New turmoil

Avery’s POV

I raised my glass with everyone else, forcing a smile as Lord Gregory toasted to "bonding as a new family." The words felt like a punch to the gut to me, especially after making it clear that Kane could never marry me, but I tried to ignore the discomfort gnawing at my insides.

I didn’t want Kane to see it—he’d been looking at me throughout the night, his eyes full of concern, and I didn’t want him to worry.

Sure, I was relieved that Lord Gregory didn’t hate me, that much was clear. But the way he’d urged Kane to take a wife while keeping me as his mistress… that hurt more than I wanted to admit.

I couldn’t stomach the feeling of betrayal, or the fear of history trying to repeat itself all over again. The last time this happened, I had been the wife, the Luna to James, while he had my sister as his mistress.

The pain of that arrangement had been unbearable, and now it felt like life was trying to twist that knife inside me again but in a different way where my