Chapter 7: The Door He Shut

What else do you want? Say it. I can give it all to her.

My calm finally broke him.

Clara Calloway. You’ve made your point.

He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me out the door.

The door slammed shut in my face.

Dressed in a thin silk dress, I fell onto the cold hallway carpet.

My small suitcase was still beside me.

I stared at it for several seconds before slowly reaching for the handle.

No one came after me.

Not Julian.

Not Felicity.

Not a single person from the Hawthorne household.

The silence hurt more than the shove.

Five years ago, I had arrived at this house carrying two suitcases and a heart full of hope.

Now I was leaving with one small case and nothing left to hope for.

I pulled myself to my feet.

My fingers were numb from the cold, but I refused to knock on the door again.

A servant passing through the hallway stopped when she saw me.

Her eyes widened.

Mrs. Hawthorne, should I get you a coat?

I shook my head.

No. It belongs to Felicity now.

The servant lowered her gaze and quietly stepped aside.

I dragged my suitcase toward the stairs.

Every step echoed through the grand house.

At the bottom of the staircase, I caught sight of the family portrait hanging above the fireplace.

Julian stood in the center, surrounded by his parents and the elders of the Hawthorne bloodline.

There was an empty space beside him.

The space that had supposedly been waiting for me.

For five years, I had believed that one day I would stand there.

I would wear the Luna crown.

I would receive the Hawthorne seal.

I would finally prove that a wolfless woman from Red Mesa could belong among the coastal bloodlines.

Now I realized something painfully simple.

They had never been waiting for me.

They had been waiting for someone they considered worthy.

Felicity.

My phone vibrated.

Wyatt had sent another message.

I’m already on the road. Give me a few hours.

I looked at the message and smiled for the first time that night.

I replied with three words.

I’m ready, Wyatt.

Then I walked out of the Hawthorne house.

The cold wind struck my face immediately.

Snow landed on my bare shoulders and melted against my skin.

For the first time in five years, I felt free.

I didn’t know what would happen after I returned to Red Mesa.

I didn’t know whether Julian would regret what he had done.

But I knew one thing.

I would never again beg a man to choose me.

Behind me, the Hawthorne doors remained firmly shut.

I didn’t turn around.

Not even once.