Page 107 of Vows of Ruin

“You think making me remember that night is going to break me open?” He snarls. “You think you can manipulate me into giving you what you want?”

The softness drains from me like someone flipped a switch. I lean back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other, my voice going flat and cold. “If memory is manipulation, then you handed me the weapon.”

His nostrils flare. “You’re unbelievable.”

“No,” I say calmly. “I’m focused. Something you haven’t been in a long time.”

That does it.

He surges forward in the chair as far as the restraints allow, eyes blazing. “You want the truth?” he snaps. “Fine. I’ll give you the fucking truth.”

The room goes dead silent. Torque stops laughing. Riot straightens. Max and Liam become statues behind me. Noah spits the words like poison.

“I helped Sebastian because he offered me something you never did—a place that wasn’t built around you. A purpose that didn’t orbit Wrenley fucking Ashford.” My jaw tightens. He keeps going, unraveling faster now.

“He found me because I let him. Because I said yes. Because when he asked for names, I gave them.”

I feel my blood go cold. He meets my eyes and doesn’t flinch. “I told him about Torque’s brother.”

Torque’s curse cuts through the air behind me, sharp and raw.

“I told him how to reach him. What he responds to. What buttons to push.”

A hush falls heavier than any scream.

“And when Sebastian wanted to know who mattered most in your inner circle…”

He smiles, bitter, broken, triumphant. “I handed him the map.”

My voice comes out quiet, too quiet. “What map?”

He lifts his chin. “Everything I knew.” His eyes shine with something twisted, grief wrapped in spite. “Your patterns. Your weaknesses. Everyone you protect. Everyone who protects you. Every soft spot you don’t admit you have.”

Riot mutters, “Jesus Christ…”

Liam’s breath shifts behind me, slow and murderous.

Noah keeps going, like he can’t help himself anymore. “I gave him the blueprint to burn your world down. Wrenley.” His voice cracks just enough to show the truth underneath the hatred. “Because you burned mine first, and I hate your guts for it.”

He wanted this to hurt. He needed it too. It doesn’t. When he finishes spewing his venom. The room is silent. So silent I can hear the soft hum of the overhead lights… and the sound of my own pulse sharpening behind my ears. Noah sits there like he expects me to break. Cry. Scream. Crack in half. I sit there, perfectly still, heartbeat steady, expression unreadable. Cold settling into my bones like frost.

“You hate them,” I say softly. “Because you could never reach them.”

He flinches, and there it is. A quiet laugh slips from somewhere behind me, low and amused.

“Damn,” Elias mutters. “That’s gonna leave a mark.”

Torque lets out a sharp huff of laughter “Jesus,”

Wrecker right behind him chuckles, “That’s cold,” neither of them even trying to hide it. Noah’s jaw tightens, something wild flashing in his eyes, but I don’t look away. I don’t need to. I can feel them.

Max, to my left, still and steady, like he’s watching something he already knew was inevitable. Liam, just behind me, the air around him shifting, that quiet dangerous pride bleeding through without a single word.

Noah still doesn’t understand me. I inhale once, slow, steady, and reach down to the sheath at my thigh. The shift in the room is immediate. Max and Liam don’t stop me. They don’t move at all. Torque mutters under his breath, “Oh shit.” Riot grins like he is watching performance art. Elias and Margot stiffen but don’t speak. I draw the dagger free, the metal whispering as it slides from leather. I don’t point it at him, not yet. Just turn it in my hands, slowly spinning it between my fingers as easily as a coin.

Noah’s eyes track every movement. I let my voice go quiet. Dead quiet. “Do you know what the saddest part of all this is?” I ask. He swallows but doesn’t say anything. I tilt the blade, watching light ripple along its edge. “You think you’re the victim,” I continue. “You think what we had was some kind of epic tragedy that justified… this.”

I flick my gaze up, pinning him in place. “You think I ruined your life?” A small, humorless laugh slips out. “Noah… you were already sinking long before I ever touched you.”