From Substitute To Queen novel Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Every muscle in my body went rigid. My grip tightened until my knuckles went white.

“What do you want?”

Darrell’s voice cracked like he’d been crying. “Why did you block me? Three years together, and you can just… just cut me off like that?”

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. “Cut you off? Is that what you call it when someone refuses to be your backup plan?”

I know I messed up.” His words tumbled out in a desperate rush. “I’m sorry, God, I’m so sorry. I never should have let you see me with Camila. I should have handled it better.”

“Better? My voice dropped to something deadly quiet. “You mean you should have cheated behind my back? What do you think you are, some kind of king with a harem?”

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The word ‘king’ made me freeze. Did Caelan have other women? I blinked, startled by how my thoughts had wandered to him.

“It wasn’t like that!” Darrell’s protest bordered on a shout. “I never wanted to hurt you. I was just… confused. Lost.”

‘Confused for three years? Or just confused the moment she walked back into your life?”

“Please.” His voice broke completely. “Tell me where you are. We can meet, talk this through. I can explain everything.”

My tone turned dangerously calm. “We formally rejected each other, Darrell. Emotionally, legally, spiritually – we have no connection left. Do you understand what that means?”

“NO!” His roar made me pull the phone away from my ear. “I don’t accept it! I’ll never accept it!”

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The call ended with a decisive tap. My finger moved automatically to block the number.

I laughed, the sound sharp as breaking glass. “Whether you accept it or not, we’re finished. Stop wasting both our time.”

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オミテナモ

Darrell’s POV

I stared at my phone’s screen until the words ‘Call Ended” blurred together. The device felt impossibly heavy in my hands.

How can she sound so cold? Like I’m some stranger who means nothing to her.

For days, I’d been waiting for her to crack. To call crying, begging me to take her back. To realize leaving me was the biggest mistake of her life.

But my phone stayed silent. My messages bounced back undelivered. She’d erased me completely.

I miss her. The admission hit like a physical blow. Christ, I miss everything about her.

I collapsed face-first into the pillow, shoulders shaking. My voice came out muffled, broken. “Come back… please, Sable, just come back…”

My fist slammed into the nightstand hard enough to rattle the lamp. “Damn it! I’ll find you! Whatever it takes!”

Water stopped running in the ensuite bathroom. The hair dryer’s whir filled the silence for several minutes before cutting off.

Camila emerged. Damp golden hair cascaded over bare shoulders. A white towel wrapped around her curves, barely covering what mattered. Her skin glowed pink from the hot water.

“Relly?” Her voice carried genuine concern. “What’s wrong? Work problems?”

1 lifted my head, and something wild blazed in my gray eyes. Something desperate and hungry and completely unhinged.

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ter 52

Before she could react, I lunged forward and yanked her against me. The towel puddled on the carpet as my mouth crashed against her neck.

“Relly! What’s gotten into-

I shoved her down onto the mattress, my weight pinning her beneath me. “I need you. Right now.

My hands moved over her body with rough desperation. Like I could somehow fill the gaping hole in my chest through pure physical need.

“Relly, slow down-

But I couldn’t slow down. Couldn’t think past the burning ache that consumed every rational thought. I pushed inside her with a groan that sounded more like pain than pleasure.

Camila gasped, startled by my intensity. But her body responded anyway, arching beneath me as I moved with frantic urgency.

I squeezed my eyes shut, lost in sensation and desperation. At the moment of climax, when control shattered completely, a name tore from my throat.

‘Sable… oh God, Sable!”

Camila went dead still beneath me.

Her green eyes flew open, blazing with fury that could have melted steel. She shoved against my chest hard enough to throw me off balance.

‘You just called me by HER name!”

Sable’s POV

‘Sableate! Sableate! Wake up!”

Enthusiastic pounding rattled my bedroom door. Daisy’s voice carried through the wood, bright and eager despite the early hour.

I buried my face deeper into the pillow. My head felt foggy from too little sleep and too many complicated thoughts about last night’s dinner party.

What time is it?

‘Come on! Mary made pancakes! The really fluffy ones with blueberries!”

More knocking, this time accompanied by what sounded like bouncing. Because of course Daisy was literally bouncing with excitement.

–

I sat up, running both hands through tangled hair. My reflection in the vanity mirror looked exhausted – dark circles, pale skin, the general appearance of someone who’d spent half the night staring at the ceiling.

“I’m coming. My voice came out hoarse.

The knocking stopped immediately. “Really? You’re not just saying that to make me go away?”

I found myself almost smiling. “Really.”

I threw on a robe and opened the door. Daisy stood in the hallway wearing a bright yellow dress with matching ribbons in her curls. Her face lit up when she

saw me.

“Good morning!” She grabbed my hand without waiting for permission. ‘Daddy’s already downstairs. Mommy made her special coffee – the kind that smells like vanilla.

She tugged me toward the staircase. “Mary said she’d make extra pancakes if you came down quickly.”

I let myself be pulled along, too tired to resist her enthusiasm.

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Morning light streamed through the dining room’s French windows, casting golden patterns across the polished marble table. Crystal stemware caught the sunlight. White roses from Mary’s garden filled a silver vase at the center.

The scene looked perfect. Peaceful. Like something from a home decorating magazine.

Dad sat at the head of the table, scrolling through news on his tablet. Reading glasses perched on his nose.

Victoria moved around the table with practiced grace. Her pale blue silk robe flowed as she arranged silverware and napkins.

The smell of fresh coffee and warm bread made my stomach growl despite my sour mood.

‘Sable, sweetheart!” Victoria looked up as Daisy led me into the room. “Come sit here.”

She patted the chair beside her own. “Mary made your favorite blueberry scones.”

Dad glanced up from his tablet. His expression brightened when he saw me, then grew cautious. Like he wasn’t sure what kind of reception to expect.

‘Morning,” he said carefully.

I settled into the indicated chair. Victoria immediately poured coffee from an elegant pot.

I’ve been thinking about your engagement,” she said, adding cream to my cup. “When will the wedding be? The whole kingdom must be so excited.”