Chapter 165. The War Within

Xerina’s POV

Rasmus’s gaze flickered as I stepped toward him, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. The intensity in his eyes had never wavered, but there was a shadow there now, a deep and festering doubt that gnawed at the edges of the man I had once known. The man who had protected me, loved me fiercely, and stood by my side no matter the cost. Now, that man felt like a distant memory, a ghost lost in a sea of fractured recollections and twisted half-truths.

“Fight harder?” His voice was raw, breaking through the silence that weighed heavy in the room. “Xerina, I’ve been fighting every day since the moment I realized something wasn’t right. Do you think I wanted to forget everything? Do you think I wanted to lose you?”

His words hit me like a sledgehammer, but I didn’t back down. Not this time. Not when everything hung in the balance.

“Then why are you letting Valeria control you? Why are you letting her poison your mind against me?” My voice tre