Page 187 of Bound By Crimson

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The attic hadn’t just been a room to Eden.

It had been freedom.

Even then.

She hugged the book to her chest and whispered to Noah.

“I’m not done trying.”

But after the journal was closed and the silence settled thick around her, the ache inside her returned.

How could he leave me like this?

Her mind circled it endlessly, the sickening truth settling deeper into her bones.

Maybe he called.

Maybe he begged his mother to let her go.

Maybe he tried.

But if he had—why wasn’t he here?

Why wasn’t he breaking down the door, telling her it was all a nightmare, that he still loved her?

She wanted to believe it was Mrs. Thornwick. That she was the mastermind, the manipulator, the monster.

Because if this was all Kai…

If he’d abandoned her, lied to the world, locked her away—

Then how could she still want him?

How could her body still ache for him?

How could her heart still whisper his name?

It made her sick.

Not just the betrayal.

But the shame.

The shame of loving him.

Of needing him.

Of begging for him—even now—knowing what he was to her.

She pressed a trembling hand to her stomach, nausea curling up her throat.

He hadn’t come.

He hadn’t tried.

And that silence screamed louder than any truth.

He let her vanish.

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