Cecilia’s pov
"Ahhh!" A female scream pierced the air, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.
I didn’t understand what was happening until a large form partially covered mine. My nose brushed against expensive fabric, and an unmistakable scent—sandalwood with hints of mountain pine—wrapped around . A scent that had been inexplicably comforting to lately.
"Alpha Sebastian?" I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Alpha Sebastian winced slightly. "Let go of your hand," he said quietly.
Only then did I realize my fingers were clutching his shirt, my palm pressed against his abdon, feeling the hard muscles beneath the fabric...
I released my grip imdiately.
The darkness and my swollen face rcifully hid my embarrassnt.
Alpha Sebastian pulled himself up and untied my restraints.
I noticed him pressing a hand against his lower back as he moved to subdue Cici, binding her wrists the way mine had been bound.
Within minutes, the house was flooded with people—police officers, Harper, and finally, Xavier.
Everyone froze at the scene before them.I explained what had happened as clearly as my drug-foggd mind would allow. Alpha Sebastian handed the lighter to the police and described "Unfortunately, I grabbed the lighter with my bare hands," he explained to the officers, his voice tight with frustration.
"My fingerprints are all over it now, but the knife—" he gestured toward the blade lying on the floor, glinting under the harsh overhead lights, "—that should still be viable evidence."
"Cici, you were actually going to burn Cecilia alive?" Harper shouted, her voice trembling with fury. Her face was flushed, her hands clenched at her sides.
"You’re absolutely insane!"
Cici’s head snapped toward Xavier. The mont she saw him, her entire deanor changed.
In a blink, the arrogance vanished, replaced by wide eyes and a trembling lip.
"Xavier," she whimpered, her voice suddenly small and tearful, "it’s not what you think! I’m the victim here! I’m frad!"
Xavier stood frozen, as if soone had ripped the breath from his lungs. He stared at the scene—my torn clothes, the gasoline soaking the floor around , the blood still drying on my skin. The knife. The lighter. The sll of smoke and fear. His face was pale, his jaw slack. His hands hung limp at his sides, fingers twitching but unable to move.
He finally saw it. All of it.
The cost of his silence, his cowardice, his repeated failure to protect .
This was what his betrayal had bought.
I’d warned him once—told him in a voice shaking with pain and truth:
You didn’t kill yourself, but if I die because of you, there’s no difference.
No difference at all.
And now he understood.
So damage was permanent. So things could never be taken back.
"Cecilia..." he finally managed, his voice barely more than a whisper.
His feet shifted, slow and heavy, like they were chained to the ground. He tried to move toward .
I just looked at him in silence, my gaze as still and lifeless as a stagnant pond.
We stared at each other for what felt like eternity.
But in the end, neither of us spoke.
...
Alpha Sebastian and I were transported to the hospital.
Cici was taken into police custody, though she loudly claid Sebastian had broken her ribs and demanded dical attention. The police, seeing through her act, ignored her pleas.
This was her second serious offense—first hiring thugs to attack , and now attempted murder.
My injuries were mostly superficial bruises, though the drugs in my system required monitoring. Alpha Sebastian, however, had taken Cici’s knife in his lower back. The wound didn’t damage any organs, but it was deep enough to require several stitches and would need rest and regular dressing changes.
I felt imnsely grateful and guilty at the sa ti.
By now, it was the middle of the night.
We were placed in separate hospital rooms. In mine, Xavier sat beside my bed while Harper slept on the couch just outside.
Xavier had been eerily quiet since we arrived at the hospital. The man who was usually as temperantal as a lion had beco withdrawn and lancholic.
I didn’t have the energy to curse him or even hate him. All my emotions toward him had faded into sothing so pale and diluted, they were barely there at all."You should go ho," I finally said, breaking the heavy silence that had filled the hospital room for the past hour.
It was the first ti I’d spoken to him since the incident.
My tone was flat, polite—cold even. Like I was speaking to a neighbor I barely knew, not the man I had once thought I would spend my life with.
"Harper can stay with ." I didn’t look at him when I said it.
Xavier lowered his gaze, his voice rough with exhaustion and sothing that almost sounded like regret.
"I’d rather stay," he said quietly. "I have nothing to do at ho anyway. And soone needs to keep an eye on your IV."
I glanced at him, just for a second. He looked wrecked—dark circles under his eyes, shoulders slumped, his once-proud posture now small and folded in on itself.
But I felt...nothing. Not pity. Not anger. Just a hollow stillness, like standing in the eye of a storm that had already passed and left everything in ruins.
I didn’t argue. I didn’t reply. I simply closed my eyes and turned my face slightly away from him.
Ti passed in fragnts—soft beeping machines, the low hum of the air conditioning, the distant murmur of nurses outside the door.
At one point, I felt him shift closer.
He gently rested his forehead near the crook of my neck, his breath warm against my skin. A mont later, I felt it—the soft, almost weightless drop of a tear soaking into my hair. Then another. And another.
Silent. Heavy. Too late.
I stayed still, breathing evenly, pretending to sleep. Pretending not to notice the way his shoulders shook ever so slightly.
[This is over,] I told myself. [No matter how many tears he cries now. No matter how sorry he looks.]
[It’s over. Truly.]
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