Page 168 of King of Ruin

Layla stood there, concern still written across her face, but she could see that Elise had already made up her mind. After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her lips together and gave a small nod before letting out a quiet sigh.

She watched as Elise walked out of the mansion with the suitcase in her hand.

Outside, the morning air was cold and quiet.

Elise walked toward her car and opened the trunk, carefully placing the suitcase inside. It was heavier than she expected, and it took her a few attempts to adjust it properly before she finally managed to fit it inside. Once it was secure, she closed the trunk, the sound of the lock beeping softly as it shut.

She took a slow breath before walking around the car toward the driver's side.

Her hand had just reached for the door handle when suddenly a hand came down and slammed the door shut.

The loud bang echoed through the quiet morning.

Elise froze.

She immediately turned around, startled by the sudden sound, and her eyes widened when she saw Xavier standing behind her.

He was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling with every uneven breath. His hair was messy, as though he had rushed out without even taking the time to fix himself. He was only wearing the trousers he had thrown on in a hurry before running out of the house.

For a moment, he looked nothing like the controlled, untouchable man everyone knew.

His face was tense, his jaw clenched, and his eyes burned into hers with a fury that made Elise instinctively shrink back.

She looked at him silently before her gaze shifted past him.

The front door of the mansion was open.

Astrid and Layla stood there. Astrid was still dressed in her night clothes, watching the scene unfold with worry in her eyes.

Layla’s hands were folded together, and there was a small trace of guilt on her face as she avoided Elise's gaze.

Elise understood.

Layla had told Xavier.

Xavier's hand shot out before Elise could turn away, his fingers catching her face and forcing her to look back at him. His eyes burned into hers.

"What the hell is going on, Elise?" His voice cut through the quiet morning, echoing through the stillness surrounding the mansion. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

His gaze dropped briefly to the suitcase beside her before returning to her face, his expression becoming more furious with every passing second.

"You're leaving? After everything that happened, you were just going to run away like this?"

His gaze moved past her toward the open door of the mansion, where Astrid stood silently, and then toward the house itself before returning to Elise. The look on his face changed, the anger mixing with a deep sense of betrayal.

"So this is what you've become?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "You're going to decide who sleeps in my bed now?"

Elise remained silent, and that silence only fueled his frustration.

"You decided to take control of everything?" he continued, his voice rising. "My life, my choices, my home... and now you're deciding who stays with me, who takes care of me, who sleeps in my fucking bed?"

His jaw tightened as the fear inside him disguised itself as anger.

"Is that what this has come to? You're deciding who gets to be in my life and who doesn't?"

But Elise only looked at him.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she said quietly.