“From what?” Elira’s voice cracked. “From finding out my daughter’s life was traded like a favor?”
Damien’s face twisted with pain. “I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t want to know,” she spat. “You wanted me broken. Quiet. Yours.”
“Elira—”
She turned on Soren. “And you? You were the safe one. You promised protection. But you knew. You knew and you stayed silent.”
Soren looked down. “I wanted to tell you. But every time I saw you happy with her, I… I didn’t want to shatter it.”
Elira’s laugh was sharp, hollow. “So instead you let me live in a lie.”
Damien stepped forward. “Don’t lump me with him. I didn’t play God with your life.”
“But you played God with my heart,” she snapped. “You crushed it, Damien. You let another woman walk into my home, call my child hers, and didn’t stop her.”
“Th
