Pauline's POV
The words I had been dreading were finally spoken, but that didn't make them any easier to bear. After losing my parents, I should have learned that nothing in this world was guaranteed to be mine.
Yet knowing this moment would come didn't soften the impact when it finally arrived.
The pain was overwhelming. It crashed over me in waves that seemed endless.
The mate bond between us made everything worse. What should have been just heartbreak became something that tore through my entire body. Standing in that cramped space, watching them together, I realized I had never stood a chance. The battle was over before it even began.
I had no right to fight for him in the first place.
My chest felt like it was being crushed from the inside.
I forced my expression to remain neutral. Don't let him see the damage. Don't let anyone witness this humiliation.
