Page 231 of Bound By Crimson

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The girl who left her whole life behind to be with him.

The one who thought she was chosen.

She hated that girl.

And she mourned her like she’d been buried alive.

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She didn’t go to the nursery that night.

Not because she didn’t want to.

Because she couldn’t.

She sat up once. Even stood.

But when she reached the hallway, she froze.

She imagined Noah’s eyes, his breath against her neck, the weight of his body tucked into hers.

And then she imagined him looking up at her, sensing something broken. Something cold.

And she knew she couldn’t bring that into the room with him.

She backed away. Returned to her bed like she was walking back into a coffin—only this time she climbed in willingly.

Noah was innocent.

Pure.

Her son.

She loved him with something bigger than her own body.

But tonight, that body wasn’t hers.

It belonged to the scream. To the betrayal. To the bloodline.

So she stayed.

Laid there in the dark.

Let her limbs go numb.

Let her mouth stay shut.

Let her chest rise and fall like she wasn’t really there.

“He deserves better than this version of me,” she whispered.

Not because she believed it.

But because grief speaks louder than love when you’re empty.

And tonight, she was hollow all the way through.

Chapter Eighty-Five

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