Chapter 56: CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX | THE BOOK

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX | THE BOOK

ASPEN

After Brian left, the room felt too quiet, like the walls were listening. I dropped onto my bed and stared at the ceiling, my body heavy and my mind louder than everything else combined.

Thoughts ran through me without order, without mercy. I was tired, but sleep felt impossible. Confused didn’t even begin to cover it.

Why me?

Why would Pulp give me that book specifically, out of everyone in this cursed school? He barely spoke, barely looked at people, yet he had trusted me while holding his own secrets with something that made Brian’s face lose all color.

What message was he trying to pass to me? Or was the message hidden in my name, like Brian said? The idea made my chest tighten.

Rachel broke the silence with a sharp exhale. “This shit is going wide,” she muttered.

I turned my head slightly and saw her looking at Ronan first, then at me, like she was weighing something dangerous on her tongue. She opened her mouth to say more, but her phone rang instead. The sound made us all flinch.

She picked it up with a trembling hand. “Hello?” Her voice was cautious at first, then softer. Whatever she heard on the other end made her shoulders relax. When she ended the call, she smiled, small but real.

“I need to go,” she said quietly.

“Now?” I asked, sitting up a bit.

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll explain later.”

And just like that, she was gone, the door clicking shut behind her.

The silence returned, heavier this time.

I felt Ronan’s eyes on me before he spoke. “I’m sorry.”

The words were simple, but they did something strange to me. They slid past my defenses and settled somewhere warm in my chest. I hated that. I hated how easily he could melt something in me without even trying.

I didn’t respond. I turned back to the ceiling, blinking rapidly, pretending the cracks above me were more interesting than the boy standing a few feet away.

And then it hit me.

The realization came fast and cruelly. Ronan’s voice. The tone. The rhythm. It resembled the voice of the guy who shot Adrian. Not exactly the same, but close enough to make my stomach drop.

That was why I suspected him in the first place, but he swore he wasn’t the one. I believed him, but now I wasn’t sure again.

I turned my head and looked at him properly this time, searching his face like answers might be carved into it.

Could I ever forgive him if that resemblance meant something more? Could I even survive knowing the truth?

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “I should have told you he was my roommate.”

Something in his voice cracked.

He walked closer and sat at the edge of my bed, careful, like I might disappear if he moved too fast. He reached for my hand, hesitating for half a second before holding it. His palm was warm, steady.

“I’m sincerely sorry.”

I looked into his eyes then. Not the Alpha. Not the prince everyone whispered about. Just Ronan. And the sincerity was there, clear and terrifying.

“I like you,” I blurted out before fear could stop me.

The moment the words left my mouth, I wanted to take them back, swallow them whole. My heart raced, my breath uneven. I didn’t know what I was confessing to him or to myself, but Ronan didn’t pull away. He just sat there quietly while holding my hand, like the world wasn’t falling apart.

And somehow, that scared me more than the truth waiting for us both outside this room, sharpening its claws patiently, ready to tear through everything we were afraid to say out loud.

“I like you too,” Ronan said.

The words landed softly, but my heart reacted like they had been shouted. It slammed hard against my ribs, and it was loud enough that I was sure he could hear it. My fingers twitched in his grasp.

“That’s a lie,” I snapped, pulling my hand back like his touch burned. “You’re a liar.” The word tasted bitter on my tongue. “You never tell the truth.”

His brows knit together, not in anger, but something closer to hurt. “I didn’t call you a liar when you confessed,” he said quietly. He leaned closer in a low, deliberate way, like he was giving me time to push him away. “I like you.”

He said it again, softer this time, and my chest tightened traitorously. My thoughts scrambled, trying to build walls that had already started to crack. Before I could say something reckless or cruel, his hand came up to my face.

Then he kissed me.

It wasn’t rushed and it wasn’t desperate. It was warm and careful, like he was afraid I would disappear if he pressed too hard. My breath caught in my throat, shock freezing me for half a second before my body betrayed me completely.

I didn’t pull away. I didn’t want to, and I didn’t protest. Instead, I melted.

Everything else faded. The book. Alettoi. Adrian. The guards. The lies. All of it blurred into nothing as his lips moved against mine, tentative at first, then surer when I didn’t stop him. My heart raced wildly, my hands gripping the fabric of his shirt like it was the only thing keeping me grounded.

And then fear crashed back in.

I pulled away abruptly, breathless, my forehead resting against his. “We shouldn’t,” I whispered, even though my body screamed otherwise. “Nothing about this is simple.”

“I know,” he replied, his voice rough. His thumb brushed my cheek, gentle. “But I didn’t lie about that.”

I searched his face again, hating how much I wanted to believe him. “You scare me,” I admitted. “Not because of who you are… but because of how much I feel when I’m around you.”

His lips curved into the smallest smile. “You scare me too.”

That made me laugh softly, shakily. “That’s not comforting.”

“I didn’t say it to comfort you,” he said. “I said it because it’s true.”

I leaned back onto the bed, staring at the ceil

ing again, my heart still racing. Ronan stayed where he was, without saying or doing anything.