Fawn’s POV
“Hate me,” I clarified, though the word felt strange in my mouth. No one had openly hated me before. Richard and Gemma, yes, but they had never said the words to me… Fawn.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. He looked away first, his eyes fixing on the window like the sky held answers he couldn’t find anywhere else.
“Honestly, yes. I hated you for what you did, and who you are… were,” he said finally. “The lies. The manipulation. The way you’d twist everything until I couldn’t tell up from down.” His voice was flat, controlled. “I hated you for playing games with my trust and making me feel like a fool for trying.”
Past tense. All of it.
He had said were.
“And now?” I pressed, even though part of me didn’t want the answer. “Do you still hate me?”
He turned back to me, and somethi
