The halls of Evermere Castle stood quiet. Behind doors meant to hide secrets, fury echoed.

“Who do you love?!” Your voice shook with anger.

Prince Aldric, the man you had once given your soul to, stood across from you, his green eyes dark with frustration.

“Selene is who I love!” he bellowed, and you felt it crash into you like a blade to the chest. “That’s where my loyalties lie! That is where my priority is!”

Selene. The name of the woman who had stolen your husband’s heart, who had turned his gaze away from you, away from your children.

You staggered, breathless. “Not the mother of your children?!”

“Don’t bring the children into this!”

A bitter laugh escaped you. “Alright. Then not the woman you married.”

The door creaked. Your daughter, Elysia, and son, Lucian, stood there, wide-eyed. They shouldn’t have heard this. They shouldn’t have seen this.

Aldric turned away, running a hand through his hair, as if suddenly ashamed. But it was too late. The damage was done.

You knelt before them, forcing a smile you did not feel. “Go back to your chambers,” you whispered, brushing their hair gently. “Everything is fine.”

But Elysia was sharp, always had been. She looked at you with those wise, knowing eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line. She always knew.

As they left, you turned back to Aldric, rage burning through your grief. “Do you even feel guilt for what you’ve destroyed?”

His jaw tightened. “You think I don’t? But I won’t apologize for loving her.”

“Tell me, Aldric, when did you stop trying? When you first looked at her the way you used to look at me? Or was it when you finally took her to your bed?”

He flinched, but said nothing. He didn’t need to.

“I did love you,” he said, his voice quiet, raw. “just-“