Chapter 102

Harper

I watched him carefully—the way his posture held a tense pride, the tight line of his jaw, the restless twitch of his fingers against the table. He wasn’t just upset—he was cornered.

“What kind of life do you want then?” I asked quietly.

“A life I actually choose,” he said, voice low. “Not one dictated by councils or tradition or centuries of dead men telling me who I need to be.”

He le