Page 20 of Shattering

Cadi felt her pulse in her throat, the room spinning around her."You think he's not yours." Her voice was no more than a whisper.

Gray's expression was cold, unreadable.

That silence broke her more than anything else.

Tears spilled over her cheeks. Her voice cracked as she whispered, "I can't believe you."

Gray's jaw tightened. "Believe what ya want."

Cadi let out a shaky breath. "You don't even see how much you've already destroyed, do you?"

Gray turned then, his eyes dark and unreadable. "Ya destroyed us first."

He turned to leave.

Cadi's chest heaved, her breath coming in short, uneven bursts. She felt like she was drowning.

Gray's hand reached for the doorknob.

Her lips trembled, and before she could stop herself, she whispered—

"Wait."

Chapter 15

Gray's fingers curled around the doorknob, but he didn't turn it.

It was her voice.

Not the words—just the tone.

There was something in it he had never heard before, something that cut through his anger, through the suffocating weight of his emotions, through everything.

It wasn't pleading or guilt.

It wasn't anger.

It wasn't even heartbreak.

It was quiet. Cold. Final.

Gray hesitated.

He turned his head slightly, just enough to see her from the corner of his eye. She was still sitting on the couch, her hands resting on her lap, her entire body trembling, though whether it was from anger or something else, he couldn't tell.

"Sit down."

Her voice was emotionless, but there was steel running through it.

Gray exhaled slowly. He let go of the doorknob and, without a word, turned back.

He sat down on the couch opposite her, elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together.

Cadi didn't look at him.

Her gaze was fixed somewhere over his shoulder, her breathing slow, measured, like she was trying to keep herself from falling apart.

A long silence stretched between them.

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