Chapter 113. Collateral Heartache

My father and Sebastian both needed to be dealt with—or so the plan went. Feign ignorance, pretend Astaroth had wiped our memories, then strike when the time was right. After that, they’d face death. Everyone agreed it was the only way to end their treachery. The logic was sound, but each time I heard their names linked to an execution, something in me twisted.

The simple truth was, it wasn’t simple at all.

"You’re telling me," Rolo grunted at the back of my mind, his usual gruffness underlined by a tinge of sorrow.

I leaned against the corridor wall, my gaze falling on Charlotte. She stood with her arms folded under her belly, eyes fixed on the distance. She tried—and failed—to hide how the looming deaths weighed on her. Part of me almost wished she’d lash out, cry, anything. But she just… stood there, struggling to reconcile all the hurt they had caused.

"She’s hurting in ways she won’t admit," I told Rolo, my chest tightening at the sig