Chapter 83

DANE'S POV

That jerk! It turns out that his plan had been set from the very start.

He'd always talked about wanting Astrid back, and his secret meetings with me—none of it was real. His true intention was to kill me from the beginning. He was just like Camilla, who was so desperate to have Astrid's life that she was willing to kill to get it.

Now, here was Halfdan, who had been secretly plotting to kill me and take my place.

"When you're gone," Halfdan sneered, "Astrid will have no choice but to come back to me. She won't have any other options. We will get married, and everything will fall back into place just like it was supposed to before you came into the picture.”

As I listened to his taunting words, my anger surged uncontrollably. I looked around and saw a crowd of men surrounding me, their eyes fixed on me with a mix of hostility and anticipation. I could feel my fists tightening into hard balls, and my teeth grinding together in frustration and rage.

“You want me? Fine! Then c