Page 200 of Bound By Crimson

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Tessa’s face flushed with anger—a side Lyric had never seen before.

“If they hadn’t found you… if you hadn’t come back… maybe I still would’ve had a chance. Maybe I would’ve been the one to be with Malachai. Not you. But now?” Her voice cracked. “Now that’ll never happen.”

“You don’t even see what you’ve been given,” Tessa hissed.

“You were handed the one thing I’ve spent my life proving I’m worthy of. And you… just scream and cry and act like you’ve been violated.”

Her lip curled. “You weren’t violated. You were given something sacred. And you threw it away.”

She looked like she wanted to say more.

But instead, she whispered, “I’ll come back later.”

She shut the door.

The lock clicked.

Lyric stared at the untouched food.

She was in shock. She wasn’t hungry.

She lay back, every muscle aching, and turned her face toward the wall.

The upside-down wallpaper stared back at her.

She had screamed.

She had cried.

She had begged.

And still, nothing had changed.

But now…

Now she knew exactly where she stood.

Chapter Seventy-Three

Unbearable

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

Not really.

There was a window in the room—but it didn’t help. At first, she used to pull the curtains open every morning, hoping the sunlight would remind her of something normal. A beginning. An ending. But the light was always the same—dull and grey, like the sky had forgotten how to shift.

Eventually, she stopped opening them.

What was the point?

There were no clocks in the room. No calendar.

Just trays of food, the soft tap of Tessa’s shoes, and the distant sound of a baby crying.

The crying had changed.

It was deeper now. Louder. More demanding.

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