Keya's POV:
I would have rejected James the moment he told me what he wanted.
The only reason I hadn’t was Ryker. When I knew, for sure, I just wanted to get out and got even.
Ryker didn't know, but he was getting suspicious.
But tonight... tonight was Ryker’s big night. And once it was over, this farce—this fragile lie I still wore like a second skin—would end with it.
We were two hours away. Two hours from the celebration. Two hours from Ryker stepping into his role in Hight Council. He would be perfect leader. He had always been.
The thought made my stomach twist.
After the toasts, the smiles, the formal oaths... I’d finally speak the last truth I owed. And it would shatter whatever James thought he still had with me.
I hated him. Goddess, I did. With every part of me.
But eve
