Carlisle slowly lifted his eyes toward the staircase.
His breathing became uneven as his mind replayed the scene again and again. He could almost see Victoria falling down those stairs another time, her body striking the steps before collapsing at the bottom.
What had she been thinking in that moment?
Had she waited for him to help her?
Had she looked at him hoping he would choose her just once?
Instead, he turned his back on her.
Instead, he shoved her aside with anger in his eyes while rushing to another woman.
The pain of that realization nearly crushed him.
Maybe that was the exact moment Victoria gave up on him forever.
Or maybe she gave up long before that.
Maybe it happened while she sat alone in the dungeon, hurt and terrified, waiting for a mate who never came.
A broken
