Page 187 of King of Ruin

Her eyes burned with tears as she whispered the words that hurt her the most.

"And that's exactly what happened, didn't it? I was right. "

The moment the words left her mouth, something dark flashed across Xavier's face.

His jaw tightened, his eyes fixed on her as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he snapped, his voice rough with disbelief. "When did you ever think that?"

He moved closer, his expression filled with frustration and pain.

"Why would you think I could just leave you?"

His voice lowered, but every word carried the weight of his emotions.

"Elise... I was never going to leave you."

She looked at him, disbelief and hurt flashing across her face.

"But that's what you said, didn't you?" she whispered. Her voice was quiet, but every word carried the weight of everything she had been holding inside. "You reminded me again and again that you were going to leave me. That this relationship wasn't real. That you weren't going to be in my life forever."

Her eyes burned as tears gathered, but she refused to look away.

"So why are you angry now?" she asked. "Why are you blaming me for believing you? For preparing myself for the day you walked away?"

Her voice cracked slightly.

"You kept reminding me I was something temporary in your life, Xavier. So I made sure you were temporary in mine."

The words left her lips, but they hurt her just as much as they hurt him.

She had never thought it would become real.

She had spent so much time preparing herself for the day Xavier would leave. She had listened to him when he told her again and again that he would not stay, that what they had was temporary, that one day he would walk away from her life. So she had forced herself to accept it. She had built walls around her heart, convincing herself that if she expected him to leave, the pain would not destroy her when it happened.

But it did.

Because when he actually walked away, it hurt more than she had ever imagined it would.

Xavier’s hold on her arm tightened as he hovered above her, his gaze locked onto hers.

Elise lay beneath him, naked, her hair spread across the pillow.

And yet, she was telling him that she had already decided she was never going to be his.

His jaw clenched as he stared down at her, his breathing heavy, his emotions barely contained.

"Elise Foster," he said, his voice low and commanding, the kind of tone that made people obey him without question. "You are only mine. Get this in your head."

His thumb brushed against her skin as his expression hardened.

"And I promise you, I am not leaving you. Even if I die, you are going to live as my widow. In my world, there is no stupid thing like a second fucking marriage."

His eyes burned into hers.

"You are going to live with me," he said quietly. "And you are going to die with me."

Elise stared at him, her eyes blinking as she processed the ruthless certainty in his words.