Scarlett’s POV

​For a moment, he was silent. It was as if he didn’t believe it. His jaw tightened, a muscle ticking in his cheek. He drew a slow breath in through his nose... then let it out just as slowly.

I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t lie and say I regretted it—that it was a mistake—because it wasn’t, and I didn’t regret it.

​"Ethan, please say something," I whispered, the silence stretching and suffocating me.

​He walked away from me, his movements stiff and cold. He stood at the large window, his back turned to me as he stared outside at the bright lights of Australia. His shoulders were shaking with a tension I had never seen in him before.

​"Ethan... please..."

He let out a quiet, humorless laugh. Shook his head once. Then spoke.

​"So this is your way of letting me know we can never be together," he said, his voice low and filled with pain. I swallowed hard, the weight of his words hitting me in the chest. "Three fucking solid years, Scar. I put my love life on hold for you. For the hope that you would one day open your heart to me. But the moment you saw one of the triplets, you gave yourself to him. A married man. A man who has a new mate."

​He turned around slowly, and the look in his eyes was pure agony.

​"Do you know the kind of pain you must have put that woman through?" he snapped. "You know how it works, Scar. She felt it. She felt him having you. You know the pain of a mate who cheats, yet you did it anyway."

​Tears gathered in my eyes and finally spilled over. "Ethan, I’m sorry..."

​"No, you are not!" he yelled, the sound echoing off the hotel walls. "You are not sorry for what you did. In fact, you don’t regret it at all. I can see it in your eyes. You’d do it again."

​"Ethan..." I reached out, but he flinched away from my touch.

​"I am a fool," he said, laughing bitterly at himself. "I’ve been a fool for three years. You gave me every hint that you didn’t want me, but I told myself you just needed time. I told myself you were just healing."

​He stepped closer, his shadow towering over me. "But you didn’t need time, did you? You just didn’t want me. You wanted them. Even after they replaced you. Even after they moved on and started families, you’re still drawn to them."

​He looked at the hickeys on my neck again, his lip curling in disgust. "You didn’t even want me coming to visit, all under the excuse of you healing, and yet..." He paused and inhaled deeply, unable to finish the word.

​I shook my head, tearing up even more now. "It’s not like that, Ethan. It was just... it was Leo. I couldn’t stop it. The love was still there even without the bond."

​"The love," he mocked, his voice breaking. "And what about my love? What about the man who stayed when you had no one? What about the man who kept you alive when you wanted to die?"

​He walked toward the door, his hand gripping the handle forcefully. But before he opened it, he stopped and turned back to me, his face pale with anger.

​"Do you have any idea how many marriage proposals I have received in the last three years?" he asked, his voice shaking. "Ten. Ten marriage proposals, Scarlett. All of them from royalty. Alphas’ daughters. Betas’ daughters. Kings’ daughters. Wealthy ladies... even a female Alpha who rules her own pack. They all wanted me. They all offered me everything." His voice exploded, his hand slamming against the wall beside him. "And I rejected every single one of them. Why? Why do you think I did that?"

​I couldn’t answer. I could only watch him through my tears.

​"I did it for you!" he roared. "I did it because I thought you were worth the wait. I thought if I stayed loyal, if I protected you, one day you would see me. But you never did. You were too busy dreaming of men who already replaced you."

​"Ethan, please, don’t think like this," I begged, taking a step toward him. "I didn’t plan for any of this. I didn’t know he would be there. I didn’t know my body would react that way. It was like my wolf and my heart had been waiting for him for a lifetime. I was weak, okay? I was weak for the only man I ever loved."

​"And that’s the problem, Scarlett," he spat, his voice dropping to an angry whisper. "You were weak for him, but you’ve been stone-cold to me. You let him take what I’ve been respectfully waiting for. You claim you didn’t plan it, but you didn’t fight it either. You walked into that act willingly... gave yourself to him, and when trouble arises, you run back to me... your fool..."

​"I am not asking you for anything!" I shouted back, my own rage finally flaring up. "I never asked you to be my martyr, Ethan. If you wanted those other women, you should have taken them! Don’t throw your choices in my face to make me feel like I owe you my body or my heart. I am grateful for everything you’ve done, but I cannot force a spark that isn’t there!"

​He flinched, the words hitting him like a physical blow. The anger in his eyes died down, replaced by a cold, hollow emptiness that scared me more than his shouting ever could.

​"You’re right," he said softly, and the lack of emotion in his voice was terrifying. "I shouldn’t have expected loyalty from someone who doesn’t even know who she is anymore. You’re not the Scarlett I knew. You’re someone else."

​He turned back toward the door, his hand on the knob. He tried to leave but stopped again and looked me straight in the eyes with so much pain he was unable to hide it.

​"I believe you are curious to know what’s happening back home," he said, his voice flat and empty. "The chaos has already started. Your parents... and the triplets’ parents... they have finally revealed the truth. The secret about Aunt Olivia and the others being alive is out."

​My breath hitched. The truth was finally out?

​"They know everything now, Scarlett," Ethan added, his voice harsh. "Except the part where you are alive and you’re hiding in Australia."

​My eyes widened. I tried to say something, but the door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the silent, suffocating room.