Something inside me went quiet.
Then the sky split open. Thunder cracked so loud it felt like it hit right beside me, my body jerking on instinct that came too late. A sharp, splintering sound followed. I looked up just in time to see the old tree at the edge of the compound, struck clean through, the trunk blackened and splitting as it started to fall.
No.
No—
I tried to move, but my legs wouldn’t respond. The moment I pushed, I collapsed forward instead.
THUD!
The impact crushed the air out of me, branches pinning me down, something sharp digging into my side, my shoulder, and my back. Pain exploded all at once. I couldn’t breathe. I tried, but nothing came out right.
“Shit! The tree fell on her!”
“Is she dead?”
“That’s the boss’s assistant—”
The lounge door slid open, light cutting through the rain, and I saw him.
“Elowyn!” Ezekiel stepped out, his figure sharp against the glow behind him.
“Ezekiel! I don’t feel right, my head, I think I'm going to pass out—” Cassandra’s voice cut in, soft and then she fainted.
“Get a medic. Now.”
He moved to her, catching her before she could fall, lifting her as if she was something fragile, careful and urgent, then turned and walked back inside carrying her, leaving me. I lay in the rain, staring at nothing, the storm pouring over me as if it wanted to erase me completely.
So this is it?
The people around me didn’t move. I recognized them. Her people. They just stood there watching until someone laughed.
“Seriously? That’s the one who followed him for two years?”
“Yeah! Look at her now. So pathetic.”
“Thought she’d make it. What a joke.”
Something struck my forehead. A stone. Then another. I couldn’t even lift my arms to block it. Warm blood mixed with the rain, running into my eyes, blurring everything.
I tried to breathe, but it hurt too much. Everything hurts. Everything felt far away. The storm kept raging, the voices fading, the world dimming, and slowly everything went dark.
…
When I woke up again, everything felt… familiar in a way that hurt. Same side hall. Same ceiling. Same smell of antiseptic and expensive wood. For a second, I thought nothing had changed, like I was still the same person who moved through this place without thinking. Then I felt it, a cool touch on my forehead, careful, controlled. Someone was tending to me.
I forced my eyes open, slow and heavy, and the world came back blurry at first. Shapes. Shadows. Then it cleared just enough to see him. Ezekiel. Sitting right beside me. His fingers steady as he applied ointment to the cut on my forehead as if nothing had happened, like I hadn’t been left outside in a storm, crushed under a fallen tree while he carried someone else away.
My chest tightened.
Why… why is he here?
I turned my head away without thinking, trying to push myself up. Pain shot through me immediately, but I forced it down. “I’m fine,” my voice was rough and dry. “Boss… I can handle it myself.”
His hand stopped mid-air.
“When did you start talking to me like that?” he asked, low and edged with something I couldn’t name. “Since when are you this distant?”
Distant?
I almost laughed, but nothing came out. I lowered my gaze instead, hiding whatever was left in my eyes. “I just don’t want to cause trouble,” I said quietly. “If Cassandra sees this, she won’t like it. And I don’t want to make things harder for you.”
There was silence. I could feel him looking at me. Really looking. When I finally glanced up, he looked surprised just for a second. Then it was gone.
He set the ointment down slowly, expression turning cold again, “Elowyn. I didn’t come this far for power. I did it so I could stand next to Cassandra properly. So no one could take her from me.”
His words were steady. “In a week, there’s going to be a formal gathering. I’ll settle everything then. She wants exclusivity. She wants a life where she’s the only one. And I’m giving her that.”
I listened. Of course I did. What else could I do?
Then his eyes moved back to me.
“As for you…” he paused, like choosing something simple, “I can give you anything else. Money. Status. Protection. Even a place in my inner circle. But don’t ask for something I can’t give.”
Something I can’t give.
I opened my mouth. I don’t even know why. Maybe I wanted to say something stupid. Maybe nothing at all. But before I could, a voice came from outside the door.
“Boss, Miss Cassandra’s awake. She’s asking for you.”
That was all it took.
He stood immediately. “Take care of yourself,” he said, already walking out. “Don’t do anything reckless again.”
And then he was gone.
I stared at the empty doorway for a long time. I thought it would hurt more. But it didn’t, i just felt quiet.
I slowly closed my eyes. I never wanted to marry him anyway. He didn’t give me a place beside him, and I didn’t hate him for that. He left me out there in the storm for her, and I didn’t hate him for that either. Because none of that mattered.
What mattered was a week from now.
I lifted my hand slowly, pressing it against my chest, feeling the small shape hidden beneath my clothes. The pendant. Old, worn, but still warm somehow.
And just like that, I saw him again. Hunter Forrester. Ezekiel's older brother.
