bChapter 5 /b

bra’s /bPOV

“Vicious and evil? Is that really all I’ve ever been to you?”

My voice rang through the ballroom, cutting through the murmurs and heavy silence like a de.

Thome’s eyes flicked toward me, but he didn’t speak.

Cael stood nearby, jaw clenched, ready to intervene–but I lifted a hand. This was my moment, and I didn’t need saving.

Mi, of course, had crocodile tears smeared across her cheeks, trembling like a cornered rabbit. She looked up at ime /ifrom Thorne’s arms like she hadn’t just used me of theft in front of half the Alpha Council.

I took a slow step forward, my heels echoing deliberately on the polished floor.

“You say the ne went missing the night we were kidnapped, and you’ve convinced everyone here that I’m the thiefb,/b” I said clearly, making bsure /bevery guest within earshot could hear me. “But let’s talk about that night, shall we?”

Mi’s hands tightened in the folds of her dress.

“You im I took it from the safe,” I continued, “even though I was never allowed near that room. You were the only one who knew the cr

Mi’s breath hitched. “I–It was you who brought the ne along for the pic…”

“Let’s go with that,” I nodded coldly. “Let’s pretend I had it. If I really did, why didn’t I use it to bargain for my life when the rogues had me at knifepoint?”

The entire hall stilled.

Thorne shifted behind Mi, jaw flexing hard.

“Those rogues only cared about money,” I said. “They let you go after your ransom was paid. If I had something worth millions–why wouldn’t I trade it to

survive?”

Mi opened her mouth, but no words came. Just a pitiful shake of her head.

“Because I never had it,” I snapped. “Because you took it. You insisted we cross the border that day. You ignored every warning. You set the whole thing

in motion.”

Gasps rippted across the room.

Guests were turning, whispering, reevaluating everything they’d just heard.

“Lies!” Mi screamed suddenly. Her voice cracked from strain. “Maybe you gave the ne to the rogues! Maybe that’s how you survived–maybe that’s the real reason you lived!?

“No, she survived because of us.”

Cael stepped forward, voice calm and ice–sharp. He folded his arms and looked bat /bMi like she was gum on his bootb. /b

“When our patrol found her, she was half–dead. She had stab wounds all over her body. She wasn’t bargainingb. /bbShe /bbwas /bbbleeding /bbout/bb. /b

bA /bbheavy /bsilence fell. Even the musicians on stage pausedb, /bbuncertain/b.

“If bwe /bbhad /barrived ba /bbminute /bter,” Cael badded/bb, /bb“/bbshe /bbwouldn’t /bbbe /bstanding bhere /bbnow/b.

bI /blooked at bThorne/b. bHis /bbhands /bbwere /bbclenched/b. bHis /bbeyes /bbdarkened /bbwith /bbsomething /bbbetween /bbguilt /bband /bbfury/bb. /b

bHe /bnever asked for the details before now. And I could see in his face–this was the first time it hit him.

Mi’s cheeks red red beneath all the eyes on her. She staggered a step back.

“… I can’t argue with you, ra. You’re always so clever… you twist things so easily…” Her voice quivered as she reached for Thorne’s sleeveb. /bb“/bbI’ll /bbbe /bbthe /bviin if it makes you feel better. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

And then–right on cue–she let out a strangled gasp and slumped into his arms.

A few gasps scattered through the room. Thorne bent down instinctively, cradling her.

“She has asthma!” he called. “Someone get a doctor!”

“Don’t bother,” I said tly. “She doesn’t need one.”

All eyes turned to me.

I walked closer, lowering my gaze to Mi’s pale, shut–eyed face.

“She pulls this stunt every time she’s backed into a corner,” I said. “Watch–she’lle around when someone says the magic word.”

Right then, as if the universe were on cue, a voice rang out from the crowd:

“Fire! There’s a fire near the east wing! Everyone, evacuate!”

Chaos erupted. Guests rushed toward the exits. Chairs scraped. Heels cked. Panic spread like smoke.

And Mi?

She sat up.

Wide–eyed. Breathing perfectly fine. Staring at the crowd like a deer caught under headlights.

Thorne’s arms went ck around her.

I tilted my head. “What happened, Mi? I thought you couldn’t breathe.”

The room quieted instantly again–everyone realizing what had just happened.

She didn’t even try to pretend.

I took onest step forward and asked, “So tell me… do you really have asthmab, /bor are you just used to faking everything to get your way?”

Mi stared up at me, rage and embarrassment twisting her face.

She opened her mouth to snap–but Thorne stood first.

bHe /bstepped back, away from her. Looked down.

“bYou /bwere faking it?”

bHe /bbdidn’t /bsound angry.

bHe /bsounded broken. Like he’d just realized the cost of believing bthe /bbwrong /bwoman.