Chapter 102

“I condoned you sneaking into my room without permission, but messing with my belongings and asking about private matters is too much overstep. I’m in no position to indulge that.” Emotion failed to find its way into his eyes or inflection as he resolutely admonished her.

An intermittent gasp of astonishment hitched in Emmeline’s chest, the breath stuttering in her lungs as she struggled to find the words. “I really can’t...process this...”

She glanced away, trying in vain to mend the shattered remnants of her heart, before meeting his cruel gaze once more.

“Have you been playing with my feelings this entire time?” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears of anguish.

Zavian’s jaw ticked with barely restrained fury. “I didn’t manipulate you. I never promised you anything.”

Emmeline smiled bitterly. A brittle curve of her lips that held no mirth. “And where does that leave the man who drowned a woman in his attention, made her feel like the only female in the u