Bella’s POV
"You expect to believe that through all of this, you were secretly in love with ?" The words tore from my throat, raw with the ache that clawed its way back into my chest.
"I was in love with you. I still am," Derek said, his hand pressing against his heart as he moved closer.
I threw my palm up between us, creating an invisible wall he couldn’t cross.
"Bullshit," I snarled. "You crawled back because your precious wife’s womb is empty and you need an heir."
The color drained from his face like I’d slapped him.
"You think I’m still that pathetic girl, don’t you? That sa broken Bella who hung on your every word?" My voice cracked with fury. "I gave you one final opportunity that night when I told you about the baby. You looked in the eye and said you never wanted to see again. I begged you just to say it one more ti."
My chest heaved as I glared at him through the space between us.
"After everything I’ve survived, you honestly believe I’d fall for your manipulation again? That would an I learned nothing from the hell you put through."
The words sliced through the air, and sothing twisted with satisfaction inside when his eyes filled with tears.
Yes, I was exactly the kind of person who found joy in watching her forr mate finally suffer.
"You’re only saying this to hurt ," he whispered, shaking his head. "And you’re right about my mistakes. But do you know why I made them?"
He stepped forward and I retreated. We had nothing left to discuss.
I couldn’t understand his obsession with rehashing our destruction over and over.
"I don’t give a damn anymore. You have a wife. You’re trying to make babies with her. Co on, Derek. You already destroyed any respect I had for you. Don’t humiliate yourself in front of her too."
He shook his head with desperate determination.
"No. Today you’re going to hear exactly why I did what I did," his voice turned steel as he advanced until he stood directly in front of .
"My father threatened . He used your life, your safety, everything about you as leverage against ."
My knees buckled at his words and I gripped the bed fra to keep from collapsing.
Just hearing about his father sent ice through my veins.
"My father was the reason I walked away from you. If I hadn’t, your entire family would have faced severe consequences," he continued, tears spilling down his cheeks.
I still couldn’t grasp what his father could have said that terrified Derek so completely. The man had threatened before, but I needed to understand more.
What could have been so horrific that Derek couldn’t even speak to afterward?
"Your father always hated our friendship, but that doesn’t erase the fact that I woke up alone that morning," I said, holding his gaze and forcing him to confront that mory that haunted every single day.
I still wondered why I had fallen asleep. Why hadn’t I stayed awake to catch him sneaking away?
I wanted to know what went through their minds when they betrayed like that.
"I never intended to leave you. I planned to stay, but I had no choice," Derek whispered as he reached for my arms.
I shoved my hands against his chest, pushing him back with a warning not to touch . Just because he had an explanation didn’t an I would believe it.
"That night, after everything we shared, I planned to stay. I wanted to ask you to choose , to be mine," he continued.
I didn’t know what shocked more, his words or his assumption that I would buy any of this, but he kept talking.
"That morning, my father called ," his voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "What I heard in that call scared so badly I couldn’t even stay next to you."
I watched him struggle to breathe, to find his words.
"There was a video attached to his ssage," he added, guilt weighing down every syllable.
My brow furrowed in confusion.
"What video?" My heart hamred against my ribs.
"A video of you going through files in my father’s office," he replied. "He showed that footage and threatened to have you punished for trespassing in the Alpha’s private office."
The mory slamd into like a physical blow.
I rembered that incident perfectly, and suddenly I knew he wasn’t lying about this part.
"I knew that happened. I just had no idea he recorded it," I said, feeling dizzy as the implications sank in.
"He was going to send the warriors to arrest you at your ho," Derek explained, his voice heavy with pain. "Then he planned to turn you over to the council. Back then, the council handed out brutal punishnts to young won like you. They were going to sell you to so disgusting old man, force you into marriage with him."
Derek paused and buried his face in his hands. I could see the veins pulsing at his temples.
"I traded my freedom for yours, Bella," he said quietly.
When he looked up, his eyes were bloodshot. A tear traced down his cheek as he pointed at , his voice breaking.
"Just to protect you from that fate, I made a deal with the devil himself. With my father. I gave him everything, my freedom, my mother’s inheritance, my future. I sacrificed it all for you."
I stared at him in stunned silence, my mind spinning with questions I wasn’t ready to ask.
"That day when you told about the pregnancy, I was terrified for you," he continued. "If my father had discovered it, and he would have because his spies watched your every move, you would have disappeared forever."
He stepped back, dragging his hand through his hair in frustration.
"My plan was to endure being my father’s prisoner, accept the crown when he forced it on , and then co back for you. I wanted to announce to everyone that you would be my wife. But that never happened, because you vanished. And I remained trapped in the deal I made with him."
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