Chapter 221: Ghosting CIAN I left my mother’s room with my head clearer than it had been before I went in. I knew what I had to do now. The hallway stretched before me and I moved through it with purpose. My feet carried me down the stairs, through the main doors, out into the grounds where everything had fallen apart earlier. The sun was lower now. The light had turned warm and golden. It painted everything in soft amber tones that made the world look gentler than it actually was. I headed toward the trees where I’d last seen Madeline run. My chest was tight but not with the same suffocating pressure from before. This was different. This was the kind of tightness that came from knowing you were about to do something difficult but necessary. Movement caught my eye. Two figures emerged from the tree line. Madeline and Wilhelm walked side by side. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red rimmed. She’d been crying. My stomach twisted. Then she saw me. She stopped dead in her tracks. Wilhelm stopped beside her. His expression went cold immediately. "We need to talk," I said. Madeline’s jaw tightened. "Do you still have more things you want to accuse me of?" The words hit like a punch. I deserved that. I deserved all of it. "I’m sorry about that," I said. "It’s too late for that." Her voice was flat. Empty. "I’ll spend the night here and leave tomorrow. I’ll get out of your hair. Before the accusations worsen." She started walking. She moved to pass me and I knew if I let her go now, if I let this moment slip away, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. I reached out and caught her hand. She froze. "Please," I said. "Just listen." She didn’t pull away but she didn’t look at me either. Wilhelm stood a few feet behind her and his glare could have melted steel. I swallowed hard and forced the words out. "I said all that stuff because I was genuinely sure that my suspicions had solid ground," I said. "But the truth has layers to it. I also didn’t want to admit that there was something more to it." Now she looked at me. Her eyes were wary and guarded. "What more?" she asked. I took a breath. Here it was. The truth I’d been avoiding. "I hated you," I said. The words came easier now that I’d started. "I hated you so much. But I still held on to the idea of you for dear life. Even when I thought I finally got rid of you at the back and forefront of my head. I hoped that one day we would meet again and I would be patched up and you would be in perpetual hell." Her expression didn’t change but something flickered in her eyes. "I wanted you to hate your life and regret leaving me," I continued. "Even when I married, I hoped you’d hear about it. I hoped it would twist and it would hurt because you were the one who pushed me into an arranged marriage at the end of the day." My grip on her hand tightened slightly. "Then... The fact that you could upend your life for my sake must have made an innate part of me lose it," I said. "Because it told me that you could have stayed back then." Madeline stared at me for a long moment. Then she pulled her hand free. "What are you telling me?" Her voice was sharp now. "That you’re in love with me still? And that’s why you said all that stuff?" I shook my head. A laugh bubbled up out of me. It sounded wrong. Too high. Too strained. Almost manic. "No," I said. "I’m sure now. I’m not. I’m not in love with you at all. I just had a little bit of resentment left." The words hung in the air between us. They felt true. They felt right. Like something that had been festering finally being lanced and drained. Madeline looked at me for another long moment. Then something in her face shifted. Her shoulders dropped slightly. Some of the rigidity left her spine. "You know what?" she said. "I have resentment too." I waited. "If I’m being honest, I still have feelings for you," she said. Her voice was quieter now. "And that was part of the reason I was willing to upend my life for you. Because I was certain I could get you back. After all, everyone could see that the union you had was an arranged marriage." Her own confession hit me harder than I expected. If mother had been here, I would never hear the end of it. "But when Fia was hurt at Alpha Julius’ Knight’s wedding," Madeline continued, "I realized that it couldn’t be just an arranged marriage." She looked away. Out at the trees. At the golden light filtering through the leaves. "That was when I did sort of regret it at the time," she said. "Saving your mother and your new partner Fia. As crazy as it sounds." I didn’t say anything. What could I say? "But I eventually needed to realize it was my last gift," she said. "A final goodbye to you for how bad I hurt you." She let out a long breath. When she looked back at me, her eyes were clearer and less haunted. "Woooowwww. It feels good to get that out of my chest," she said. "Me too," I said. The silence between us was different now. Not comfortable exactly. But not suffocating either. "I’m sorry for the crazy things I said," I told her. "You know how I am." Madeline shook her head slowly. "I don’t think I do as much anymore. You’ve changed a lot." The words stung but they were true. I had changed. We both had. "I might have changed. But I am indeed sorry. I’m begging you," I said. "Stay." She hesitated. I could see the conflict playing out across her face. "I don’t know," she said finally. "Think about it," I said. She nodded. My eyes went to Wilhelm. He was still standing there and the look he gave me could have stripped paint off walls. There was no mercy or forgiveness. All that existed in the depths of his irises were pure protective fury. I took that as my cue to leave. I turned and walked away. My steps felt lighter somehow. Like I’d been carrying something heavy and finally set it down. I made my way back through the grounds, through the main doors, up the stairs. The familiar path to my bedroom felt different now. Everything felt different. I pushed open my door and went straight to my drawer. The top drawer was where I kept it. Hidden under old letters and forgotten notes. The broken, bloodied picture frame. I pulled it out and stared at it for a moment. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮 It was from years ago. Madeline and I were young and happy and completely unaware of how everything would fall apart. The glass was cracked. There were dark stains on the frame from where I’d cut my hand open with it after Fia dropped it. Ronan did know me inside and out. I’d kept it all this time; even after I thought I was over it. That should have been a glaring neon sign. But I was too blind to it. Looking at it now though, I felt no tug. Not anymore. It brought me peace to know that there was no lingering feelings I needed to confront. Whatever had been bottled inside of me was popped open and let out. I walked to the waste bin beside my drawer and tossed it in. The frame hit the pitch black bottom with a dull thud. I stood there for a moment and just breathed. In. Out. In. Out. I felt completely and utterly free now. The secret dead weight I’d been carrying for so long was gone. Not just the weight of the resentment. But the weight of not knowing. Of uncertainty. Of wondering if maybe, possibly, there was still something there. There wasn’t. And that was okay. My phone chimed. I pulled it out and saw a message from Garrett. We are heading to Skollrend now. A smile spread across my face. Fia would be back home soon. I couldn’t wait. "Drive safe," I typed out before setting my phone down.