Yorick: "..."


    He sucked in a breath, sharp and heavy.


    Right now, Yorick was standing in his townhouse in Ferrond. The whole way here, he''d been meaning to reach out to Ste. But now that he was actually here? Nerves had him by the throat.


    He''d seen all the headlines about her wedding in Ferrond-not from Ronald, but through Lottie.


    Lottie, the woman who raised Ste. Honestly, calling her "Mom" wouldn''t have been a stretch.


    The way things yed out between them? No one back in Portis City would''ve epted it, not in a million years.


    But Lottie... she''d posted it everywhere: "The daughter-inw I raised is finally all grown up."


    Not daughter-daughter-inw.


    Apparently, the Lugar family had always treated Ste as their own future daughter-inw. Yorick never could''ve guessed she held that kind of ce with


    them.


    Back in Portis City, when Ste and Ronald were tangled up together, Yorick had thought that rtionship-growing up side by side-was a line they''d never cross, not without consequences. He''d figured Ferrond would eat her alive for it.


    He''d been so sure: the past between them would always be a wall too high to climb. If the Lugar family ever cast her out, she''d only have one ce to go-back to Portis City. Back to him.


    But he''d been wrong.


    Now, here in Ferrond, things he thought impossible were falling into ce like it was nothing.


    And Ste''s words "Are youing to my wedding?"—stabbed straight into his chest, sharp as a knife.


    It hurt. It actually hurt to breathe.


    "You''re really going to marry Ronald?" Yorick forced out, his voice rough.


    His breath was ragged, and for a moment, the world spun. He''d never felt this kind of hollow ache before-not even when Urs had left Portis City all those years ago.


    Only after Ste left did he realize he remembered every single detail about her.


    Ste gave a short, sardonicugh. "You think I''d joke about this? Didn''t you see all the wedding prep?"


    Yeah. The wedding with Ronald. The ns had started way back in Portis City.


    Yorick pressed on, "Do you know how many people are dragging your name through the mud, Ste? Aside from the Lugar family and the Quinn family, no one''s epting this."


    Ste went quiet.


    He went on, relentless, "You and Ronald-people don''t ept this, not anywhere. Doesn''t matter if the big families are on board. The rest of the world isn''t."


    But Ste just shrugged it off. "Why should I care? And why do you care, Yorick?" The words knocked the wind out of him all over again.


    Ste continued, cool and collected, "Worry about yourself, okay? Don''t tell me that after finding out the real Urs, you suddenly realized you never loved her after all? That''d be a real shame for her-and prettyughable for your so-called love."


    "You-" Yorick started, but Ste cut him off.


    "Look at me. No matter what I be, he loves me."


    Yorick reeled. No matter what she became? Was she talking about Ronald? Did she really think Ronald... loved her? Did she even know what love was?


    And then Ste added, "If I were you, I wouldn''t have time to hang around Ferrond right now. Hogan Freeman isn''t someone you can just brush off."


    Hogan Freeman-the guy who survived the underground fighting rings. His mind was sharper, darker, than Yorick could ever hope to match.


    Yorick let out a bitterugh, "Really? That''s your angle now? Well, congrattions, Ste. Because of that guy, I''ve lost everything."


    Ste fell silent.


    Yorick looked down, voice hollow, "Just like you wanted. I''ve got nothing left."