Chapter 217
Chapter 217
-Grayson’s POV-
The air around us felt thick, charged with something I couldn’t quite put into words. My pulse quickened. The shock that came with seeing her after everything that had happened–everything that had gone wrong–flooded my system, paralyzing me for a brief moment.
Her eyes, those swirling eyes, locked onto mine, and I saw the million guards she had put up between us.
Like she knew I was coming. And had been preparing to face me
But I was the one who didn’t know how to face her.
For the longest moment, I couldn’t speak. The words wouldn’t come. My mouth was dry, my brain malfunctioning, short- circuiting under the weight of seeing her again. Awake. Staring at me.
Then, instinctively, my eyes went to her stomach.
Just like Elaine’s at three months. Even though we knew the truth now, hers was no different. But I didn’t know anything about pregnancy. Still hadn’t decided what I was going to say about it because my head wasn’t agreeing with me.
I opened my mouth to form words, but she beat me to it in a neutral tone, “I was going outside to get air. Please excuse me.”
I didn’t move.
She shimmied past me, brushing my shoulder, and I turned, watching her walk away.
I finally found my voice, “Ava…”
But she didn’t stop walking. She didn’t even hesitate.
I stood there, frozen, my body refusing to move even though every instinct in me screamed to go after her. My fingers clenched into fists at my sides as I swallowed against the tightness in my throat.
This was wrong. This silence between us. This distance.
I forced myself to snap out of it, my legs moving before I had fully processed what I was doing. I followed her outside, my eyes scanning the garden until I found her.
She was standing by Ricardo’s fountain, staring at the water. A mother duck swam in slow circles, her ducklings trailing behind her in perfect formation.
A mother and her children.
Something in my chest twisted at the sight, at the way Ava was watching them so intently, her arms wrapped around herself like she was holding herself together.
I took a step forward, and I felt it–the rift between us.
Tangible. Heavy. Unforgiving.
“I’m sorry.” I spoke finally
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It was the only thing I could think to say because, for the first time in my life. I didn’t know what else to say.
She didn’t respond. She just kept staring at the fountain, as if I wasn’t even there.
*Liam.” I cleared my throat. “He planted the messages.”
Nothing.
Not even the slightest reaction.
For a long moment, I thought she wouldn’t say anything at all.
But then, without looking at me, she finally spoke.
Her voice was quiet, almost detached, “What do you want me to say?”
I stiffened.
She turned her head slightly, her gaze flickering to me, but it was empty.
“Okay?” She continued, her tone unreadable, “You didn’t know? You were made to believe that I was capable of doing all those horrible things? Playing you from the start? Betraying you by telling the world you don’t have your wolf?”
If she had been angry, I could have dealt with that.
If she had screamed at me, cursed me, thrown something–anything–I could have handled it.
But this?
This quiet, resigned neutrality?
This was worse than rage.
This was her giving up.
I felt my stomach tighten, but I said nothing.
She turned back to the fountain, and I could hear the soft ripples of water as the ducklings swam closer to their mother. I swallowed. My voice felt foreign when I finally spoke again, “I know there’s nothing I can say—”
She snapped her head toward me so fast it startled me.
Her expression didn’t change, but her eyes–her eyes–burned with something fierce.
“Yes,” She said sharply, “There is nothing you can say to fix all the horrible, horrible things you said to me.”
Her voice trembled slightly, but she took a steadying breath, forcing it back to that same chilling neutrality.
“I told you.” She paused, like she was trying to keep herself from breaking. Then she exhaled, shaking her head slightly before continuing. “I told you I didn’t do it. But you wouldn’t listen to me. You would just believe me for a fraction of a second before letting doubt creep back in. If after everything, you still couldn’t trust me enough to know that I would never betray you like that, then there is nothing left for us.”
My heart pounded in my chest.
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Chapter 917
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Her lips parted slightly, and then she whispered, more to herself han to me, “Maybe there was never anything there in the first place.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.
She let out a soft, humorless laugh, shaking her head again.
“You believed it was all lies from the start,” she murmured. “Maybe it should stay that way
“Ava.”
I took a step toward her, desperate to close the space between us. It was instinct, driven by the need to bridge this chasm that had formed between us, to reach out and pull her back to me.
But she backed away, and I froze mid–step, the rejection hitting the harder than any physical blow ever could.
She shook her head, her eyes glistening in the dim garden lights. The reflection of the water danced in her eyes, making the unshed tears shimmer, “Please. Don’t come near me.”
Her words cut through me like a blade, sharp and unforgiving. I had no right to feel the pain that came with them–no right to expect anything else from her after what I’d done–but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
It wasn’t anger in her voice.
It wasn’t even bitterness.
It was finality.
And I realized then that this–this moment right here–was what heartbreak really felt like.
The two of us just stood there, trapped in a silence so heavy it pressed down on me like a physical weight. The sounds of the garden–the soft gurgle of the fountain, the distant chirping of crickets–felt muted, like the world itself was holding its breath.
She was the first to break the silence, We both have things to figure out. I need to find Damien, find my sister, and you… you have a kingdom to hold together. It’ll be best if we focus on that
Her words were practical, clinical even. But I heard the unspoken truth beneath them–that she was cutting ties, severing whatever thread still connected us.
“If we survive this,” She continued, “we can discuss how we’ll share custody of this child.” Her hand drifted briefly to her stomach, a protective gesture that twisted something inside me, That’s if you want to. And if you don’t, then I’ll be happy to raise my
own.” child on my
I opened my mouth but all I could do was watch her, mute, as she laid out her terms.
“Until then,” She added softly, “I really don’t have anything to say to you anymore.”
The detachment in her voice was a cold slap to the face. I’d faced enemies, survived battles, withstood betrayals–but this quiet resignation from her, it was worse than anything I had ever felt.
“You forgave me for everything else.” The words slipped out, raw and unfiltered. I hadn’t meant to say them, hadn’t even consciously thought them, but they hung in the air between us, a desperate, aching plea.
Aya looked at me then, and the indifference in her gaze was like punch to the gut, “Because I loved you.”
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“Long, before I even knew it, before I even realized it.” She smile then, but it was a sad, broken thing. “But I guess I don’t know what love is, so I probably did it wrong.”
I had felt the distance between us like she was right there, so close I could reach out and touch her, but now?
She was fading, slipping away into some place I couldn’t follow.
“Ava-” Her name was a plea, a confession, a thousand unspoked apologies wrapped into one word. I reached for her. needing to close the gap but she blurred in my head at the same time she stepped back.
“You asked me to get out of your life.” She said quietly, her eyes Boring into mine, holding me in place, I’m trying to. Please
let me.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were hard, resolute, “I think it would be best if you did the same for
me.”
And just like that, the cold, brutal realization settled into my bones–She was gone.
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