Chapter 123

“...I didn't do it, Lily; I swear to God.”

Despite the warning to keep my distance, they painted him as a threat to everything I believed in—a betrayer with a smile concealing a desire to betray me with a bullet from behind.

Was I torn? Yes, I was. Thinking back, I couldn't picture Rune pulling the trigger. Rune was the reason I had settled in the manor; his reckless jokes and how he had stood by me during my moments of need meant I couldn't toss him away as quickly as the others did.

Even if he did, he had a reason to.

I stepped forward and was immediately stopped by the goon standing in my way. “Ma'am, “ma’am, I'm sorry, I can't let you go to him; Boss would have my head.”

I looked at Rune, whose back was to the wall, the hopefulness in his eyes beckoning me, and I couldn't let him down, not when he needed someone who would give him the benefit of the doubt—even when every piece of evidence pointed against him.

I took another step, and a frustra