28. The Third Sin

"You can’t leave me alone like this!" she cried, her trembling hand reaching toward Lucian as though her outstretched fingers could tether him to her. As she channeled her powers, a sudden gust of wind slammed the door shut, echoing her desperate plea in the silence that followed. Cithara had hoped her words, her pain, her very presence might stir some spark of remorse within him. She had clung to the fragile hope that she could make him understand the depth of his betrayal. But what she didn’t realize was that everything unfolding was carefully orchestrated—every word, every action, every moment—precisely as Lucian intended. He had succeeded in committing not one but two grievous sins. First, he had corrupted her innocence, weaving his lies and charm so deeply into her heart that she could no longer understand where his deception ended, and her love began. Then, when her devotion was absolute, he shattered her, betraying her in the cruelest of ways—on the very bed where she had once b