Chapter 5
The banquet hall, once filled with muted laughter and polite conversation, now brimmed with an unbearable tension. Seraphim’s face contorted with anger as his hand trembled, his voice slicing through the air like a whip. “Wicked daughter! The moment you return, chaos descends upon us.”
Thalia met his furious gaze, her heart sinking into a pool of disillusionment. She said nothing, her silence louder than any retort.
Selene’s mother took a step forward, her expression hard and disapproving, as she rubbed Seraphim’s back to soothe him. “Thalia, today is your father’s birthday. Not only did you fail to bring him a gift, but you’ve managed to ruin his mood as well.
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Would you stop adding to his distress?”
Seraphim’s hand tightened into a fist as his fury sharpened. “Even Selene knows how to show respect and bring a gift. After all these years raising you, I’ve been repaid with nothing but ingratitude!”
Thalia’s mouth curled into a bitter smile. Seven months of torment–humiliation, abuse, and suffering–had ground her soul into dust. Now, her father’s only grievance was her failure to bring a present.
Her voice was low, her words trembling with barely concealed pain. “So, to you, I’m worth less than a gift?”
Seraphim’s rage erupted. He struck her with a force that sent her stumbling to the ground. The sting of the slap burned her cheek, but her dark, unyielding gaze rose to
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meet his. Her voice was cold and sharp, like a blade cutting through years of unspoken resentment. “If Mom were here, she would hate the person you’ve become.”
Her words left him paralyzed for a moment, his face frozen in disbelief. It wasn’t Seraphim who recovered first but Rowena, his confidant, who spoke with a quiet, placating tone. “Thalia, that’s enough. You’re letting your emotions get the better of you. If Isolde were here, she would only want to see your father happy.”
A shadow seemed to lift from Seraphim’s face at Rowena’s words. He nodded solemnly, casting his gaze upward as though searching the heavens. “Yes, Rowena, you’re right. Isolde would understand. She knew me better than anyone.”
He turned back to Thalia, his scorn
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undiminished. “Stop embarrassing yourself. If your mother could see you now, she’d be ashamed.”
Without another word, he strode away with Rowena and Selene’s mother trailing behind. Thalia remained where she was, rooted to the spot, her chest hollow with disbelief. Around her, murmurs rippled across the room. Dozens of unfamiliar eyes settled on her, sharp and judgmental. She ignored them all, her silence an armor against the storm of whispers.
That was when she saw him–Cassian. His presence should have meant comfort, an ally in a sea of hostility, but when he spoke, her heart dropped further. “Thalia, you made Selene cry. Come with me and apologize.”
Her body stiffened, and she couldn’t help the faint wave of nausea that rose in her throat.
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So that was why he came. Even Cassian was here for Selene. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but the ache in her chest still flared, raw and unrelenting.
When he stepped closer, reaching to take her hand, she yanked it away as if burned. His brows furrowed in frustration. “Thalia, this isn’t the time for your stubbornness. Do you know how much effort Selene put into organizing this banquet? She’s been running around endlessly while you contributed nothing! How can you justify her exhaustion?”
His words slapped her harder than Seraphim had. Tears blurred her vision, but this time, they weren’t born of shame–they were pure rage. She glared at him, her lips quivering, before spitting out her words, shaking with fury. “Cassian, would you apologize to someone who insulted your dead mother?”
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He faltered, his indignation momentarily replaced by stunned silence. But Thalia pressed on, her voice a tremor of defiance. “I won’t apologize. Not to Selene. Not ever. She doesn’t deserve it.”
The lingering flicker of warmth in Cassian’s eyes iced over, his face darkening with disappointment. “When did you become so incapable of reason, Thalia? You know it was Ophelia who said those things about your mother, not Selene. Can’t you tell the difference?”
Thalia’s gaze narrowed, her mind spinning with disbelief. Calmness overtook her expression, slow and deliberate, masking the volcanic storm within. “Cassian,” she began, her voice laden with quiet bitterness, “was all this planned? Did you purposefully ensure I wouldn’t have time to buy a gift? Did you
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deliberately send me into that hall, knowing how many people in there hate me?”
Her tongue felt heavy, but she forced herself to continue. “Selene invited my enemies. Ophelia humiliated me in front of them. You knew that, didn’t you?” She clenched her fists at her sides, shaking from head to toe. “Was all this to protect Selene again?”
She searched his face, desperate for a denial, for some shred of reassurance that she was wrong. Yet when his expression flickered with fleeting panic, her heart cracked. That tiny, telling moment dragged her deeper into despair.
Cassian quickly masked his hesitation, his tone dipping into something more defensive. “Thalia, you have to understand. After what happened–after everyone thought you almost cost Selene her life–I couldn’t leave
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things unresolved. That’s why I told people. the truth: that you’d been released from prison. Everything I did was to make things. smoother for you in the long run. Once this is resolved, I promise, our engagement will still stand.”
Thalia laughed, but the sound was hollow, lifeless. The dagger wedged in her heart twisted cruelly. “How many times do I need to repeat myself for you to believe me? I didn’t do it. Selene framed me, but none of you care, do you? Not one of you has ever believed me.”
Her bitter laugh grew harder, colder. It became a shield, one final line of defense against the shattering devastation within. “Fine,” she said, raising her chin. “Since you trust Selene more than me, why don’t you marry her instead? Consider our
engagement over.”
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Her declaration pulled Cassian into stunned silence, but when her words finally sank in, his disbelief turned to fury. “Stop being impulsive, Thalia! We’ve been together for years. Do you really think this is something you can throw away so casually?”
Taking a shaking but steady breath, Thalia met his gaze with unyielding resolve. “This isn’t impulsive, Cassian. I’m giving you exactly what you’ve wanted all along.”
His protest barely left his lips before his phone buzzed. Thalia caught a glimpse of the screen: “Darling Selene.” Any lingering doubt she had drowned in that glaring, mocking confirmation.
Without hesitation, Cassian turned his back on her, heading toward Selene, who stood at a distance, radiant in her triumph, waving
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him over with a smile that seemed both innocent and cruel.
Thalia turned away from the scene, forcing her legs to carry her out of the banquet. She didn’t look back–not at the crowd, not at him. Her footsteps echoed hollowly, each one heavier than the last, as she vanished into the night, leaving behind a world that had never once taken her side.
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