Steven’s eyes flickered away, shame visible now, raw. “I forced your parents’ hand.”
Ryan’s jaw flexed like he wanted to deny it.
Steven didn’t let him. “Marrying Eve to you was my twisted way of trying to fulfil her dreams.”
Ryan’s throat tightened so hard it hurt.
Steven’s voice broke. “I thought she would be happy. I thought, ” he swallowed, eyes wet, “, I thought if I put her inside your world, you would eventually see her.”
Ryan’s breath came shallow.
Tevin’s face tightened in quiet disgust, but he didn’t interrupt. Maxwell didn’t move.
Steven’s shoulders sagged. “But I was wrong.”
The words came out like a confession carved from blood.
“I was wrong,” Steven repeated, quieter. “I gave her to a cage and called it a dream.”
Ryan stared at him, chest burning.
Steven looked at
