I stood in the shadows of the grand hall, my body rigid with tension. The verdict still echoed in my ears, a cruel pronouncement that had shattered the last threads of hope I'd been clinging to. My fists were clenched so tightly at my sides that my nails dug into my palms, drawing blood that I barely noticed.
I was a selfish bastard who wished her punishment would be something that wouldn't make me feel guilty.
I owe her nothing…
I owe her nothing!
Right?
As Akari was roughly manhandled out of the court, I felt a surge of rage so powerful it threatened to overwhelm me. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to intervene, to rush down and snatch her away from those f*****g guards who didn't know how to hold a woman as delicate as she. But decades of discipline held me in check. I f
