Chapter 6

CRYSTAL BURGESS POV:

Jorden's green eyes, usually so full of fire, narrowed. He saw the blankness in my gaze, the way my struggles had ceased.

"Jorden! You're going to kill her!" Garrick's voice, sharp with alarm, cut through the haze.

Jorden's grip faltered. He looked at me, really looked, and a flicker of something - panic? - crossed his face. He quickly released me.

I fell to the floor in a heap, my lungs burning, my throat constricted. I gasped, coughing until my chest ached, my body wracked with tremors.

Connor rushed to my side, his hand reaching for me.

Just then, Andrea, awakened by the commotion, flung open the bedroom door. She took in the scene: her sobbing son, Jorden towering over me, me gasping on the floor, and Connor hovering.

Connor froze, his hand still outstretched. His eyes met Andrea's, then darted back to me. He recoiled, pushing me away with a sudden, rough shove. I tumbled backward, hitting my head against the wooden floor, a fresh wave of pain blossoming across my scalp.

Garrick, who had been standing a few feet away, took half a step forward, his jaw tight. Then he stopped, his gaze fixed on my pathetic form, his shoulders slumping.

Jorden, a cruel smirk on his face, eyed Connor. "Still playing the hero, Connor? I thought you promised to 'guard her for life'?" He laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "Guess even you couldn't stomach the spoiled princess forever. We all want the same woman, it seems, and it certainly isn't her." His gaze, filled with contempt, swept over me where I lay crumpled on the floor.

Connor's eyes, dark and unreadable, met my frantic, pleading stare. He held it for a beat, then slowly, deliberately, he turned his head away.

I froze, unable to breathe, unable to move. It was the final nail. The utter, complete, absolute end.

"Crystal? Is your arm alright?" Andrea's voice, surprisingly soft, cut through the tension.

Only then did everyone notice. My forearm, where the boiling water had splashed, was a horrifying expanse of bright red skin, angry blisters already beginning to form.

The three men who had once worshipped me, who had promised me forever, all looked at me with a strange mix of shock and something like pity. They expected me to scream, to cry, to demand attention.

But I didn't. I just pushed myself up, slowly, painfully, without a sound.

My eyes, dull and devoid of emotion, found Andrea. She stood there, beautiful and composed, her warmth a stark contrast to the icy cold that had settled in my heart. She was everything they had ever wanted me to be: strong, independent, capable. I knew, with a certainty that chilled me to the bone, that no one in this room, save for perhaps Andrea herself, would ever choose me over her.

Andrea patted her son's back, trying to quiet his sobs. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't have thrown the kettle. You need to apologize to Crystal."

The boy buried his face in her side, muttering an indignant "No!"

Andrea offered me a helpless, apologetic smile. "He's still quite young," she said, her voice gentle. "He doesn't fully understand. I'm so sorry, Crystal. Let me get you some burn cream."

"No," I said, my voice flat, dead.

Everyone looked at me, startled by my unexpected refusal.

"He needs to apologize," I repeated, my voice unwavering, though my body felt like it was crumbling.

Andrea's smile faded. Her brow furrowed, a tiny line appearing between her eyebrows. "Crystal, he' s just a child. Perhaps an apology isn't... appropriate right now."

"He needs to apologize," I insisted, my voice gaining a desperate edge I hadn't known I possessed.

"That's enough, Crystal!" Jorden's voice, sharp and furious, cut me off.