Page 227 of Bound By Crimson
The words dropped like stone.
“Duty,” she echoed.
That’s all she’d ever been to him.
A name. A womb. A transaction.
Her chest caved in.
She searched his face—begging for something real.
“Was any of it real?” she whispered. And hated herself for asking.
He didn’t answer.
He looked down. Then away.
Then he said—
“I’ve been visiting Edwin. He’s beautiful. He’s exactly what my mother wanted.”
Her blood boiled.
“Noah!” she snapped. “His name is Noah!”
He didn’t respond to that.
Didn’t even flinch.
“Lyric… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Maybe I can convince my mother to let you out—let you see him, if you promise to behave.”
She stared at him.Behave?
Her body stayed frozen, but fury shimmered beneath her skin.
“You’re not sorry,” she said coldly,
“You’re just ashamed of what you’ve done. You want me to say you’re not a monster—but you’re the worst kind.”
“I hate what you did to me! I hate what you made me into! I hate you!”
“I willneverforgive you! Or your mother!”
He walked to the door slowly.
Paused.
His hand hovered on the doorknob.
Then, slowly, he turned to face her.
“You want the truth?” he said quietly.
“I pulled away because I had to. If anyone found out—what we are, what we did—everything I’ve built would crumble. My reputation, my company, my place in the world… gone.”
He looked at her, shame twisting his features.
“I grew up knowing that our blood is sacred, chosen, set apart since the beginning. That we’re descendants of something divine, something ancient, and to taint it with outsiders is a betrayal of God Himself. My mother said we were born to preserve it—to protect the lineage at all costs. That mixing the blood would summon ruin, disease, madness… even death.”
