What did I expect from him?
When Catherine first met Maximilian in this life, she had blamed him for everything that had gone wrong.
She blamed him for every misfortune, for every tear she had shed. She had even blamed him for murdering her.
Knowing the truth all along, Maximilian had accepted every accusation in silence. He had carried her anger without once trying to defend himself, silently arranging so that she lived comfortably, peacefully... even if it meant she hated him forever.
And this man...
All Dorian could do was lie.
Perhaps she had been wrong about him from the very beginning.
Not morally wrong. Fundamentally wrong.
Perhaps he simply did not experience the world the way other people did. He did not feel guilt. He did not understand remorse. Every relationship, every conversation, every act of kindness was merely another calculation, another move on a board where only one outcome mattered.
Winning.
Her fingers slowly curled beneath the table.
