CHAPTER 194

  Belle's POV

  I couldn't believe I was here, sitting across from Zane in a dimly lit café that I'd never seen before, let alone stepped foot in. My heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure he could hear it, but it wasn't from fear. It was something else entirely- something that twisted my insides and made it hard to breathe.

  Zane sat across from me, his eyes filled with a mixture of worry and something deeper, something that made my resolve waver for just a moment. His expression was so genuine, so raw, that it tugged at the edges of my defenses. But I knew I couldn't let my guard down. I couldn't afford to.

  I straightened in my seat, forcing my face into a mask of indifference, even as my heart screamed for me to reach across the table and take his hand, to tell him everything that was churning inside me. But I couldn't. I owed everything to the Scott family, and that meant I could never be with Zane, no matter how much I wanted to.