The Alpha King's Reluctant Bride (Ava and Grayson) novel Chapter 190

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-Grayson’s POV-

25th July-Rickon.

26th July-Isabella.

27th July-Maria.

28th July-Isabella.

31st July-Ricardo.

2nd August—Isabella.

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3rd August-Rickon.

4th August-Maria.

7th August-A call from Carter.

That was the sequence in which the intervention happened. I really didn’t know if they had a schedule on who should come to talk to me or when. But I didn’t care because everything they said centered around the same damn thing.

“Things aren’t as bad as they seem.”

“You might not have your wolf, but that doesn’t mean everyone is not still scared of you. No one would dare challenge your throne.”

“You’re full of bullshit because you know Ava would never do this.”

“Do you hear me? Full of bullshit.”

“You still haven’t gone to see her? Do you know what you are putting her through right now?”

“Grayson, can you hear me? Are you even listening?”

The last four, along with some deeply colorful curses, came from Isabella in person.

Was I listening? I didn’t even know anymore. But I guess if I could replay everything that had been said to me over the last two weeks, then I must have been.

Two weeks.

Two weeks since I felt the light die out, since the happiness I had tried to grasp onto disappeared with a force I didn’t even remember. The moments that I had once cherished, the moments that had filled me with warmth, now felt like they had never existed.

Two weeks since I realized the woman I loved… Yes, I said loved. I might not have been able to say it out loud, but I loved her. I had loved her, and in a cruel twist of fate, she had betrayed me.

Weakness. That was the word my father spat out the most. ‘You show them you are weak, and they will walk all over you.’ And I had shown Ava Pierce every vulnerable side of me. I had given her everything, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I

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could be something different. Something better. But it only proved my father right. Even more painful than the betrayal itself was the realization that what she had done had proven my father right.

Right from the very start, she had planned this. They had planned this. Right from the very first moment. How had I not seen it?

A knock sounded on the door, and I didn’t even bother to look up from the blank screen in front of me. The screen that I couldn’t focus on, couldn’t care about.

I didn’t have a clue about anything anymore. I didn’t care about anything. Everything was numb. The voices, the intervention—nothing registered anymore. I was lost in the hollow emptiness inside me.

Another knock, this time louder, more insistent. Probably Isabella. She was the most persistent. I raised my head just enough to glance at the door, but it felt like too much of a chore, so I let my gaze drop back to the

screen.

Then I heard the door creak open, the sound of heels clicking across the floor. A shuffle, and then the chair across from me scraped as someone sat down. Still, I didn’t look up.

Whoever it was didn’t say anything for a while. Then, her voice cut through the heavy silence like a blade.

“You’re even worse than what I heard.”

Elaine.

I raised my head slightly, just enough to meet her eyes. I expected to see the triumph that Ava was finally gone just like she wanted. But instead, she looked at me the way she used to when we were kids-like she was disappointed, like I had done something to annoy her, but she had no choice but to care. No choice but to love me.

“When was the last time you took a shower? Or ate something?” she asked.

I didn’t answer. I just kept staring at her, unsure if I was even really seeing her. The words were like static in my brain, but I couldn’t find the energy to reply.

“Have you heard what people are saying about you?” she continued, her tone sharp.

Still, I didn’t speak.

She sighed, exasperated, and stood up. “Well, if you want to be miserable, then at least complete it by drowning in your misery.” She glared at me, her eyes hard now. “We’re going out for drinks.”

The words sounded foreign. The idea of going out. Of doing something. Anything. But it felt too far removed from the man I was now, from the pain that consumed me. But she was already rising, determined, moving with purpose. I was still frozen in my chair, but she glanced at me, a quiet command in her eyes.