Chapter 82 Always loved Vincent

Chapter 82 Always loved Vincent

Genevieve’s POV

“So that’s it?”

Sebastian’s voice cut through the quiet of the room with a bitterness I had never heard from him before. It wasn’t loud or dramatic — it was quiet, tired, the kind of sound that came from someone who had carried something heavy for far too long.

“For years…” He laughed softly, though there wasn’t a trace of real humor in it. “I stood beside you. Before your death. After your death. Even when you were trapped in her body, I stayed. And somehow… I still managed to become invisible.”

I slowly closed the book that had been resting open in my lap, my fingers lingering on the worn pages for a moment before I lifted my eyes to him.

He looked exhausted.

Not in the physical sense — Sebastian had always been impossibly strong — but emotionally. The proud, fearless vampire who had spent centuries standing shoulder to shoulder with kings and monsters now looked like a man who had finally grown tired of carrying hope that had never truly belonged to him. His silver eyes searched my face, almost desperately, as though he was still waiting for me to say something that could undo the ache inside him.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said quietly.

“I’ve been busy.” The excuse sounded weak even to my own ears.

Vincent had been the one occupying my mind.

A humorless smile crossed Sebastian’s face. “Busy?”

He shook his head slowly, like he was disappointed in both of us. “The moment you got your body back… the first person you went looking for wasn’t me.”

I remained silent.

“It was Vincent.”

His name lingered between us like smoke.

“I should’ve known.” He looked away for a brief moment before letting out a slow, tired breath. “I kept lying to myself. I kept believing that if I stayed long enough… if I protected you long enough… one day you’d finally see me.”

His eyes found mine again, raw and unguarded. “But you never did.”

The room fell into another heavy silence.

I rose calmly from my chair and smoothed an invisible crease from my dress before walking toward the window overlooking the moonlit forest. The cool glass felt grounding against my fingertips.

“You chose to stay, Sebastian.”

He stared at me.

“I never asked you to love me.”

The words landed harder than I intended.

For several long seconds, he simply looked at me, his expression slowly hardening as disappointment replaced the hurt in his eyes.

“I chose to stay,” he repeated quietly.

“Yes.”

“But I stayed because I believed you needed someone.”

“You assumed that.”

His jaw clenched. “I fought beside you. I let the world believe I was the villain because it protected you.”

I offered no reply. I didn’t even know where to start. The truth was messy and complicated, and I wasn’t sure I owed him any of it.

His laugh returned, quieter this time. “So that’s all it was.”

He lowered his head for a moment before looking back at me. “You know I’ve always loved Vincent. I’ve always had eyes for him. Right from the beginning, you knew that.”

The words caught his attention.

“You hated him,” he said. “So what happened?”

He took one slow step closer.

“That’s because I believed he had killed me. You made me believe that.” My voice was steady, but something inside me twisted. “He doesn’t even love you,” he cut in, which made a frown appear on my face immediately.

Silence stretched between us.

I was pissed. Yes, I was. That was only half the truth, but I couldn’t say he had no feelings for me at all. “I don’t want to hear it,” I said, raising my hand to stop him.

“Well, you’ll be glad to hear that he’s gone trying to save her.”

Everything inside me stilled.

“What?”

Sebastian frowned, realizing too late that he’d said more than he’d intended.

I slowly turned toward him. “What did you just say?”

He hesitated.

My voice became sharper. “Sebastian.”

He exhaled heavily. “Vincent has been searching for Elara’s brother and is probably with Zachariah as we speak.”

My heartbeat slowed. I didn’t wait for him to finish. I turned and left the room without another word.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

The night air was cold against my skin as I stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the estate. Moonlight spilled across the stone courtyard below, painting everything in shades of silver, but my thoughts were already somewhere else. Vincent had gone to Zachariah for one reason, and one reason only — Elara. The realization should have irritated me less than it did, yet the thought of him risking anything for another woman settled like poison beneath my ribs.

A faint, bitter smile curved my lips.

“So that’s his weakness now.”

The words disappeared into the wind.

For centuries, Vincent had never allowed anyone close enough to become a liability. He had always been careful, calculating, impossible to manipulate. Yet somewhere along the way, Elara had become exactly that — the one person capable of making him abandon reason. If she mattered that much to him, then she would become the very thing he could never afford to lose.

I traced my fingers along the cold stone railing, my mind already turning over possibilities.

“It’s time I paid Zachariah another visit,” I whispered to myself.

The decision felt right. Clean. Necessary.

I had spent too long waiting in the shadows, watching Vincent orbit around someone else. If he wanted to play hero for Elara, then I would remind him exactly who I was — and what I was capable of.

A quiet thrill ran through me at the thought.

Let him try to save her.

I would be waiting.