Page 110 of The Obedient Lie

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My voice sharpened, desperate. “Hate her, Bastion. Balance me out. Make it make sense again.”

Still, nothing.

“I’m the one who spirals,” I snapped. “You’re the one who pulls me back. That’s how this works. So fuckinghate her—please—so I can.”

He looked at me then. And Iknew.Iknewbefore he said it.

“I can’t,” Bastion said quietly. “You already know that.”

And that’s when it hit me. Really hit me.

I’m fucked.

Because ifhecouldn’t hate her…

Then neither of us stood a chance.

My stomach hollowed.

Something inside me collapsed, quietly, cruelly, like a structure giving way after too much pressure. I wasn’t panicking. Not anymore.

I wassinking.

I was in love with Emilia Adams.

Untouchable. Unattainable.Thegolden dynasty daughter.

Worse.

Wewere in love with Emilia Adams.

And we were already too far gone to survive it.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

EMILIA

I was half-scrolling, half-dozing. The soft blue light of my phone screen lit the sheets in flickers as I skimmed updates and ignored messages I had no intention of answering.

Across the room, Bastion lay in bed, propped against the headboard, one arm slung behind his head, the other holding his phone loosely on his chest. He hadn’t said much since the call came through.

Luca was stuck in Villain for the night.

Flights grounded. Something about the storm system sweeping up the coast.

Luca had been weird since we got back from the game. I had planned on talking to him about it tonight when he got back.

I looked up and studied Bastion.

The lines of his body were still, too still. Not relaxed. His eyes weren’t on his phone anymore—they were fixed on something invisible, far past the ceiling.

“How many nights have you two spent apart?” I asked softly.

His gaze slid toward me, sharp. But he didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

None. I could tell from one look.

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