I blinked at Nathan, tilting my head slightly as if trying to figure out if he
had lost his mind.
I had to keep acting. Keep pretending. Keep smiling in a way that told
him I was nothing more than a stranger who found him amusing at best
and pathetic at worst. But deep down, my hands were curled into fists so
tightly my nails were digging into my skin.
How dare he?
Nathan Atwood, the same man who once delighted in my suffering, was
now standing here acting like he had some grand revelation? That he had
suddenly found his heart, his soul, and realized I was the one he loved?
“You must be sick,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes at him.
It was laughable.
Nathan frowned. “Mia-”
I held up a finger, cutting him off. “No, no, I’m serious. Maybe you hit
your head somewhere. Or maybe you’re just hallucinating.” I waved a
hand in front of his face. “Should I call someone? A doctor, perhaps?”
Nathan exhaled, his shoulders stiffening. “I’m not sick.”
I scoffed, crossing my arms. “Then why are you saying ridiculous things?
Love? Apologies? Trying to make things right?” I let out a sharp,
humorless laugh. “Who even are you?”
His jaw tightened. “I know I was a bastard.”
The girl who used to flinch at his voice, who would have lowered her
head and swallowed her pain, hoping for one moment of peace-I had
buried her the day they threw me away.
And yet, my mind couldn’t help but compare.
I rolled my eyes. “No kidding.”
Nathan’s expression softened, but I refused to let myself fall for it. He
wasn’t the type to show regret, and even if he was being honest, it was
too damn late.
“I was wrong, Mia,” he admitted, stepping closer. “Everything I did,
everything we did-I wish I could take it back.”
I stepped back instantly, holding my hand up between us. “Yeah, well,
you can’t. Life doesn’t come with a rewind button, Nathan. And even if it
did, I wouldn’t let you near it.”
And now… now he stood in front of me, no longer the arrogant Alpha
with a cold heart, but a man whose eyes were filled with something I
couldn’t place. Something raw. Something desperate.
He was different.
But that didn’t mean I forgave him.
It didn’t mean he wasn’t still a monster in my eyes.
His regret didn’t erase the pain. His whispered apologies didn’t erase the
scars. His sudden, newfound love didn’t change the fact that he had been
one of the reasons I had once begged to disappear.
I wanted to scream at him. To remind him of all the ways he had broken
me. To tell him he didn’t deserve to speak to me like this, like we had
ever been something worth fixing.
But I couldn’t.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “I just… I want to make things
right between us.”
I arched a brow. “Right? Between us?” I pointed at myself, then at him,
mocking his words. “Us doesn’t exist, Nathan. It never did.”
He flinched like I had just punched him, but I didn’t care.
I let out a dramatic sigh, shaking my head. “Besides, I don’t even know
what you’re talking about. I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
Nathan stared at me, his gaze searching mine for something. “You
remember, don’t you?”
I gasped, pressing a hand to my chest. “Remember what? Should I be
remembering something?” I leaned in slightly, lowering my voice into a
fake whisper. “Do tell, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Nathan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Mia-”
I groaned loudly, throwing my hands up. “There it is again! Mia, Mia,
Mia! Stop saying my name like we have some deep, tragic past together!”
His brows furrowed. “We do.”
I let out a sharp breath, turning away dramatically. “I just met you,
Nathan. In fact, I was living my best life until you decided to follow me
around like some lost puppy. So do me a favor, turn around, and leave me
alone.”
He exhaled slowly, his voice softer this time. “I’ll prove it to you, Mia. I
don’t care how long it takes.”
I turned back to face him, plastering on a tight, fake smile. “Oh, please
do. I love a good comedy show.”
Nathan Atwood thought he could play the redemption card?
Too bad for him, I was already playing a much bigger game.
Nathan was the last person I expected to apologize. He wasn’t the kind of
man who admitted his mistakes. He was too stubborn, too arrogant, too
set in his ways. The Nathan I knew never cared about the consequences
of his actions, only about maintaining his power, his pride.
So why now?
Why was he standing here, looking at me like I was the one holding his
fate in my hands?
I kept my face neutral, refusing to let him see the storm raging inside
me. I had spent years training myself to stay in control, to never let them
see my pain again. But hearing him say those words-I was wrong, Mia. I
should have protected you-it did something to me.
It made me want to scream.
Where was this regret when I was on my knees, begging them to stop?
Where was this guilt when they laughed at me, when they turned their
backs on me, when they let me be cast out like I was nothing?
I clenched my fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms. I
couldn’t let him get to me. I wouldn’t.
Then he said something that made my breath catch.
“The cousin sisters… they confessed. How they lied and set up you, so
that you can exiled from the pack.”
I froze, my heart pounding in my chest.
I had spent years dreaming of this moment-of someone finally
uncovering the truth, of my innocence being proven. But now that it was
happening, I felt… nothing. No relief. No sense of justice. Just an
emptiness that swallowed me whole.
Because it didn’t change anything.
It didn’t erase what they did to me. It didn’t undo the nights I spent
crying myself to sleep, the fear I carried every second of every day.
And it didn’t erase the fact that Nathan and his brothers still let it
happen.
I swallowed down the emotions rising in my throat and forced a smirk.
“That’s nice,” I mused, tilting my head slightly. “But what does that
have to do with me?”
Nathan’s brows furrowed. “Mia-”
I lifted a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t know what game you’re playing,
but I have nothing to do with whatever mess you’ve made.”
His expression tightened, his jaw flexing as he struggled to keep his
composure. I could see the frustration in his eyes, the desperation.
And I could use that.
I might not be able to get rid of him, but I could make him useful.
If he was going to follow me around, then he would do it on my terms.