We were all crammed into the Alcove mansion's grand living room. Ethan was seated beside me, his hand tightly wrapped around mine. My brothers sat opposite, forming a solid wall of disapproval.
"Xandria, you betrayed our trust. After everything we've been through, after everything he's done—how could you? Both of you break up this instant" Marcus's words landed like punches.
"I'm the father! You can't separate us," Ethan shot back, his voice filled with conviction.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Their expressions varied—Julian looked ready to bite, Dante's blue eyes sparkled with mischief that masked his temper, Marcus's face was unreadable as always, and Theo...well, Theo just stared with that clinical detachment that made me feel like an experiment under a microscope.
