Page 58 of North

I let out a sharp breath, forcing myself to look away, to look anywhere but at him.

"You got what you wanted, didn’t you?" My voice was quiet now, tired. "You wanted to see me break. You wanted to hurt me. You did. Congratulations."

North exhaled, his breath uneven. "That’s not—"

"Not what you wanted?" I cut him off, finally looking up at him, my heart pounding. "Then what the hell was it, North? Because I need to know. I need to understand what was so fucking satisfying about tearing me down. What was so goddamn rewarding about making sure I felt like nothing?"

He didn’t have an answer.

I could see it in the way his mouth parted slightly, the way his shoulders sagged like he wanted to say something, anything, but there were no words that could make any of this right.

And the worst part?

I didn’t think he even knew why he had done it.

Not really.

I swallowed hard, my throat burning.

"I was never your enemy," I whispered. "But you made sure I became one anyway."

North took another step toward me, his voice shaking. "Quinn, please."

I recoiled like he had physically struck me.

Because no. He didn’t get to say my name like that. Like he hadn’t been the one to shatter me. Like he hadn’t been the one to take every piece of trust I had left and crush it under his boot.

I turned on my heel before I could break any further before I could let him see how deep the damage really went.

I didn’t run, didn’t slam the door, didn’t let him see the way my hands trembled at my sides. I just walked away. Walked away from him. Walked away from whatever twisted thing had existed between us. Because there was nothing left now. And for the first time, I finally understood—It was never real. It was never going to be.

Chapter 21

North

The house was too quiet.

Not the peaceful kind of quiet—the suffocating kind. The kind that settled in after a war, after the last shots had been fired and the damage had already been done.

I sat on the couch, my head in my hands, Quinn’s voice ringing in my ears.

"Was breaking my heart worth it?"

I had never regretted anything so much in my life.

It was supposed to be a game, a lesson, a way to make her feel what Aiden felt. What we all felt. It was supposed to be justice.

But it wasn’t.

It was cruel, plain and simple.

And now, sitting here, alone with my thoughts, I was drowning in it.

I didn’t move for what felt like hours, my mind replaying everything that had led to this moment—the way Quinn looked at me like I was a stranger, like I was a monster. The way Evie’s voice shook when she screamed at Dad over the phone. The way Aiden had revealed the truth shattered everything we thought we knew.

The sound of movement upstairs broke through my haze.

Soft footsteps. The sound of drawers opening and closing. Things falling to the floor.

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