Chapter 302: _ He Will Burn
The door clicked shut.
That soft, final sound was louder than any scream. It echoed in my bones like a gunshot. My legs buckled beneath me, and I sank to the floor, arms wrapped around myself like I could hold in the pieces as I shattered.
How could everything go so wrong... so fast?
Just hours ago, we were wrapped in each other, swearing forever. He’d whispered promises against my skin, told me he loved me like it was the most natural truth in the universe. And I believed him—because I loved him too. I still did.
But now all that love had turned into a shadow. Suspicion. Doubt.
How do you defend yourself against something you don’t even remember? Against something that might not have happened—but could have?
The room still smelled like Axel. Like musk and eucalyptus and safety. But now it was laced with something sour. Grief.
I crawled to the bed, barely able to breathe, and pulled the sheets around me. They were still warm from his body. I buried my face in them, desperate for the comfort I knew was gone.
"Why would Ignacio do this to me?"
The name burned my lips.
He was my friend. My protector. Or at least... I’d thought so. He’d been there through everything—through the pressure, the ceremonies, the arranged marriage that had never been about love. He said he cared. That he wanted to help me.