Chapter 41: Fractured Loyalties

Chapter 41: Fractured Loyalties

Seraphina walked blindly through the corridors of Valemont Manor, her pulse roaring in her ears. Adrian's words clung to her like a suffocating shroud.

"I was the one who uncovered the evidence against him."

Each step felt heavier, as though the weight of betrayal pressed down on her bones. How had she been so blind? How had she let herself soften toward him, let him touch her, let him whisper words that had begun to sound like truth?

Her breath shuddered out of her as she realized the depth of her mistake.

She wasn't sure how long she walked, nor where her feet carried her, until the cool night air hit her skin. The gardens. She had somehow stumbled into the moonlit hedgerows, the scent of damp earth mingling with the roses. The very place where, just days ago, she had first let herself believe that Adrian Valemont could be something more than a man of deception.

Her fingers curled into fists.

She had been wrong.

The rustling of leaves behind her made her stiffen. She knew before he spoke.

"I thought you might come here."

Adrian's voice. Deep, steady.

She exhaled sharply, staring ahead. "Are you here to justify yourself again?"

A long pause. "No."

She turned then, slowly, the anger in her chest burning hotter as she met his gaze. The flickering torchlight from the stone archways of the manor cast shifting shadows across his face, sharpening the harsh lines of his expression.

She let out a bitter laugh. "Then why did you follow me?"

"Because you are my wife."

The words hit her harder than she wanted to admit. He said them as if they held an unshakable truth, as if they still meant something.

She shook her head. "Convenient, isn't it? When it suits you, I am your wife. When it doesn't, you keep secrets from me."

His jaw flexed, his hands clenching at his sides. "Do you truly think I kept this from you out of malice?"

"I don't know what to think anymore."

Adrian stepped closer, his presence a force against the fragile wall she was trying to hold between them. "You let yourself believe your father was an innocent victim."

Seraphina's breath caught, her fury rising. "You let me believe that! You let me think that I was fighting for justice, for truth. And now—"

Adrian's voice was calm, but it cut through her. "Because I knew you wouldn't be ready to hear it."

She stepped back as if struck. "The truth?" she bit out. "Or your truth?"

His expression darkened, but he didn't flinch. "Both."

The stillness stretched between them, thick with unspoken words. The way he watched her—so steady, so unrelenting—it made her chest tighten with something she didn't want to name.

She wanted to see guilt in his eyes, wanted him to fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness. Instead, she saw something far worse.

Conviction.

Her stomach twisted. "You don't regret it, do you?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "I regret many things, Seraphina."

Her heart pounded against her ribs, but she forced herself to meet his gaze. "Then tell me you regret this."

Adrian was silent.

She shook her head, stepping away. The distance between them felt insurmountable. "Laurent told me what you did. And you—you didn't even deny it."

Adrian exhaled, his voice softer now. "Laurent told you only part of the story. You know that."

She swallowed, the seed of doubt twisting inside her, but she shoved it down. She hated that a part of her did know. Hated that Adrian still had the power to make her question everything.

But she wasn't ready to admit that.

She turned away. "I need time."

Silence stretched between them, thick with words neither of them were willing to say.

Finally, Adrian nodded, his voice quiet but firm. "Then take it."

Seraphina clenched her jaw, refusing to look back as she walked away, her heart pounding with every step. She thought she would feel lighter. She thought putting distance between them would ease the ache.

But for the first time, Seraphina wasn't sure she wanted to be alone.