Chapter 253. This Is Goodbye

Cole

I run my fingertips over the smooth leather suitcase as a trio of male servants hurry around the room, packing my things for the journey back home, to Scarlet Thunder. I grip the suitcase and carry it out of the apartment where I’ve been staying inside the castle, looking over my shoulder to take in the red wallpaper and dark furniture for what will be the last time in a very long while.

Dad’s in the foyer when I approach. Mom squeezes his arm before walking through the open grand entrance, the landscape blanketed in fresh snow. Snow is falling in heaps, but I can tell my parents are ready to go home, for everything to go back to normal, not worried about the drive in the storm.

I watch Mom disappear into a blacked-out luxury SUV, but Dad sighs, turning to face me. “If you want to stay–”

“There’s no reason for me to be here,” I tell him, but his eyes scan mine.

“No reason at all?”

I know what he’s asking. After the meeting wi