Chapter 362: Jealousy and Fury

"He believes her. He's on her side." She wanted to completely destroy Riven's hope in the King. He does not deserve someone as loyal as this wolf.His eyes stared at the ground, unfocused. Slowly, as if all life was draining from him, Riven's posture wilted. Shoulders slumped. His tail curled close to him, ears flattening completely. In that moment, it looked like something inside him had died.

Theresa reached through the bars, hand outstretched, intending to take his hand—to comfort, to tether him to her. But Riven flinched back as though burned, pulling his hand away so quickly that it startled her. His green eyes lifted, glassy with tears, staring at her as if she'd suddenly become a stranger.

Theresa's frown was brief—barely a flicker—but it was there. A tightening of the lips. She quickly smoothed it over with a look of hurt concern. "Riven…" she whispered, as if his withdrawal wounded her deeply.

But inside, she was calculating. She had delivered the blow she intended. The King's absence. The Dowager Queen banished him. Public humiliation...

All carefully placed bricks in the wall she was building between Riven and the King.

Theresa took a shaky breath, steadying herself as the torchlight flickered over the damp stone walls. She stepped closer to the iron bars separating them, her hands trembling slightly—not from fear, but from everything she'd been holding inside.

"Riven," she began softly, searching his face for a flicker of reaction. But he looked like he heard nothing.

"You and I…" She gave a bitter laugh. "We're both trapped, aren't we? Different cages, same chains. You're down here, in this filthy cell, and I'm up there—dressed in silk, smiling like a doll, saying words that aren't mine. Do you think I have power? I don't. I've been their puppet since the day I entered this palace."

She moved closer, she wanted to be closer to him. "But I made a decision, Riven. I decided I won't just endure anymore. I'm going to fight." Her voice grew stronger, cutting through the silence of the dungeon. "And I want you to fight with me."

She reached through the bars, her hand trembling as she grasped his. His hand was cold, limp at first, but she squeezed tighter to keep him anchored. "Listen to me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I liked you. I truly did. I never knew what love was before you. Not the real kind, not the kind that makes your heart ache just by looking at someone. I was born unwanted, Riven. My parents arranged this marriage, they weren't even my parents. I was their niece."

She started to speak her mind and tell him about her secrets.

"I was a burden they dressed in hand-me-downs and paraded around like a reminder of their charity. They adored my sister—she was their real daughter. I was the spare, the convenient shadow living in the corner of their grand house. And I endured it, thinking one day I'd escape. One day I would live a better life."

Her voice cracked, and tears welled up. Her tears were not real, her resentment was. She was not sad, she was burning with fury, she wanted revenge and power. "I thought my marriage would be my escape. That my partner would treat me differently. That he'd see me. But he's worse than them. Cruel in ways that are quiet and deep. He looks at me and sees a tool, not a woman. Not a person."

She took a ragged breath and then forced herself to smile through the tears. "But you… You were kind to me. You looked at me as if I mattered. You made me feel like I wasn't invisible. You made me believe that maybe… Maybe I could be loved for who I am, not for what I could give."

Her hand tightened around his, desperate now. "Riven, if I asked you… Would you accept me? Not as the Queen, not as the King's wife, but as a woman who is trying—trying so damn hard to claw her way out of the darkness. I'll fight for you. I'll find a way to get you out of here. I'll change both of our statuses. You won't have to hide anymore, won't have to live in the shadows while others decide your fate. We can stand together, as equals."

Her voice rose with every word until it echoed in the dungeon, then fell into a trembling whisper. "Please… Don't leave me alone in this place. Don't leave me to fight alone. Choose me, Riven. If no one else will… Then let us choose each other."

Riven stared at her through the shadows, the torchlight throwing long, trembling lines across his gaunt face. His eyes were empty, not cold, not cruel, just… Void. Something essential had been hollowed out of him, leaving nothing but the shell of a man who no longer had the strength to want anything.

Theresa's desperate plea still hung in the air, quivering like the flame between them. She was still holding his hand, waiting for some spark, hope, longing, even pity. But Riven's fingers slackened in hers, slipping away as he whispered, his voice hoarse and raw,

"You want me?"

The words came out like a broken laugh, twisted by pain. He didn't want to be wanted anymore. Every time someone reached out for him, it ended in ruin. His mother had wanted him, she had died, leaving him alone. The King wanted him, and look at what that had brought. Even those guards… They had wanted him in ways that made his skin crawl. And now Theresa wanted him too. So much so that she would commit treason.

His father did not want him, and he was leading a better life. It was he who ruined everything. He did not want to ruin things anymore. He did not want to be wanted by anyone anymore.

"I don't… Want this…" he whispered, shaking his head slowly. "I just want it to stop."

Theresa's breath hitched. Her restlessness broke through the mask she wore so well. Her hands tightened at her sides, and for the first time her voice rose, sharp and demanding,

"You still want him?"

The name was not spoken, but it hung heavily between them.

Riven didn't answer. He was too tired to explain, too tired to defend the remnants of his heart. He simply lowered his gaze, his silence stretching unbearably.

To Theresa, that silence was louder than any confession. Her face twisted, disbelief giving way to fury. Her nails dug into her palms as jealousy and rejection ignited inside her chest like a storm.

He still wanted him? After everything? After being chained like an animal, after being accused of betrayal, after everything, he still clung to that man?

The King. That spoiled, cowardly, selfish man who had everything handed to him. Who basked in power without effort, who was adored simply for existing. He didn't deserve Riven's loyalty. He didn't deserve Riven's love. And yet, Riven gave it freely.

Theresa's mind spiralled. She had laid herself bare, exposed her pain, offered him a future where they could fight together and still, she was losing to a man who had abandoned him. It wasn't fair.

Her fury built until it was almost unbearable. He still wanted the King…

She still wanted to destroy the King.

Her hand slipped into the folds of her dress and pulled out a small glass vial. "Let me put an end to this."