Alessia: “And if anything, had it not been for that child, she wouldn’t mean anything to me.” The sentence kept playing in my mind as I forced myself to remain calm. I sat on the edge of the bed, refusing to move, refusing to eat, refusing to pretend that this room, this gilded, spotless prison, was anything but what it was. A cage. A place where I knew I didn’t belong, and no matter what they were going to try and tell me, I saw it in the way she looked at him. She was there first. You are overthinking this. He is choosing you. Sage tried, making me roll my eyes. He is not going to choose her, he is our mate. “And she is his side woman, if that is even a thing. She wouldn’t be as aggressive had he not given her hope for something. And that is not what we need to deal with right now,

