The night felt endless.
Arielle sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, staring at the floor without really seeing it. Her chest was heavy, her thoughts circling back to the same truth over and over again.
Everything had been a lie.
The marriage. The promises. The quiet moments where she’d started to believe Kairo was something more than the cold, calculating man everyone whispered about.
He had married her to destroy her family. To destroy her.
And the worst part — the part she couldn’t seem to breathe around — was knowing that somewhere along the way, she had started falling for him.
Arielle pressed her palms against her thighs, grounding herself, forcing her mind to focus.
She couldn’t stay here anymore.
Not after knowing this.
Not after knowing what s
