Chapter 17

Ivy knew nothing about any of it.

Because Rhys had slipped away from the Davenport Estate while no one was looking and showed up at Helena's cottage, knocking on Ivy's door.

Ivy was lying in bed, too nervous to sleep. She heard the noise and assumed her aunt had come back to give her more last-minute advice.

She opened the door. It was Rhys.

He stared at her, unblinking. The love in his eyes was almost spilling over.

His gaze was so intense that Ivy reached up and covered his eyes. "What are you doing here? The ceremony is in a few hours. Why aren't you resting?"

Rhys pulled her hand down and kissed it. "I missed you too much. Couldn't sleep."

If she'd heard that back when she first came to the Capital, she would've thought he was just a smooth talker, not worth trusting.

But now, looking into Rhys's eyes, all she felt was sweetness. "Mm. Me too."

She wasn't someone who wore her heart on her sleeve. The second the words left her mouth, her cheeks turned pink.

Rhys couldn't hold back anymore. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again and again.

Ivy kissed him back.

It wasn't until the first pale light of dawn that Rhys reluctantly left for the Davenport Estate, then returned with the ceremony procession to come for his mate.

Meanwhile, the Thorne parents had also received an invitation. They rushed to the Capital overnight and went to find Damon first, using the address they'd looked up. They wanted to drag him to the ceremony and make him watch Ivy bond with someone else.

Only then would he stop this nonsense and come home to Thornfield to take over the Pack.

But the second the door opened, Eleanor saw her son lying on the floor and screamed. They rushed him to the hospital.

Damon was already awake by the time they got in the car. His lips were colorless. He stared blankly out the window at the live broadcast on the screens outside, showing the Davenport ceremony.

He watched Rhys hold Ivy in his arms, unable to stop himself from leaning in to kiss her every few seconds. His love was overflowing and impossible to hide.

He watched them exchange rings and speak their vows, then share a long, deep kiss.

In sickness and in health. In joy and in sorrow. In plenty and in want. They would never let go of each other's hands.

These were the vows he'd rehearsed countless times, the ones he'd been saving for his ceremony with Ivy. But now, he could only watch as an outsider while she said those words to another man, wore another man's ring, built a life with another man.

None of it had anything to do with him anymore.

Damon pressed his hand over his heart, his voice strained. "Mom. It hurts."

Eleanor thought it was his injuries. She rushed to check on him. But Damon just kept saying it hurt, his eyes fixed on the broadcast outside the window.

After a long time, a single tear landed on Eleanor's hand.

Damon closed his eyes. "Mom. I regret it."

He regretted not listening. Regretted being stubborn and proud.

Regretted not swallowing his pride and making up with Ivy after every fight.

And most of all, he regretted that fishing trip—regretted falling into Sienna's trap, letting it lead him to this.

Eleanor stroked his hair. In the end, she just sighed.

They didn't go to see Ivy. Once Damon's injuries healed, they went straight back to Thornfield.

Sienna was caught too. Damon found out that the incident at the Thorne Lake House—when the shelf toppled and hit Ivy—had been Sienna's doing. Along with many other things before that.

Damon took back everything he'd ever given her and had her thrown into the dungeons. He didn't spare her family either.

It had all been nothing but a con.

As for Damon himself, he never bothered Ivy again. He stayed trapped in his own guilt, and he never took a mate.