Chapter 76: Ronan’s Guilty Confession
Adrian studies Ronan for several long seconds. If this was the only way to get his true motive about the case, then even if he didn’t want to, he would have to bring Nyra in.
He nods once before finally pushing the visitation room door open again. Nyra’s amber eyes settle on him the moment he steps out.
"What happened? What did he say?"
"He wants to talk to you," he says coolly. "To us." Adrian instinctively reaches for her hand before realizing what he’s doing, then quietly lets it fall back to his side.
Her brows knit together as she points to herself. "To me?"
"Yeah, but don’t be scared. I’ll be right beside you."
Nyra hesitates, but nods, quietly following him inside. The moment Ronan sees her, he lowers his gaze.
Gone is the cocky smile that usually sits on his face.He suddenly looks ashamed.
Nyra remains standing beside Adrian instead of sitting. "What do you want?" she asks calmly, though the tension in her shoulders is obvious.
Ronan grips the receiver tightly before speaking. "I owe you the truth, more than anyone. And that’s why I asked for you."
No one interrupts as he takes a shaky breath.
"The truth is... Anna came to me a few weeks before the party." Nyra doesn’t miss how Adrian’s expression hardens at the mention of Anna’s name.
Ronan continues anyway. "She was crying over the phone. And when I asked her what happened, she told me, " He swallows. "sShe told me you’d found your Goddess-chosen mate."
His eyes flick toward Adrian. "She said you started hitting her because of it, that you were treating her badly because you didn’t want her anymore."
"She even showed up with bruises, telling me it was your mate’s fault, and I thought-" Ronan laughs bitterly. "I thought she’d been telling me the truth."
"And you didn’t bother to find out if it was true!?" Adrian cuts him off. "How dumb are you!?"
Adrian doesn’t add that Nyra is the one who was suffering. The one carrying emotional bruises, not Anna.
But he doesn’t say that. Doesn’t talk about the guilt of everything that happened then.
"I know it was foolish. Now I know..." Ronan admits, surprisingly. "I was just so angry that I never stopped to question anything she said."
His shoulders slump. "She helped me get into the party, showed me your pictures, introduced me to that girl who helped connect me with the boys I paid."
He exhales loudly, the phone pressed against his ear. "Told me I could do whatever I wanted, just to make sure it hurt."
"And you chose drugging and sexual assault!? Of all things!?" Adrian bares his teeth at him. "Ronan, you have a damn sister! Imagine this shit happened to her!"
Ronan can’t meet Nyra’s eyes. "I know I can’t undo what you went through, but I’m really sorry. Truly sorry."
The words leave his mouth, plunging the space between them into eerie silence.
Adrian just wants to reach through the glass, grab the monster by the neck, and strangle him to death. Most of him actually.
While Nyra... he already expects her to forgive him. To say something like, ’It’s okay, it’s all in the past now.’ And he’ll have to spend the next few weeks trying to swallow that hard pill.
That’s why he is so shocked when she shakes her head. "No."
Ronan also looks surprised. "No?"
Her voice is unusually calm, like she’s fighting every cell in her body to keep it steady. "You’re only apologizing now because the fantasy you built around Anna fell apart."
Adrian tries--and fails--to hide his smirk as Nyra continues, her voice shaking with barely concealed rage.
"You found out she lied to you, you found out she never loved you, and that the baby isn’t yours." She folds her arms. "That’s the only reason you said sorry, not because you feel guilty."
"I do feel guilty!" Ronan tries to argue, but Nyra cuts him off.
"You feel guilty?" She steps a little closer to the glass. "Then tell Detective Adams everything. Tell him what they wanted to know. Cooperate fully instead of giving me this bullshit apology!"
"That’s..." He mutters under his breath. Right now he’s already facing years. Adding drug trafficking would be even longer. "...that’s too much!"
"Then maybe you should’ve thought about that when you decided to drug me and pay people to assault me."
Without another word, she turns toward the door, making sure to slam it behind her.
In the visitors’ room, Adrian is grinning from ear to ear. "You heard her. Take responsibility, and maybe we’ll forgive you."
The corners of his lips lift with pride as he steps out behind her.
There, he finds Nyra letting out a slow breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, the memory of that night hitting her like a tsunami.
Adrian reaches for her hand, and she lets him. His touch is grounding. "You okay?" he asks softly.
