Chapter 8
His hands shook as he flipped through the pages, trying to remember exactly what he had written.
He skimmed through it quickly, but every sentence felt like a knife straight through my heart.
For the first time, he started seeing it from my perspective. Those words wrapped around his throat like a noose. He couldn’t breathe.
That’s when it hit him. Everything he’d done in the past, all the things he thought were fine to me, were just plain cruel.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed violently. A message popped up from an anonymous number.
“Karma’s finally caught up, huh?”
Another one came in right after.
“Don’t worry, I’ll love her better than you ever did!”
And at the end, a smiley face emoji, smug and triumphant, like the sender couldn’t be happier.
Alaric’s temples pulsed hard. The veins on his wrist popped as he slammed his fist on the table.
“Get lost, Damian!”
His sudden outburst scared the hell out of Amara, who had just changed clothes and walked in.
Chapter 8
Alaric whipped around and yelled at his men outside, “Everyone, off the island! I don’t care what it takes, bring Nicole back to me!
“I don’t care if you have to burn Damian’s place to the ground. Find her!”
He was livid, but Amara couldn’t help the little flicker of joy rising inside her.
With a smug tone barely disguised as concern, she said, “Alaric, if Nicole left, then she left. You’ve still got me, haven’t you?
“And besides, you basically own the whole of Seattle now. Who cares if she’s gone? She’s just a cheap bitch.”
Amara got a little too carried away. Her words were sharp and vicious, and Alaric’s expression instantly darkened.
For the first time, he saw the girl he once thought was sweet and innocent as something ugly.
If it were Nicole, she’d be the first one out there, turning the whole world upside down to find someone.
Only Nicole had that kind of heart that made Alaric feel dirty standing beside it.
He clenched his fists tightly, his voice cold and low. “So you’re really that happy she’s gone?”
Amara saw how he was glaring at her, all because of me, and she tried to play it off, lips pouting.
“That’s not what I meant. I just love you too much. I couldn’t help it.”
Alaric threw the journal at her face. It smacked her hard.
08.29
“You couldn’t help it? So you gave her this on purpose?
“It had to be you! You’re the one who planted it, stirred things up, and made her lose faith in me!
“You used this low, disgusting trick to drive her away!”
Amara’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees but still tried to act like she had it together.
“No, you told me Nicole was the one you cared about the most. How could I ever try to hurt her?
“I must’ve dropped the journal when I got to the island. Nicole probably just found it on her own.”
Before she could finish, a loud slap echoed through the room. Her cheek instantly swelled, and blood trickled from the corner of her
mouth.
She looked up at Alaric in pure shock.
He had always treated her like a princess, so careful like he was scared
she’d break
He’d thrown me away just to marry her. But now, he had hit her.
“I told you I’d marry you. I told you I’d make it up to you. But how dare you drive her away!
“If you hadn’t saved my life, do you honestly think I would’ve ever married you?”
