Chapter 192 Strangle Him


    Chapter 192 Strangle Him


    TESSA


    Woah. This ce was better than before.


    Thest time I’d seen it, the air was muddied with dust. Now, it was clear.


    s


    It wasn’t stripped to the bone. The trees were still here, their roots holding the ground like guardians. However, their bark appeared brushed clean and not scarred.


    My steps slowed as I took it all in, my lungs pulling in air that was lighter than I remembered, yet somehow heavier in meaning. I arrived at the clearing, my breath catching when I saw that most of the attendees were already settled in their seats.


    Among them, an empty seaty waiting.


    My heart leapt in ridiculous relief.


    I kept my head down, determined not to let my presence be known. Owen couldn’te because he suddenly had a work trip in a neighboring country. Poor guy, really. He was still climbing the corporatedder, so he couldn’t disregard his superior.


    He also told me that only close friends of Arden and Cade would be here. However, upon closer inspection, I saw that the leaders of each pack were here. “Damn you, Owen,” I muttered, already seeing familiar faces I didn’t want to meet just yet.


    With that, I walked quickly to the empty seat.


    Yet as my hand reached for the chair, I stopped. The air lodged in my throat as though the world had suddenly pulled the ground from under me.


    The vacant seat wasn’t just a seat.


    It was next to him.


    The only man I had ever loved, yet the one I loathed with equal fire, was staring back at me.


    Rowan.


    He was still handsome. That word felt insulting, too small to hold the cut of his jaw, the way his body had broadened with time, shoulders that seemed to carry even heavier burdens now. His hair was lighter somehow<i>, </i>threads of gold catching the light like it had been touched by the sun itself. His face was older and more defined.


    However, his eyes were… dull. Even duller than thest time I had looked into them. And yet, when his gaze met mine, it felt like something brightened.


    I couldn’t breathe.


    Seriously, out of every single seat in this sacred, enormous ce, this was the one that remained empty? Right next to Rowan Wrenmoor?


    O


    <


    11:34 Fri, 29 Aug


    Chapter 192 Strangle Him


    I tore my eyes away, scanning the room with fevered desperation. There had to be another seat, somewhere, anywhere else. And yes–there. At the very front, open, waiting.


    My stomach dropped. All eyes would be there. No thanks.


    36%


    s


    Before I could make a decision, the bells chimed. That was the signal that the ceremony was about to start.


    Every murmur hushed into reverence.


    I had no choice.


    My steps dragged, but they brought me to the seat next to him. My heart thundered so hard I thought it might shake the ground beneath us. I sat, spine stiff, shoulders squared like I was ready for battle. But inside, I felt like a trembling child again.


    And lord help me—it was so awkward.


    Why was I still so small against him?


    It wasn’t fair. Time had sharpened him, filled him out, wrapped him in something that screamed authority andmand. Meanwhile, I still felt dwarfed. His presence cast a shadow over me, no matter how straight


    I sat.


    I forced my gaze forward, my gaze focusing on the man of the night. Cade Cahan.


    Time had been kind to him. Or maybe it wasn’t time at all, but Arden.


    He looked the same in form, but his eyes were so alive now. Brighter. Freer. There was no wall, no cage. Just a man unburdened, smiling a smile that felt genuine. One that lit the room without apology.


    I couldn’t help it. I smiled, too.


    However, amidst this, there was a distraction at my side.


    An unavoidable, unbearable, suffocating distraction.


    Ignore him, Tessa. Ignore him.


    I screamed it in my mind. No matter how stupidly handsome he was. No matter how his scent wrapped in the air, it was made to unravel me. Ignore him.


    And yet the scent betrayed him.


    I caught the scent on him like a mark. Sweet, floral, dripping with vanity and artifice.


    Zaria.


    I pursed my lips together before I could stop myself, tongue clicking softly against my teeth. Of course, they were together now.


    I kept a straight face because I didn’t care at all. Before I left, I even told them to be happy!


    Still, his gaze burned into the side of my face, trying to pull at every stitch of my being. However, these stitches had long been sewn shut.


    <


    11:34 Fri, 29 Aug ..


    Chapter 192 Strangle Him


    Finally, I broke.


    36%


    s


    Without turning my head, without granting him the satisfaction of seeing my eyes, I spoke, “Can you stop- looking at me?”


    Rowan didn’t respond for a while. The silence stretched long enough for me to think maybe he’d ignore me entirely.


    “I’m sorry,” he said after a while.


    At first, I thought I misheard him. Sorry? From him? I turned my head slightly, skeptical, but there was no teasing glint in his eyes. His voice wasn’t mocking or sarcastic.


    “You’re just so… pretty.”


    The way he said it made my heart falter, and for a dangerous second, I forgot how to breathe.


    Pretty. He thought I was pretty?


    Why the heck did he sound so sincere?


    The urge to strangle him surged through me. I wanted to tell him to shut up and stop looking at me like that.


    But before I could scold him, the music started, and the entourage began to file in.


    Saved by the ceremony.


    My eyes immediatelytched onto the aisle. I watched intently, waiting for her–waiting for Arden.


    And then she came out.


    I swear the whole room gasped when she appeared. Arden looked… radiant. No, radiant wasn’t even enough. She looked like she belonged in this moment, like the years of pain and weight she had carried


    had led her here.


    Her dress was flowy, light as air, the thin strap gliding along her shoulder, the fabric catching against the glow of the lights. She looked ethereal, breathtaking in a way that made the entire world slow down. The years had been kind to her, too.


    I felt my chest swell with something bittersweet. Arden had always been amazing. Even back then, she had been remarkable. But now–now she looked like the woman she was always meant to be. Strong. Loved. Unapologetically herself.


    It made me think that the long road had been worth it. That every ache, every tear, every sleepless night we’d endured together had led her here, to this moment where she could finally be free.


    A tear slipped down my cheek before I realized it. My throat tightened, and I quickly tried to will it back, but the warmth lingered, betraying me. I could already hear Noelle’s voice in my head, sharp and yful, scolding me for ruining my makeup.


    But my makeup didn’t matter.


    What mattered was Arden–my eternal best friend. The girl who had once carried me when I couldn’t


    111


    r


    11:34 Fri, 29 Aug <b>0 </b>


    Chapter 192 Strangle Him


    ?36%–


    s


    walk on my own. The girl who had listened to my everyint, who had held me together through heartbreak, who had reminded me of my worth when I forgot it.


    This was her moment. And I wasn’t going to let smeared eyeliner ruin the way I celebrated her joy.


    Just then, something unexpected happened.


    I felt a spark on my cheek. It startled me, sent a jolt through my body, and I gasped softly, my hand twitching toward the spot.


    I turned my head, and my breath caught.


    Rowan was looking at me–not at the aisle, not at Arden, not anywhere else.


    In the next second, his hand moved, rough yet careful fingers brushing against my skin. He wiped the tear from my cheek with such gentleness.