Silence.
A terrible, gaping silence.
It swallowed the room, sucked the air from my lungs, and left only the deafening pound of my heartbeat in my ears.
Then—
His face twisted.
Contorted with a wave of fury so raw and feral, I thought the earth might crack beneath us.
“Destroyed France?Destroyed my society?Murdered your future husband?Did you kill your brothers?You?”
His voice was a thunderclap—disbelief turning to a snarl of rage.
“How dare you stand there and claim such treachery!”
“Because it’s the truth!”I screamed, my voice shattering, jagged with grief and fury and despair.
“I am the alchemist behind it all.Not Amir.It was my hand that wrought this devastation.Not his.”
His face darkened, red as blood, the scars warping with every word, twisting him into something demonic—something no longer human.
“I want you out of this fucking house.Now!”
His roar shook the air, the words like an incantation to banish demons—only I was the demon now.
“I disown you.You are no longer my daughter.You are dead to me.Get out of my sight.
“You have one hour to leave this house.”
With a violent jerk of his head and a tremble in his crippled hand, he signaled the servant.
The young man, eyes wide with shock, stepped behind the wheelchair, his fingers quivering on the worn handles.
I pushed myself up from the bed, the motion instinctive, desperate.I stood—frozen—tears blurring my vision, the world around me cracking, crumbling with every breath.
His words still rang in my ears—words of dismissal, exile, betrayal—as I reached out to the man who no longer felt like my father.
“Father, you can’t mean that!”
My voice cracked, broken, raw.
“I have nothing—nothing with which to live!”
Desperation clawed through me, but he met it with a gaze of stone.
His voice dripped with venom, each word a blade to the heart.
“You should’ve thought about the consequences before unleashing something deadly.”
He sneered, eyes narrowing.
“And now look at you—pregnant with an illegitimate child, your lover dead, and without a home to call your own.
“You’re completely on your own now, Elizabeth.”
His voice cut through my sobs like a knife, slicing deep, leaving nothing untouched.
