Page 133 of Cruel Deception
He already had. But I needed to hear it again.
Because once, I loved a man who looked me in the eyes and swore I was the only one—while he was fucking someone else behind my back.
Nico had taught me that lies could wear love’s face. That betrayal didn’t always come as a knife—it came as a kiss, a promise, a calm voice saying “Trust me.”
So now, even when truth was offered, I bled with doubt.
Because Nico didn’t just cheat on me.
He trained me to never believe reassurance.
To always brace for the lie beneath it.
Cassian laughed.
Low. Cruel. A sound that cracked something in me.
He stepped closer, the mockery in his eyes burning.
“I’m cheating,” he sneered. “What are you going to do about it? Cry? That’s all you’ve ever been good at.”
He tilted his head, voice darkening.
“Leave? You’ll never escape me. I’ll find you—any corner of this world, Charlotte. And don’t forget—you still need me to find your mother.”
His words tore through me like bullets.
Familiar. Wounding.
Echoes of Seraphina’s cruelty dressed in his voice.
“Cassian...” I whispered. My voice shook. “Don’t do this. Don’t hurt me again.”
But he turned away, his voice ice. “Get out.”
“Please,” I stepped forward, reaching for something in him I wasn’t even sure still existed.
Something soft. Something human.
His voice dropped, a low growl.
“Get. Out.”
I hesitated. Frozen. Breath caught. Hope fraying at the seams.
“If I leave—”
“Get out of my fucking study.”
I stood frozen. Breath shallow. Heart racing.
Then came the blow that split me wide open.
“You’re nothing but the slutty daughter of a whore,” he snapped. “Now get the fuck out of my study.”
That was it.
Something inside me broke. A clean, final break.
