Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
EMILIA
Luca watched the world like he was already bored of it.
Bastion walked through it like he was ready to burn it down.
One controlled his chaos with cold detachment.
The other weaponized his silence with the weight of every scar he refused to show.
And me?
I was caught in the middle of them—wanting both.
And that was the danger.
Dynasty daughters didn’t get to want things.
We followed rules.
We obeyed alliances.
We sacrificed.
But I wasn’t thinking about marriage pacts or legacy mergers or who my family expected me to sit beside at the next gala.
I was thinking about Luca’s mouth.
Bastion’s voice.
And the way they touched me like I already belonged to them .
I stepped inside slowly, the door clicking behind me louder than I meant.
I didn’t see them at first—not right away.
Just the soft edge of Luca’s shadow by the window, Bastion sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees, head dropped into his hands.
Neither of them looked up.
Not even when I walked farther in.
God, not today.
I’d held it together all afternoon—smiled when I was meant to, nodded when I had to, swallowed every crack in my chest and played the part.
The good daughter.
The perfect dynasty pawn.
And now this.
This coldness.
This silence.
I thought maybe they were angry.
Maybe they regretted everything—the night we blurred lines, the day we shared something too soft, too real.
Maybe they’d spoken about it.
Decided it wasn’t worth the mess.
Maybe I was the mess.
I dropped my bag by the table and cleared my throat softly. “Hey.”
Luca’s head turned just slightly.
Bastion didn’t move.
“Rough day?” Luca asked.
The question was gentle. Too gentle.
It made my ribs feel too small for my lungs.
I swallowed hard and nodded, trying to smile. “Just tired.”
Still, the silence stretched.
I didn’t know what I expected .
But the tension in the room didn’t ease.
It just tightened.
My throat burned.
And then the words slipped out before I could stop them.
“I can’t do this.”
Bastion lifted his head slowly.
His eyes locked on mine.
I kept going. Quiet. Honest. Exposed.
“I thought I could, but I can’t.”
Luca stood, but didn’t come closer.
“I like you.”
My voice cracked.
“I like both of you. And I know how fucked that is. I know what it makes me.”
Neither of them spoke.
So I stepped back, shaking my head.
“And I know what comes next. You’ll want me to pick. To make it simple. To make it easier. But I can’t. I won’t.”
My fingers curled at my sides.
“Because it’s not easier. It’s impossible. You’re not the same. Even if you look it. Even if you move in sync and think alike and carry the same goddamn scars—you’re not.”
Bastion was still staring at me, his jaw clenched tight.
“You’re fire and stone,” I said, eyes darting between them. “One of you cuts and the other cauterizes. You feel different. You move different. You touch different. And you both… you both make me feel things I didn’t think I could feel again.”
The room felt too small.
My voice too loud.
“And I won’t be the reason you hate each other.”
That was the truth that had lived in my chest all day.
The truth that made me walk out of class.
Stare at the ceiling in the library .
Rehearse this in my head.
“I’m not going to rip you apart.”
Luca finally stepped forward. “Emilia?—”
“No,” I cut him off, gently. “Don’t. Please.”
My eyes flicked to Bastion.
“Don’t make me say it again.”
I turned and left. I didn’t look back.