Page 63 of Crushed Vow

I fell to my knees right there in the living room, the lights casting sharp shadows over everything. My sobs broke the silence.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, crumpling into the couch. “I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve let you in at the hotel. I should’ve kept the letter. I should’ve held you... not pushed you away.”

The bouquet. The ribbon. The folded paper tucked in those blood-red petals. Still lying outside my hotel room door.

Unopened. Forgotten. Like him.

“Cassian,” I choked. “Please. Don’t die.”

I couldn’t sleep.

I curled up on his bed, pressing my face to his pillow. It didn’t smell the same—just smoke and sterilized silence. But I imagined it. I imagined his arm slung over me like it used to be. His voice rough against my ear, whispering my name.

I remembered the fire. The way he kissed me like he already knew it would be goodbye. The way his tears fell against my skin in the middle of chaos.

And the way I let him go.

“You can’t die,” I whispered again into the dark. “Not after everything. Not after you sacrificed your life for mine.”

I thought about Ethan, dragging me into that vault. Saving me. Even while bleeding. And now alone, on his way to a hospital I couldn’t even call.

But nothing hurt more than Vincent.

My own brother.

Choosing Luca. Shooting Ethan. Locking me up like I was no better than a pawn.

He used to call me little warrior.

Now he called me weak.

But none of that pain compared to the empty space where Cassian should’ve been.

Not in the kitchen, hovering with a plate of food.

Not pacing the hallway.

Not reading in the chair by the fireplace with his glasses on.

And maybe never again.

I curled tighter on the bed, silent tears dripping into the silk sheets. The fire still echoed behind my eyes. So did his voice.

“I love you.”

“My life ended when you walked away from me.”

“I’d die for you a thousand times.”

What if he did?

What if he already had?

Chapter 10

CHARLOTTE

The kitchen smelled like smoke and eggs.