Lucien’s jaw flexes.
“You killed her, didn’t you?” The accusation lands hard in the quiet road. “You’re exactly the kind of man who would do something like that.”
For a second Dominic just stares at him.
Then, he laughs.
Not amused, not friendly but a sharp, incredulous laugh like the words are too ridiculous to even take seriously.
“You’re out of your fucking mind.” His eyes flick toward me for half a second before landing back on Lucien. “I did not touch Sophie.” His voice is cold and firm now. “And I sure as hell didn’t kill her.”
Lucien scoffs.
“Oh really?”
“Yes,” Dominic snaps. “I didn’t lay a hand on her.”His jaw clenches. “You want to throw accusations around because it fits whatever story you’ve built in your head? Fine.” He gestures toward the woods where I had run. “But don’t stand here acting like you know what happened.”
His voice lowers, deadly serious. “Because you don’t.”
The wind rustles through the trees around us.
And for the first time since this started, I realize something terrifying.
No one actually knows the truth.
CHAPTER 23
Serafina
Rain begins slowly.
At first it’s only a few cold drops against my skin, then the sky opens. Within seconds the rain is falling harder, soaking through my clothes, turning the dirt beneath my feet into dark mud. I can barely hear anything over the pounding of my own heart. Everything inside me feels too loud. Confusion, anger, grief. The words they just threw at each other spin through my head until I can’t tell what’s real anymore.
I run straight toward the woods. Branches scrape against my arms as I push through the trees, the rain falling harder around me, the forest growing darker the deeper I go.
Behind me I hear Dominic’s voice.
“Era! Please—stop!”
But I don’t.
I keep running. I don’t want to look back. I don’t want to hear another lie. My lungs burn. Tears mix with the rain on my face until I can’t tell which is which. Finally my body gives out and I stop in the middle of the woods. The trees tower around me like dark shadows. The wind pushes through the branches above, making them creak and sway. The headlights from the road are gone now.
Only darkness remains.
And the sound of rain hitting the leaves, I turn slowly. Dominic steps into the clearing a few seconds later, breathing hard. His hair and clothes are soaked, rain dripping from his face.
“Era,” he says carefully. “Whatever you think you saw—”
“Why?!”
The word tears out of me before he can finish. My voice echoes through the trees.
“Why, Dominic?!”
My chest heaves as I step closer.
“Why did you fuck her?” The words taste like poison. “Was I not enough?!”