Chapter Thirty-one

With a tear-streaked face, Ariana rushed back to her room, her heart heavy with the pain of Ethan's rejection. Confusion clouded her thoughts, unable to comprehend why he turned her away and doubted her words. In her mind, he needed her, and she believed she could save him. The belief that love existed between them lingered, a flame refusing to be extinguished.

"Maybe I should have shown him the journal, the one that belonged to his former breeder. Maybe he could have believed and trusted me," she said, rolling back and forth on the bed.

She jerked up from the bed,l, "Did he think I was lying or trying to manipulate him?" Pondering out loud. "Did he believe I was doing this for my own selfish gains?"