She nods. "I think so." A small smile appears on her lips. "Besides, I finally said everything I needed to say."
Adrian smiles back. "I’m proud of you for standing up to him." He presses the back of her palm to his lips. "So, so proud of you."
"Thank you. I’m proud of me too."
Adrian chuckles softly in response, relief finally easing some of the tension he’d carried for weeks.
---
The next morning, the academy’s art class is very lively, as usual.
Large canvases line the walls, the scent of paint filling the room as students spread out across long wooden tables.
Nyra sits beside Julian, quietly sketching the outline of a unique wolf with wings, trying to recreate the drawing on the huge whiteboard.
Julian, on the other hand, looks completely uninterested.
"I still don’t understand why I have to take art. I’m doing social sciences," he mutters, lazily twirling a paintbrush between his fingers.
Nyra laughs softly. "Because not everything can be solved by thinking. Sometimes you need an outlet."
But thinking most things." Julian counters.
Before she can respond, a cheerful voice interrupts them. "Hi!"
Nyra looks up, surprised to find it’s the same girl from yesterday.
She beams brightly, holding out a small paper bag. "I... um... bought you some snacks."
Julian slowly lowers his brush, looking from the girl to Nyra. "What the fuck is she doing here? Isn’t she one of Anna’s bitches?"
Nyra coughs awkwardly, trying to mask the curse, though it isn’t really effective. "I’ll tell you later," she whispers before turning back to the girl.
"Oh, hi. And thank you," she says, taking the bag from her, "but you really didn’t have to buy me anything."
The girl immediately shakes her head. "I wanted to."
Nyra smiles politely before gently pushing the bag back toward her. "You don’t have to do things like this. I’m not my sister."
Rumors of Anna making girls run errands for her before they could join her group were very rampant in the academy. It’s a surprise how many friends she even has.
The girl’s smile falters for a second before she nods. "Right, sorry."
Nyra realizes something. "I don’t even know your name."
"Oh!" The girl’s eyes brighten again. "I’m Mia."
"It’s nice to officially meet you. I’m Nyra."
"I know." Mia laughs nervously. "I mean... everyone knows. You’re pretty popular."
After that, Mia doesn’t stop talking one bit. She chats about her classes, about how difficult the professor’s assignments are, about how she almost failed chemistry last semester.
About literally everything.
Julian slowly turns toward Nyra with the same expression someone would wear after watching a stray puppy wander into their house.
Nyra can only smile awkwardly, whispering, "She apparently talks a lot."
"Talks a lot is an understatement," Julian grumbles in response, pulling Nyra to the side the moment the professor steps out to take a call.
"What the hell is going on? Why is she acting all friendly all of a sudden!?"
Nyra scratches her cheek. "Well... she apologized yesterday."
"And?"
"I said we could... start over."
"You what-" Julian looks exasperated by Nyra’s kindness. "Okay. And so now she’s just following you around?"
Nyra sighs. "I didn’t expect this part. I was thinking she meant being cordial."
Julian pinches the bridge of his nose. "We need to send her away."
"I know."
"I’ll do it."
His tone alone makes Nyra nervous for Mia. "No, you’ll make her cry. You already called her a bitch."
"I was going to be polite."
"You’ve never been polite a day in your life."
Before he can pretend to be offended, the professor slips back in, so they have to quickly scramble back to their seats.
Nyra settles in calmly beside Mia, just as the bell rings. "Sorry," she says apologetically. "Julian and I actually have somewhere we need to be after class."
Mia’s shoulders visibly drop. "Oh, am I bothering you?"
Nyra shakes her head. "But maybe we can talk another time?"
A cheerful smile slowly returns, her shoulders straightening. "Really?"
"Really."
"Okay." She hugs the snack bag closer to her chest. "I’ll see you later then."
She waves before walking out of the art studio, down to the courtyard. There, a group of five girls from Anna’s old clique are waiting.
They heard the rumors of Mia trying to befriend Nyra. And the looks in their eyes say they’re not happy about it at all.
"Well..." one of them sneers. "So the little snitch finally showed her face."
Another girl cracks her knuckles. "You really thought betraying us wouldn’t have consequences?"
Mia instinctively takes a step backward, feeling trapped between five of her former friends. But there’s nowhere else to run...