Chapter 177

Ramon POV

I told Lake everything.

Every detail I knew about that night five years ago—Amanda’s obsession, the d*** she’d slipped into my drink, the eight hours I couldn’t remember, waking up confused and alone in that park. I told him about the paternity test, about the week of spiraling into self-hatred, about the research that had convinced me I was a monster.

I told him about yesterday morning. About how I’d seen him younger in my mind while we were together. About the dark urges that had consumed me, the thoughts about breeding him, keeping him pregnant, the way his tears had aroused me.

I laid it all out, every terrible truth, every shameful thought. And Lake listened without interrupting, his face carefully neutral even as I watched the pain register in his eyes.

When I finished, we sat in silence for a long moment.

“I need time,” Lake finally said, his voice quiet but firm. “Ramon, I need time to process all of this. To think about w