[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-260322A01459-499":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},499,6,"Chapter 6: Watching Them Beneath the Oak","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Since that moment, Desmond and I hadn’t exchanged a single word.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I had always been the passive one in this marriage. They say that in any game of the heart, the first person to catch feelings is the one who loses. Besides, the Knights had raised me for eighteen years; I lived under the suffocating weight of that debt, feeling like I owed them my life.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">A sudden, sharp ache for my mother hit me. Not the people who had taken me in, but my real mother. I pressed her photograph against my chest, seeking some warmth.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Mom, I’m hurting so much lately... how do I get better?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Mom didn’t speak; she just smiled from the frame. A memory surfaced, her voice whispering in my ear: \"Sweetheart, don't let your tears pool in the same place. Put on something comfortable and walk. The wind will strip away the dust, and the road will lead you to someone new. You won’t find a better life sitting still.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I threw on a coat, headed downstairs, and wandered aimlessly through the apartment complex.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">That’s when I saw them. Desmond and Vienna. They were standing beneath a towering oak, kissing like the rest of the world had gone dark.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His kiss was rhythmic, devouring—marked by a visceral, predatory hunger. His fingers were buried deep in Vienna’s hair, a gentle, possessive grip that left no room for doubt.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Desmond’s gaze flicked over her shoulder, catching mine. Or perhaps that was just my own insecurity playing tricks on me.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The kiss dragged on. Finally, he pulled back just an inch, his forehead still resting against hers, lingering in the space between them. Vienna opened her eyes, swimming in a soft, hazy glow, and smiled at him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I thought back to the few times Desmond had kissed me. Sterile. Restrained. A polite, clinical transaction.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The realization settled in my gut like cold lead: Desmond had never truly liked me at all.\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272915871]