Chapter 142: Why did you betray me?

Elvira watched as the entire group filed out of the study. A triumphant smile curled the corner of her lips, faint enough that no one caught it.

The moment she and Dorian were alone, she rose to her feet and took a step toward him.

"Sit!" he commanded sharply, stopping her dead in her tracks with a freezing glare.

"But Dorian..."

"Don’t test me, Elvira! I didn’t ask everyone to leave so we could have an intimate little chat. This is an interrogation, so sit your ass back down!"

Elvira faltered, her knees trembling as she slowly backed away and lowered herself onto the sofa.

Dorian straightened his spine and let out a deep breath. Apart from questioning her about her disappearance, he needed an answer to one specific question that had haunted him for years.

He walked around the desk and leaned against the edge, crossing his arms over his chest. His golden eyes locked onto her like a predator’s.

"Now it’s just the two of us," he muttered coldly. "If you lie to me, I’ll know. So don’t you dare."

She nodded innocently, her hands clasped tightly on her lap. Then, she let a soft, melancholic smile touch her lips as she looked him over.

"You’ve changed so much," she whispered. "You’ve grown so handsome, and you let your hair grow out. I still can’t believe it’s you."

Dorian didn’t offer a reply. His eyes roamed over her face, the same face that had once had him spellbound. Now, as he looked at her, he felt nothing but the distant, hollow sensation of staring at a complete stranger.

"You’ve changed too," he noted flatly.

She chuckled and waved her hand. "I suppose we both changed a lot after so many years apart."

She fell silent for a moment, simply gazing up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I missed you, Dorian. I missed you so much. You were the only thought keeping me alive. Did... did you ever miss me?"

At her question, Dorian’s expression hardened. His eyes blazed with annoyance, and he turned his face away.

"Enough with the sentiments, Elvira," he growled. "Tell me the truth. Where have you been all these years?"

She let out a quiet sigh, her head drooping slightly. "You used to believe every single word I said to you. You never doubted me once. What changed?"

"Just answer the damn question!" Dorian snapped.

She lowered her chin, letting her shoulders slump in defeat. "I told you. I was trapped in an asylum, tortured daily by doctors who claimed they were trying to cure my insanity."

"What asylum?" Dorian fired back, taking a step closer. "Why refuse to name it?"

"Because I escaped!" she cried out in exasperation. "I couldn’t endure the torture anymore. I can’t tell you the name because I know you’ll investigate it. And the moment you contact them, they will track me down and drag me back to that hellhole. I don’t want to go back there!"

Dorian’s expression remained guarded. He didn’t look entirely convinced.

"How did you make it all the way back to Wintercrest?" he asked next.

"It’s a long story," Elvira exhaled. "I worked minor jobs, saving every penny while starving myself for weeks. My only goal was to get back to you, to be near you again. That was the only thing that kept me breathing."

Dorian stared deep into her eyes, searching for deception. All he saw reflected in her gaze was sincerity, but years of betrayal had taught him not to trust appearances.

"Why didn’t I feel the mate bond all this time?" he pressed on. "The bond shattered the day you fell off that cliff. If you survived, why didn’t I ever sense it?"

"I don’t know," she whispered, shaking her head helplessly. "I didn’t feel the spark either until I touched you. Maybe when my heart temporarily stopped after I fell, the bond severed. And by the time I gained consciousness, I was far away from Wintercrest. That is the only logical theory I have."

"And you really don’t know who saved you?"

She shook her head. "I don’t know. After I fell, did you really never come down to find me? To check if I was still alive?"

Dorian abruptly looked away, unable to meet her gaze.

How could he tell her that he had abandoned her to hunt down Joffrey in a fit of blind rage? How could he tell her that Conri and Bethany were the ones who confirmed her death, and that, consumed by the wound of her infidelity, he had ordered them to leave her body to rot in the wilderness without a proper burial?

He swallowed hard, completely bypassing her question, and finally asked the one burning inquiry that had plagued his mind for years.

"Why did you do it, Elvira?"

She blinked up at him, confusion flitting across her features. "Do what?"

"Betray me! Why did you do it? You had my entire heart, my soul, my complete devotion. Yet you turned around, gave your body to my cousin, and tried to force his bastard child onto me as my heir."

He pushed off the desk, striding forward until he loomed over her. His eyes were cold enough to freeze blood, his hands thrust deep into his pockets to stop them from trembling.

"I never got the chance to demand an answer from you back then," he growled. "So I am demanding it now. Why did you betray me?"

Despite the fury radiating off him, Elvira didn’t shrink away. She rose smoothly to her feet, her hand reaching out to touch his chest. But Dorian instinctively took a step back.

She let her arm drop to her side, letting out a long, shuddering sigh. "You never gave me a chance to explain," she began, tears spilling over. "What happened back then was Joffrey’s fault. He drugged my drink at the Moon Ceremony and took advantage of me."

"Yet you kept it a secret from me!" Dorian snarled out, his jaw clenching. "You let me believe for months that the child growing inside you was mine!"

"I didn’t know how to tell you," she sobbed out, breaking down into tears. "I was terrified. I desperately wanted that baby to be yours. So I convinced myself that if it was, it would erase the trauma of what Joffrey did to me."

She closed the small distance between them, ignoring his retreat. She held his jaw, pressing her body against his chest.

"I swear to you on my soul, Dorian, I have always loved you. And I never stopped loving you. I hated myself every day for what happened, but my love for you never died."

Dorian violently jerked his head back, tearing himself away from her grip. He had once believed every word she spoke a long time ago, but not anymore.

"I shouldn’t have asked," he muttered, turning his back on her. "It belongs in the past, and I have long since moved on. I have made my peace with what Joffrey did."

"What about us?" she whispered. "I survived hell and came back for you. I miss what we were, what we had. I want us back together."

Dorian shook his head slowly, keeping his back firmly turned to her. "We can never be together again, Elvira," he said. "I am in love with someone else. And I am married to her."

"Dorian... you don’t mean that," she pleaded, moving around him and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "Don’t you feel the mate bond between us? It never died. That means we were always meant to be together."

She slid her hands up over his chest and around his shoulders, sobbing softly. "I still love you. Don’t do this to us."

"Elvira, take your hands off me..."

"No! Dorian, please!" she cried out, her fingers tightening on his shoulders. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me. Tell me you don’t feel our bond."

Dorian reached up and grabbed her wrists, forcefully peeling her hands off his body and pushing her back a step. He looked straight into her eyes, his gaze devoid of warmth.

"I don’t love you anymore," he said without hesitation. "My heart belongs to another woman now, my wife and my Queen. I will not lie to you, I feel the pull of the mate bond. But I am going to reject you."

Elvira stared at him in horror, her breath hitching in her throat. "No..." she whispered. "No... please, Dorian... don’t do this..."

"I’m sorry, Elvira," Dorian said, his tone completely cold and detached. "But you and I no longer have a future together."

Elvira stared at him through a haze of scalding tears. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs as the truth of his words crashed over her. He wasn’t bluffing. He meant every single word. She had truly lost him.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Alyssa walked inside.

The moment Elvira’s eyes caught sight of her, she pulled his face down and kissed him.