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Chapter 177 - A Truth Too Late

Author: Olivia GW
last update Last Updated: 2024-11-14 13:07:46
Isabel’s POV

Emerson’s gaze dropped to the floor, and I saw the answer in his eyes. He’d known. For how long, I couldn’t tell. But he had known enough to piece it all together.

My heart twisted as I looked at him, feeling both a painful familiarity and a hollowness that seemed to swallow the air between us.

He swallowed hard, lifting his eyes back to mine. “Isa,” he murmured, his voice strained, “I thought if I could keep you out of it, I could protect you… It was all for you.”

I stared at him, his words little more than an echo in the emptiness. “Protect me?” I shook my head, unable to mask the incredulity in my tone.

“All this time, you’ve been holding me at arm’s length, spinning your version of the truth, and calling it protection?”

The words spilled out, sharp and cold. “I hope you realize… You’ve done more harm by keeping me in the dark than any danger you think you were shielding me from.”

The flicker of pain that crossed his face did nothing to soften me.

“You’re the only pe
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