiting, my hands clasped, my eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Minutes later, Rowan, Kael, and Damon walked in together. My moment had come.
I stumbled forward, throwing myself into tears.
"Thank you!" I cried, rushing toward Rowan and Kael. "Thank you for believing me! For standing by me when everyone else turned against me! I...I don’t deserve your kindness..."
Rowan’s worried eyes stayed on me as I cried into my palms. My shoulders shook, and I let the sound of my sobs fill the silence Damon had left behind.
"Belinda..." Rowan’s voice was gentle, careful. He crouched down beside me, his hand brushing against my arm. "Are you okay? Damon was too harsh with you. That wasn’t fair."
Before I could answer, Kael moved closer. He didn’t just look at me, he reached out and wrapped his arms around me. His embrace was sudden, firm, warm. I let out another sob, burying my face against his chest, knowing it would pull him in deeper.
"Belinda," he whispered, his voice full of worry, "are you really okay? You’re trembling." His arms tightened, almost desperate. "I’ve missed you... I’ve missed this closeness. Don’t cry . Please."
I tilted my tear-stained face up, letting my lips tremble as if his words had broken something inside me. My tears glistened in the dim light, and I clung to him weakly, as though I needed him to hold me together.
Rowan’s expression softened even more. He nodded slowly, his voice quiet but heavy with meaning. "Yes... I’ve missed you, too, Belinda."
I sniffled, lowering my gaze to the floor as if I were ashamed of my weakness. My voice came out soft, trembling, almost broken. "I’m fine... I’ll endure. It hurts, but I’ll keep believing Damon will forgive me one day."
Rowan said gently. "Belinda, please. Compose yourself. There’s no need for all this."
"Yes," Kael added with a warm smile. "We know you, Belinda. We know you could not have done such a thing. But..." His voice grew firm. "You must be more careful. Your guards, your maids, you need to know what they are doing at all times. Carelessness gives enemies a chance to ruin your name."
I nodded quickly, sniffling. "Yes. Yes, I will. I’ll watch them. I’ll make sure none of them humiliates me again. I swear it."
Rowan and Kael’s voices still lingered in my ears, soft and full of comfort, when a harsh sound broke the fragile air.
Damon scoffed loudly, the sound filled with disgust. He looked at me the way one would look at something foul.
"Still denying it," he said, his tone cutting like a blade. "Even at the end. That’s what I hate the most: people who play the victim. People who lie again and again, hoping the truth will vanish."
The words sank into me like knives, though not because they hurt my heart. No, they only fed my anger. But I couldn’t show that. Not now.
Instead, I let my body tremble. I forced my sobs louder. Tears rolled down my cheeks, wetting my hands as I clasped them tightly together like a woman begging for mercy.
"Damon, please!" I cried, my voice breaking. "I don’t know how long it will take for you to forgive me. I don’t even know if you ever will. But please, hear me..." My words tumbled out fast, desperate, heavy with sorrow. "I admit... I was partly at fault. Dolph did everything for me, yes. He acted because of me. But I never ordered him to do it! I never told him to go that far!"
For a moment, silence filled the hall. I moved closer to him, step by step, as if drawn by something stronger than reason.
"Damon?" I whispered, my voice trembling, breaking apart at the edges.
"I’m so sorry," I said again, the words rushing out of me like a prayer. "Such won’t repeat itself. Please, just let me make this right. Please..."
I stretched out my hands, reaching for him, wanting to close the space between us, to hold him even if it was only for a second. But then his eyes snapped up at me. They weren’t soft. They weren’t forgiving. They burned with fury, hotter than fire, sharper than any blade. His gaze alone made me freeze, but I had already moved too close.
Before my fingers could even brush his arm, he yanked himself away, his body jerking with raw strength. The rejection hit me like a slap across the face.
"Don’t touch me!" he roared. His voice was thunder, shaking through the hall, rattling the walls, and cutting straight through my chest.
I froze in place, my hand hanging helplessly in the air. The world around me blurred as my eyes filled with tears. My lips trembled, but no words came out at first.
"Damon..." My voice cracked, soft and broken, barely more than a whisper. Tears spilled in rivers down my cheeks, warm and endless. I couldn’t stop them even if I tried.
"I don’t want your hands anywhere near me," he spat. His words were cold, colder than ice, and each one struck like a dagger. It was as though he stripped me bare and left me standing alone in the middle of a storm.
I pulled my hands against my chest, clutching them as if his rejection had crushed me. I let my knees bend slightly, like my strength was gone. "I didn’t mean to... I swear, I didn’t..." My voice was soft, broken, meant to stab pity into Rowan and Kael. Get full chapters from 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
He turned sharply, striding to the door. "Rowan. Kael," he barked, his voice hoarse from another cough, "take care of this." Then he was gone, coughing into the hallway.
I stood frozen, my body trembling with the perfect picture of heartbreak.
But inside, I was smiling.