Next month? What next month? What future did Kieran have left? If only Ronan had cared just a little more, maybe he wouldn’t be standing here, saying something so absurd.
I wrenched my hand free, my voice trembling with barely contained fury. "No need!"
Ronan stared at his empty palm, visibly stunned. He had never expected this—never imagined that the woman who had once clung to him so desperately would now recoil from him like he was a curse. He hesitated, then made a move to follow me, but Adeline, ever the center of his universe, clutched his arm, pulling him back.
"Alpha, it’s my fault," she murmured, her voice laced with false remorse. "I shouldn’t have competed for your attention. Even though I knew Kieran was faking his illness, I still—"
Faking…?
The world seemed to tilt, my breath catching in my throat. My entire body went cold.
Before I could even process the words, my hand had already moved on its own.
The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the room.
Adeline stumbled back, her hand flying to her cheek, eyes wide in disbelief. But I didn’t care. My palm tingled from the impact, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough to drown out the storm of rage surging inside me.