-Lucien Draven:
I had stopped waiting a long time ago.
Stopped waiting for her. Stopped waiting for kindness. Stopped waiting for love.
Because love didn't exist—not for me.
I spent years hoping, believing, and dreaming that someone would prove my father wrong. That someone would love me the way I loved them. That someone would stay.
But no one did.
Aurelia hadn't. The Vaelora and Cassius hadn't.
And my father's voice had become the only truth that remained.
"Nobody is going to love you, boy. You are worthless."
"You are a disappointment. A disgrace."
"No one will ever want you."
I had fought those words for so long, but now?
Now, I believed them.
So I stopped fighting.
Stopped feeling.
Stopped hoping.
Instead, I filled my days with books.
