Page 91 of King of Ruin

Those words had followed her for as long as she could remember. She had heard them so many times over the years that they no longer struck with the same devastating force they once had. Time had dulled the pain, but it had never erased it. It lingered beneath the surface, surfacing whenever someone repeated the same cruel reminder—that she had never been wanted.

She had spent countless nights wondering what she had done wrong, searching for an answer that never came. In the end, the only explanation her birth parents had ever offered was painfully simple.

They had wanted a son.

A son who would inherit the family name, build a career, earn money, and provide for them in their old age.

Not a daughter.

Not someone they considered nothing more than an expense they would eventually marry off to a man with no return on what they saw as their investment.

Even now, she couldn't understand how parents could look at their own child that way.

Taking a slow breath, she quietly forced the familiar ache back down before lifting her eyes to Logan. The hurt she felt forherself disappeared almost instantly, replaced by concern as she looked him over from head to toe. His clothes were slightly wrinkled, his hair more disheveled than usual, and the skin across his knuckles had turned faintly red. Her gaze lingered there for a second before moving back to his face.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" she asked, her voice calm but serious. "Tell me the truth."

Logan frowned, almost looking offended that she would even ask.

"No."

Her eyes remained on him, carefully studying every inch of him as though she didn't quite believe the answer.

"They didn't hit you?" she asked again, searching his face for even the smallest crack in his composure. "Or shove you? Did they threaten you? Say anything to you?"

"They didn't touch me."

The answer came immediately, but the muscle in his jaw tightened until it visibly flexed.

"They just kept talking about you."

He let out a sharp breath and raked a hand roughly through his hair before dropping it back to his side, his frustration impossible to hide.

"They wouldn't stop." His voice grew tighter with every word. "Every time I defended you, they found something else to say. They blamed you for everything. They kept telling me to cut you out of my life like you were some stranger." He shook his head in disbelief, letting out a bitter laugh that carried nohumor whatsoever. "I'm tired of listening to it, Elise. I'm sick of pretending it doesn't get to me."

Only then did the tension slowly leave her shoulders.

A quiet sigh escaped before she could stop it, relief washing through her so suddenly that she almost felt guilty for it.

"I'm glad they didn't hurt you."

Logan stared at her, completely incredulous.

"That's all you got from what I just said?"

She met his gaze steadily.

"Yes."

"They've spent years saying those things about you."

"I know."

"They hate you."

"I know."

His frustration boiled over as he threw both hands into the air before letting them fall heavily against his sides.