Chapter 98. For the Better

ARDEN

Cade stood tall in the center of the clearing, his back straight, daring anyone to look away. Despite the guards holding me back and the crowd forming an ugly ring of judgment around him, he showed no signs of backing down. Nothing could stop him now.

I could see it in his posture—that quiet, thunderous determination. He had made a choice. He would be heard.

It broke something inside me to witness how they looked at him. The same people who had praised him before, who had bowed their heads in reverence when he passed by, and who once praised his mere existence—they were now looking at him like he was dirt beneath their shoes.

All because of a name.

I hated it. I hated the hypocrisy. How quickly people could forget everything you’ve done the moment they learned who you were not. They saw Cade stripped of a title and suddenly disregarded all the moments he had carried them, protected them, and fought for them. It was disgusting. And so very cowardly