refully considering Kaelan's letter, reading it over and over, tracing the ink with her fingertips as if hoping to find some hidden meaning between t

this was different. Kaelan's betrayal had torn apart every certainty she had once held. It wasn't just that he had taken another wife, that he had

t and a trap. She had spent so long fighting for her place in his world, making herself smaller and smaller in an attempt to fit into t

Could she ever

lan's mother had been the one to orchestrate it, no mention of the pressure, the manipulation. Was it that Kaelan was trying to take responsibility for the enti

he supposed to do with this information? Was Kaelan's remorse enough to convince her to return to him, to the life they had on

he door. She froze, heart thumping in her chest, k

, revealing the figure standing on the other side. Tall, broad-shouldered, with eyes

as it had her. His eyes searched hers, filled with a quiet desperation, as though he had be

is voice hoarse, tent

before he walked past her, the familiar scent of his cologne filling the air around them. It was strange to have him in her space, aft

couch, his large frame hunched over, hands resting on his knees. He looked so much like the man she had married, yet so differ

ath. She wasn't sure what she expected from him, but she had already heard everything he could say i

ace between them filled with tension. Kaelan's eyes flickered to her, and for a

e falling to his hands. "But I need you to understand, Alesia... I

she had left. "You didn't mean to hurt me? You didn't mean to betray me, Kaelan?" Her voice cracked on the last word, but

ust about her. It was about my family, my legacy." He looked at her then, his eyes searching hers desperately. "I was pushed into a cor

lips made the reality of it feel more suffocating than ever before. "So, you chose her. You chose them over me," she whispered, the hurt bu

wanted to. But I didn't know how to fight anymore. I didn't know how to stand up to them without losing ever

ay that? How could he claim that he didn't know how to fight for her? Hadn't

ice cold, detached. "I gave everything for this marri

suffocating. The words hung in the air,

pect you to forgive me. I don't even expect you to take me back. But I'm asking

to fix what was broken. But she couldn't ignore the fact that his actions had shattered the foundation of their r

e anymore, Kaelan," she said

swer. There was no simple way out of this. The only thing