EMMA
"Why do you care?" Xavier snapped, whipping around to face me.
I gasped, my hand instinctively rising to my chest. I hadn't realized until now that I had been hoping—hoping for something different. A softer answer. A flicker of remorse. Instead, he gave me hatred. Cold and undeniable.
Xavier had just admitted he despised me. I knew I shouldn't care. I knew it but it still cut me deeper than I expected.
"But I never did anything to you. Any of you," I whispered, my voice strained with disbelief.
Xavier scoffed, then turned back to his can of soup, stabbing at it like it had personally offended him. The scowl on his face deepened, and I could almost see the storm behind his eyes.
They believed I had done something terrible—him and his brothers. Some unforgivable thing. But what was it? What sin had I supposedly committed?
I opened my mouth to ask again, but Xavier tensed instantly.
"Drop it," he warned, his voice firm.
