_Avery’s POV_
Everything was falling apart.
I stood frozen in the middle of the packhouse hall, my heart pounding so loudly I could barely hear anything else. My hands trembled as I watched Liam walk away, his back straight, his shoulders squared like he had just won some great victory.
But this wasn’t a victory.
This was a betrayal.
Not just Kaden’s family—but mine, too.
Liam had banished us.
I turned to look at my parents, standing beside Kaden’s family, their faces pale with shock. My mother clutched my father’s arm, her lips pressed into a thin line. She was trying to hold back tears. My father… I had never seen him look so defeated before. His shoulders were slumped, his fists clenched, but there was nothing he could do.
We had lost everything.
I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
