— MARA |
The door closed behind him.
I stood there in the silence, surrounded by my father's ledgers and the ruins of everything I'd believed.
Cassian was gone.
Off to destroy his own mother.
Off to burn down the empire he'd built.
Off to become something I wasn't sure either of us could come back from.
I should've been relieved.
Should've been glad he was finally seeing the truth. Finally understanding that his family was poison. Finally breaking free.
But I wasn't.
Because I'd seen his face when he realized what his parents had done.
Seen the moment his mask cracked.
Seen the boy underneath. Broken. Betrayed. Grieving a sister he'd thought he'd avenged years ago.
That boy had looked at me with eyes full of rage and pain and something worse.
Hope.
Like I was the only thing
