Chapter Fifty

I close his office door behind me just as he ends his phone call, his eyes blazing down my body in careful inspection before he darts them away. Guilt.

He stands and swallows, turning to look out his window. He has a view of the top of the plant and most of Triple Falls. It strikes me then that I feel indifferent about him taking my father's place. In a way, it seems just.

"I came to you yesterday, and you weren't there."

Did he think I left? From the looks of him, he did. But I don't let it deter me.

"We need to talk."

He turns to me, sliding his hands in his tailored pants. "Did I hurt you?"

"You know you didn't."

He looks back out the window. "I don't know anything."

"I think we both know that's a lie."

He scoffs—silence and tension lingering in the room before he speaks up softly. "Cecelia, I'm sorry. I had no right at all to—"

"If you're going to apologize to me, look at me."

He hasn't slept, his jacket and tie are nowhere to be seen, his shirt is wrinkled and unbuttoned. He looks as defeated as I feel. He opens his mouth to speak, but I stop him.

"I let you because I always have. It was a decision. I wanted it. Maybe I was waiting for it, Jesus, I don't know. But it doesn't matter. I'm leaving."

He swallows, and I see the faint dip of his chin.

Once upon a time, I was a lonely girl who met a lonely king, and we both suffered from too much pride and oh, how the reckless have fallen. Between my romantic notions and his aspirations, we deceived ourselves, and all I feel now is sorrow.

Sorrow for the three orphans who were left to battle it out for themselves due to their parents' mistakes.

And that's why I'm here, to address the boy inside the man and give him the explanation he rightfully deserves. But how in the hell am I going to convey this to him? Tell him that he built an empire based on a lie? That our lives collided because two people fell in love, and one of them made a mistake, which started a war. A war that has everything to do with me.

"I have to tell you something."

Tobias studies me closely, and I know my face is paling. As much as I resent him, the guilt is riddling me.

"I..." I shake my head furiously and pull the envelope from my purse.

"Cecelia." An order.

The words burst from my lips. "My mother started the fire that killed your parents. It was an accident. A horrible accident."

I watch him carefully for a reaction, and he doesn't so much as flinch. Instead, his eyes fill with curiosity. "How do you know that?"

"I found a letter from my mother to Roman." I hold it out to him. "I went to Georgia yesterday and spoke to her. It's all here, her confession. It was written a few months before I moved to Triple Falls. This letter is the reason I was here in the first place. It's the truth, and you deserve it."

He lifts the letter and studies it briefly before placing it on his desk.

"You aren't going to read it?"

"No."

"Then you should know Roman did it because she was—"

"I know."

I'm shaking so hard it takes me a second to understand his reply.

"Wait, you what?"

"I know. Roman told me the day I met him."

"The day you met him...you knew ?" Anger slashes through me, and I cough incredulously, refusing to shed another tear. "And you didn't think to share that with me?"

"It was one of the conditions of our deal."

"Your deal?"

My purse slackens on my shoulder as my posture slumps from the crash of adrenaline. "You son of a bitch." I rip my eyes away and walk toward his office window, staring out for several seconds while I try to wrap myself around it. "Damn you, I've been sick trying to figure out a way to confess this to you." I turn back to see he's close.

"Feel better?" He offers a weak smile.

"Jesus, Tobias. I didn't think I could hate you, but..." I fight every surfacing emotion.

"You should. You should have all along."

"But I didn't." I feel numb. Close to numb, but he'll never win in completely desecrating my heart. It's the one thing I've kept despite all the loss, hurt, and betrayal. It's the one thing my father never allowed himself to give over entirely, and that Tobias battles to keep out of reach from everyone who's loved him, especially me. But it's not because he doesn't love me, it's because he can't lose me. I can't be another casualty in his war with life.

That's what broke us.

History is painfully repeating itself.

And I saw it the minute it happened, the second he snapped. It was the look on his face when I held his dead brother in my arms. Equivalent to that of Roman seeing a loaded gun pointed at his infant daughter.

The look he gave me before he walked away from me was one of utter resolution.

Love will never win with men like Roman and Tobias.

He would rather lose me in life than risk my death, my blood on his hands.

It's the coward's way out. His resignation to leave his heart out of it. To leave me out of it.

But I'll never let mine grow cold despite the damage done or the havoc it's wreaked. And for that one victory, I'm thankful the blood still runs crimson, still beats faithfully in my chest. I study him carefully and can't find a single trace of resentment.

"I don't understand how you're so calm."

