He’sageless.
Perfection.
But it’s just surface deep.
His eyes are a dazzling gold, his skin radiant, and he is impossibly tall. Over eight feet for sure, displaying dominance and cruelty cloaked in divine arrogance.
And gods, I hate him.
I have never known hatred like this. Never.
I resent him for what he made me do. That is something I willneverforgive him for.
The way he made me hurt Jayce just to claim me as his bride. I feel it burning inside me like a curse. The guilt and pain are something I will never be able to forget. And I don’t deserve to forget what I did.
“I have fulfilled my promise; your father is home,”he says, offering his hand like he expects gratitude.“It is time for you to fulfil yours.”
My chest is tight, my blood loud in my ears. Every instinct in me screams to rip his hand from his wrist. Not that I’d succeed.
He is a god.
Instead, I clench my fists at my sides and stare him down with every ounce of rage I’ve bottled up. But I can’t look at him for long. He’s too intense, the glow around him blinding.
“I’ll be your queen,” I say coldly, every word like broken glass on my tongue. “But it will be by title only. I’ll never truly be yours.”
His smile fades, the light behind his eyes dimming to something harder, sharper. He steps forward, that divine light around him shimmering.
“You will be mine, fiery one,”he says quietly, the threat in his tone barely veiled.“You will be mine.”
I may not be able to meet his gaze head-on, but I don’t flinch, my voice sharp like a blade.
“No. You can pretend what you want, you can make me marry you, you can keep me here, and you can announce to the world that I am yours… But you willneverhave anything morethan the shell. My soul, my heart, my love, you know who they belong to. To someone you could never hope to be.”
And someone I will never be worthy of.
I turn my back on Helios, waiting for his wrath, but it doesn’t come, only silence.
Maybe because he knows I’m already bleeding. That’s punishment enough.
Jayce.
His name alone is a wound.
I know what I did to him. I know I shattered something I never should have when I walked away. And I will never deserve his forgiveness. Not now. Not ever. That is my damnation.
I just pray he hates me enough to move on. I hope the betrayal twisted like a knife so deep that he lets go. Because Ineedhim to rebuild his life. It’s the only thing keeping me going.
“Take my new bride to her chambers,” Helios commands, his voice thunderous and cruel. “The wedding shall be arranged.”
His footsteps vanish behind me, swallowed by silence. And I remain, staring out at a realm meant to be heaven, yet all I see is the bleakness of my future.
‘I love you.’His words echo in my mind.
And I never replied.
I turned my back, pretending it didn’t destroy me. I let him fall to his knees, let him beg me to stay and said nothing. Because I had to. I had no choice. Because I thought silence would be better than showing him the pain I’m in. I did this all for his safety.
The fractured bond still aches. And my silence haunts me.
