Meadow’s POV:
1 froze, but I didn’t need to wait long before she continued. “I didn’t tell you the truth because you were already feeling terrible and I didn’t want to make you feel worse.
“Cami, telling me Alaric was fine made me feel worse-”
“Did it?” she asked quietly. “If you knew how he was really doing, you would’ve gone back to him out of guilt. And I didn’t want you to subject yourself to that torture of not knowing exactly how he feels about you.”
A rock formed in my throat that was too hard to swallow.
Nova’s eyes softened, and her smile was sad. She was agreeing with her. “She has a point,” she murmured.
“I’m so sorry, Meadow…”
“How… how exactly is he doing?” My voice was barely above a whisper, but luckily, Camí caught it.
“Um… I can’t really tell because I haven’t seen him in a while. He isolated everybody–even his own brother.” Nova nodded to confirm that fact. “But I don’t think he’s okay. Ingrid was the only one who was able to force her way into his house to see him. He asked mama to take a paid leave so he’s been alone, just home to office, back to home and nowhere else.”
My breathing turned shallow.
Alaric was hurting. He was hurting just like me.
All this while I thought he must’ve figured out that he didn’t need me. Worse, I even thought he may have found someone else. Another person he could touch.
But he wasn’t. He was alone. Beating himself up–maybe even literally. The back of my eyes began to burn with unshed tears as I remembered the night I’d caught him with the punching bag all because he was trying to feel pain.
It hurt.
It hurt so fucking much that he would rather make himself feel pain than give his heart to me. That he would rather injure himself than give himself the chance to fall in love with me.
I wasn’t worth it. Not to him.
I let out a shaky breath, feeling my jaw clench. Concern swirled in Nova’s eyes.
“Meds…”
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CHAPTER 0151
+25 BONUS
1 ignored her. “So what does the witch want from me?”
“She wanted to speak to you and demanded your address, and honestly, she sounded so damn scary, I had to tell her. I’m so fucking sorry,” she added, letting out a sigh. “I didn’t want to, I swear. I just
“It’s fine, Cami,” I cut in gently, pinching the bridge of my nose to rein in my control. It wasn’t Camilla’s fault. I knew how scary Ingrid Ashford was, and hell, Cami had even known her longer than I had. “I’ll handle her.”
“Okay.” She sounded relieved. “Okay, good. Because I think she’s already on her way to your
apartment.”
My heart jumped slightly but I ignored it, taking a deep breath. Ingrid was just another terrible fucking human being. There was nothing so special about her.
After I ended the call with Cami, I tossed my phone across the bed, letting out an agitated scream.
“Hey,” Nova called, trying to calm me down. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Is it?” I whispered, turning to face her. “I mean, Cami was right. Telling me he was okay was the best thing for her to do, and now that she’s told me that he’s not, I just…” My voice broke. “Why isn’t he okay? He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t WANT to love me, so why can’t he just let me go? He’d rather not feel anything than tell me how he feels about me, Nova, why should that be the kind of man I fell in love with?”
Nova pulled me into her arms again, heaving a sigh. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Meds. I’m so sorry. I really hate this for you.”
“I know,” I choked out.
1 hated this too. So much.
1 wished it was as easy to toss him aside as it was with Tyler, Alaric left such an imprint on my body, my mind, my spirit, my soul… I couldn’t just toss him aside, couldn’t forget him.
I pulled back, wiping my tears off just as the intercom buzzed in the living room.
Fuck.
It was probably the doorman downstairs calling to ask about Ingrid. Because she had to be here.
And when I answered and Tom told me that an Ingrid Ashford was looking for me, I got my confirmation.
“You can buzz her up, Tom. Thanks.”
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CHAPTER 0151
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I turned to my best friend. “Well? Does it look like I’ve been crying?”
Nova rushed over to me with a towel, using it to wipe my wet eyes and running her fingers through
my hair.
This was insane. All of it.
“Um, yes. Perfect. Your evil mother–in–law won’t notice you’ve been a sobbing mess. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be hiding in the room. That is also my boyfriend’s mother in case you forgot.”
My eyes widened. She really was. Nova was gone before I could say anything.
I heard the faint sound of the elevator, and I instantly knew that Ingrid had stepped out of it and into the hallway.
I waited for her to knock on my door three times before I opened it.
And… there she was.

Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
Summary & Review: Fallen