Chapter 251

Kassandra couldn’t speak for the pain in Darian’s gaze, in his sudden withdrawal.

She had hated Darian for being so tough on her and Rhode, but Rhode hadn’t once mentioned her unhappiness or her problems to him.

Rhode had almost been a different person with him. She was loving, smiling, obedient...as if she had just slipped into a different skin.

She wished she had gone to Darian and blurted it all out.

Rhode had been troubled, she realized now. Maybe even depressed.

With hindsight, she wondered how much of that had fueled her own antagonism toward Darian, because it had been so scary and powerless to see Rhode like that. She had been mired in her own pain about her dad’s death, and Darian had been a convenient target to lash out at. And yet she hated having to tell the truth now, hated this power that she had over him.

She didn’t want to cause Darian any pain.

He was rigid, he was stubborn and arrogant, but God, he loved Rhode in his own way. He had tried so hard to keep Kassandra aw