69. Athena
“N-Nothing!” The words stumbled out of my lips, heavy with reluctance.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze—not after what he did earlier. My chest felt like it carried the weight of boulders, every breath shallow and unsteady.
I wanted to tell him. To confess that I didn’t want the coronation, that I didn’t feel worthy of it. But I swallowed the words back. What good would it do? From the very beginning, he made it clear—I was nothing to him but a warm body to occupy his bed.
I wasn’t supposed to feel like this. Yet here I was; a fool entangled in emotions I had no control over. Somewhere, and somehow, along the way, I had fallen for him. Hard and fast, like a leaf ripped from its branch and hurled into a storm.
The realisation clawed at my heart, leaving behind raw
