The common room is silent when you say it. The fire crackling in the hearth matches the fury that is burning inside of you.

Mattheo, Enzo, and Theo are standing there—too quiet, too still. The usual smirks are gone. No teasing. No charming deflection. Just the weight of what they’ve done. What they thought you wouldn't know.

Your voice trembles with fury. “You swore you wouldn’t. You promised me—”

Theo cuts in, his tone too calm. “It’s just a mark.”

You freeze.

“A mark?” you repeat slowly, your voice low and shaking. You turn to him, the fire in the hearth no longer a match for the blaze in your eyes. “You think that’s all it is?”

He shrugs, lazy and unbothered. But you see it—how his fingers twitch against his sleeve like he wants to cover it, hide it.

He forces a smirk. “I’ve had worse things on my body, believe me.”

Mattheo looks away. Enzo flinches.

You take a step closer to Theo, unable to hold it in. “You downplay it like you didn’t choose it. Like you didn’t brand yourself for someone who wouldn’t blink before throwing you away.”

Your voice is sharper than they’ve ever heard it. “I’m tired of letting you guys get the best of me.”

Mattheo takes a step forward, but you hold up a hand—don’t. “I’m tired of the secrets. The games. The lies. Of being the one who forgives everything just because you can’t figure out what the hell you want.”

Theo swallows, looking down at the floor. Enzo doesn’t blink, but you see his jaw tighten.

“So go ahead and cry,” you snap. “Go ahead and ruin someone else’s life. Go bug somebody else—so I can finally sleep at night.”

Mattheo’s brows are furrowed. “You don’t mean that.”

You meet his gaze, the softness normally reserved for them now gone “I do. For once, I do.”

And it’s not anger that fills the room now. It’s heartbreak--yours and theirs. And as you turn and walk away, no one stops you. Not this time...