Evelyn’s POV
The air was thick with tension as Aldrich’s eyes bore into mine, the fury within them blazing like wildfire. His anger was palpable, but it wasn’t fear that kept him from acting immediately—it was disbelief. Disbelief that I, the girl he had once sheltered, the girl he had once called family, would dare stand against him. But here I was, dagger in hand, defying everything I had once known to be true.
“They'll never accept you, Evelyn.” His voice was a vicious snarl, a low rumble that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “No matter how much you crave their acceptance, they'll never stop seeing you for what you are, a rogue.”