“I… I… I…” The words stumbled off my tongue, breaking apart before I could string them into a sentence. My chest tightened as I stared at Cassius. His eyes were soft, patient, almost pleading, yet I felt a wall rise between us.
With everything that had happened to me, how could I trust anyone now? He claimed to be my father, but what if it was all a lie? What if this was another trap? If I admitted the truth and it somehow reached Octavia’s ears, what would become of me? Of the child growing inside me?
Tristan didn’t even know. And if he ever found out, would he come to take the baby away? A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of his cold rejection, his voice telling me I was nothing.
Finally, I steadied myself enough to speak. “I am not,” I said, my voice stiff but clear.
Cassius
