Page 114 of Royal Bargain

And it’s so simple, it almost hurts.

“Because I didn’t want to lose you again.”

She flinches, just barely. A breath caught in her chest. Her arms wrap around herself like she’s holding her ribs in place.

“We keep doing this,” she says, soft. “Hurting each other to protect each other.”

I nod once. “Yeah. And it’s not working.”

Silence again. The kind that rings in your ears.

Then, quiet as a bruise forming,

“So what now?”

I don’t know. God, I wish I did.

I rake a hand through my hair. Pace. Turn back.

“Not telling you…” I pause, words jamming up behind the wall I’ve spent years building. “It’s been eating me alive.”

Her eyes flicker—hurt, confusion, fear.

“I wanted to. So many times. But every time I looked at you…” I exhale hard. “All I could think was—what if it ruins everything? What if I lose this? You. Lily. Us.”

She doesn’t speak. Just clutches her own arms tighter, like she’s bracing for something worse.

I take a step closer. And another.

Until we’re a breath apart.

“I’mtired of the secrets, Ana. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

My voice softens, low and aching. “If I tell you mine… will you tell me yours?”

She meets my eyes. Raw. Guarded.

And we hold there, on the edge—two people weighed down with secrets, waiting to see who will be brave enough to take the first leap.

Ana’s arms are folded tightly across her chest, like she’s holding herself together by force.

“I need to tell you what Miranda really wanted,” she says softly, voice thick with something like shame.

I nod once. I already knew Miranda had helped her disappear, had helped launch her career. What I didn’t know—what’s been gnawing at me for weeks—is why.

Ana draws in a shaky breath. “She didn’t just help me out of the goodness of her heart. She said she wouldn’t do anything for a Volkov unless I proved I wasn’t still loyal to my family.”

My jaw tightens, but I stay quiet, letting her keep going.

“I gave her information. About Harborview. Papa was trying to acquire land there—part of some bigger real estate push. I thought it was nothing. Just a scrap to earn her trust.” Her eyes meet mine, guilt carved deep into every word. “But then I found out it helped influence the election, and now I don’t know. I don’t know if I started something I can’t take back.”

She looks down at the floor. “What if I really was the traitor everyone thought I was? What if I helped her hurt my family without even meaning to?”

My chest tightens. Not with anger, but with the ache of how alone she must’ve felt to make that kind of decision.

She rushes on, voice raw. “Then Sasha reached out. I hadn’t heard from her in so long, and I just—I needed to see her. I needed to believe someone in my family still saw me as more than a liability.”

“That’s where you went tonight?” I ask, even though I already guessed.