"I've had years to deal with it. To put it all in perspective. I don't have many regrets. I'm still doing what I was meant to do regardless of the reasons it started and—" he lets out a long breath.

"And?"

"And the night I met with your father, my war with him ended."

"But you still bought his company."

"Because the board is full of corrupt pricks who constantly robbed their employees; he was one of them, and it was a good deal."

"So, you were never going to tell me?"

"I knew it could destroy your relationship with your mother."

"I'm so fucking lost," I say hoarsely before I let out a disbelieving laugh. "And with you, I always will be."

"That's why you need to leave, Cecelia. This place has never been good for you."

"Stop blaming the place. It's just a fucking place . It's the people in my life who've deceived me and robbed my sanity. I can't believe you knew."

He leans against his desk, clasping his hands. "Even though your dad was crooked as fuck for covering it up, he didn't kill them in cold blood. Instead of losing my shit over it, I was glad. I was glad I didn't have to hate him anymore because it meant I could keep my promise without resenting you for it. Until..."

"Dominic died." I can barely hear my own voice. I don't know how I'll ever look at my mother the same way. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll disappear on her the way she did me. I've suffered horribly because of her secrets. Maybe I'll punish her for the years I've spent in purgatory to make sure she is taken care of. For years after that, I've been trying to piece myself back together while she's lived in luxury with her fucking silence. Maybe I will hold it against her, for the life my father lost covering her mistake, and for the explanation I deserved about his absence.

Tobias speaks up. "The truth is my parents died in a horrible accidental fire started by a very scared and pregnant teenage girl."

"And you forgave her?"

"I had to. One day maybe you will too."

"I don't know how much forgiveness I have left in me."

He silently nods. Even though he looks defeated, there's a calmness inside him, one I haven't seen in years.

"You seem . . . different."

"Seeing you . . . you coming back here has stirred up shit . . . shit I've been avoiding for too long."

"Well, I hope you make peace with it. Life is short; Dominic taught us that. But my opponent was never invisible." He keeps his gaze steady on mine. "You were always going to be the one who got the best of me. You knew it, I knew it, and I still fought it. But I'm giving myself a head-start by giving you my queen, so, there's your check."

Silence. And I don't know why I expected anything more.

"One thing's for sure," I say, "no matter how hard I fought it over the years, I am my mother's daughter." Confusion flits over his features, and I nod toward the letter. "Read it. It's the same pathetic shit. I ended up living here all those years ago because my mother had the audacity to try and come back and win the heart of a man who didn't love her enough to let her in on his secrets. Who couldn't forgive her enough for being young and reckless. Who punished her for horrible mistakes he himself helped liberate her from, all the while loving her from afar because he refused to trust her enough to make her own decisions. My father slammed the door in her face. And it ruined her. It's poetic justice, really."

"Cecelia, I've never hated you."

"Yes, you have, and I can't afford to care. Loving you is way too expensive, and I'm not paying for it another minute. You've stolen enough from me, the rest I let you take, and you can fucking keep it."

For once in my life, I'm okay with letting love lose.

I'll forever be a foolish romantic, chasing the high, though no high will ever compete with the one I felt with him. It ends here.

I don't know how to be both powerful and in love, and that's my downfall.

We had our song, and it's time to take us off pause and let the rest of our story play out. The way it was always going to.

Meggie fell for a priest. I fell for a prophet. We declared war on their calling and cause, and neither of us won.

But I'm keeping my love story, not because it included both martyr and sacrifice, or because it's the story I wanted, it's because I would never rewrite it. And I would live it all over again just for the chance to sing with him.

"I've finally found my reason to hate you, Tobias." His eyes snap to mine. "Not because of our past, not because of the way you've pushed me away, but because of the way you're punishing us both—the same way Roman did. Love isn't an inconvenience, it isn't a mistake, and the danger makes it all worth it. I walked through fucking fire for you. I survived hell for you . You don't deserve me. You never deserved me, not at all. But I deserve you. I. Deserve. You . But it's the king I deserve. It's the king I want." I clench my fists. "I loved the bastard I met, the thief that stole me, and the king who claimed me, but I refuse to love the coward. I hate the coward."

Ripping my eyes from him, I pull another envelope from my purse and toss it at him. It thuds against his chest, falling to rest on his wingtips. "An addendum to the original contract that will negate my shares in your company. It's over. Ties broken. I'm letting you win. Goodbye, Tobias."

My heart nags me with every step I take away from him, begging me to make it whole as I quietly close the door behind me.