Chapter 282
Chapter 282:
He looked down at me. “I was the illegitimate son. The rat of the Thorne family. I fought for scraps in the gutter while Dominic slept on silk sheets. I clawed my way up by being more brutal than anyone else p>
He held up his arms, showing the faint white lines on his wrists. “I am darkness, Skye. You are the Oracle. You are the light p>
I reached out and traced the scars on his chest, right over his heart. “Shadows define the light, Alistair. Without you, I would burn out p>
It was a moment of deep connection. A confession of broken souls finding matching pieces.
HOOOOOONK!
A loud, obnoxious air horn blasted from the water below.
We both jumped.
Below us, bobbing in a rented dinghy, were Harper and Felix. Harper was holding a megaphone.
“GOOD MORNING, LOVEBIRDS!” Harper screamed, her voice amplified to ear-splitting levels. “DID YOU USE PROTECTION? WE NEED TO KNOW FOR THE PRESS RELEASE p>
The mood shattered instantly. I burst out laughing.
Alistair rubbed his temples, looking like he regretted every life choice that led to this moment. “I should have sunk that boat p>
“Let them up,” I said, still giggling.
Alistair signaled the guards. A ladder was lowered.
Harper scrambled up like a monkey. She tackled me in a hug before I could even say hello.
“Show me the hand! Show me the hand p>
I held up my left hand. The blue diamond caught the morning sun and blazed.
Harper screamed again. “It’s huge! It’s a planet! You could kill a man with that p>
Felix climbed up, looking more dignified but smiling. He slapped Alistair on the back. “You actually did it. The wolf is domesticated p>
“Watch it,” Alistair warned, but there was no heat in it.
We sat on the deck for breakfast. The chef had appeared and laid out a spread of fruit and pastries.
I watched Alistair. He was laughing at something Harper said. The predator look was gone. He looked… happy.
𝘚𝗵a𝘳𝖾 y𝗈𝘂𝘳 𝖿a𝘃𝗈𝗋і𝗍еs 𝗳𝘳𝗼𝗆 𝗯еlոo𝗏𝘦l𝘴.с𝘰𝘮
My burner phone—the only one I had left—rang in the pocket of my discarded hoodie. I pulled it out. Manager Grace.
The bubble burst. Reality came rushing back.
“Where are you?” Grace’s voice was sharp. “The audition for Celestia is in one hour. If you’re not here, you’re out p>
I looked at the diamond on my finger. Then at the ocean. Then at the phone.
“I’m on my way,” I said.
I stood up. My eyes flashed with a new determination. I was engaged to a king, I had billions in the bank, and I had the love of a dangerous man.
But I still had a role to win.
“Let’s go,” I said to the group. “I have a casting director to destroy p>
The air conditioning in the guest room of Dominic Thorne’s mansion was set to a temperature that felt less like comfort and more like a morgue. It was sterile, dry, and cold enough to make the skin prickle, but Seraphina Miller didn’t reach for a blanket. She sat on the edge of the stiff, designer bed, her eyes glued to the flat-screen TV mounted on the opposite wall.
On the screen, Liam Kensington was falling apart.
It wasn’t a dramatic explosion. It was a slow, public erosion. He stood at a podium, microphones clustered like metal flowers in front of him, answering questions about the plummeting stock of Kensington Global. His tie was slightly askew—a detail so uncharacteristic for Liam it screamed louder than any headline. His eyes were shadowed, hollowed out by sleeplessness and a misery Seraphina recognized instantly.