Alissa spoke gently, but her words didn’t coddle. “He thinks he lost your mother. And then he thinks he lost you. And then he finds out you have a mother and father somewhere else now, people who claimed you fully, and it reopened something that never healed.”
Eve’s jaw clenched. “So now I’m supposed to carry his grief too.”
Alissa shook her head immediately. “No. No, Eve.” She held Eve’s gaze, firm. “You’re not supposed to carry it. I’m not telling you this to make you responsible for him. I’m telling you because… I think understanding explains why he reacted with that rage. Not to excuse it.”
Eve’s chest rose and fell slowly.
She didn’t want Steven’s emotions to become her burden.
But she couldn’t deny it made sense.
It explained the possessiveness in his eyes. The wounded pride. T
