Chapter 15. Powerful Protection

Elena’s POV

His words made no sense. After everything he’d done—discarding me like garbage, blacklisting me from every job, trying to erase my very existence—how dare he stand here and judge me? But I knew better than to reason with a man this far gone.

“Mark.” I forced my voice to be calm, measured. “Let go of me. We can talk about this.”

He laughed—a harsh, broken sound that raised every hair on my body. “Talk? Oh, we’re way past talking, Elena.”

His grip on my arm tightened, nails digging into my skin. “This is your doing. All of it.”

I shook my head, genuinely confused.

“You seduced him.” The words dripped with venom. “Eric. My brother-in-law. You crawled into his bed just to hurt me.”

My mouth fell open. The logic was so twisted, so utterly deranged, I couldn’t find words.

“Don’t play innocent.” He pressed closer, pinning me against the wall until I could barely breathe. “Look at me.” One hand left my arm to gesture at hims