The Betrayed Princess Rising (Lylah and Ezra) novel Chapter 280

Chapter 280

Lylah’s POV

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“How could he keep something like this from her?” Tiara’s voice came out low and furious, her words edged with a growl that didn’t belong entirely to her human side.

The caretaker shifted under the weight of it, guilt flickering across his face. “That… I don’t know, Lady. That was Alpha Ezra’s decision.”

The air tightened.

I felt Tiara’s wolf rise just beneath her skin, pressing forward, ready to lash out. Before she could turn that fury on the poor man, I lifted a hand and dismissed him.

“Go.”

He didn’t hesitate.

The moment he was out of sight, Tiara turned on me, her glare sharp enough to cut.

“I don’t like this, Lylah,” she said, stepping closer. “Not one bit. A lie is still a lie. And I don’t tolerate anyone who lies to my best friend. Especially not her mate.”

“But when that happened, I hadn’t met Ezra, right?” A small smile curved my lips, carefully concealing the truth I chose not to share-that we had crossed paths once before, within the quiet walls of Ironcrest Rehabilitation House.

“He didn’t know Nyx was mine. He didn’t know what she meant to me.” I paused, my thoughts circling something deeper.

“What I do find strange…” I continued, lifting my gaze to hers, “Is how he even knew about that race. The very night her legs broke, he appeared. That’s what I’m more curious about, Tiara.”

She stared at me as I had just lost my mind.

When Tiara’s protective instincts took over, she became something else entirely-something sharp, feral, and terrifying in its certainty.

“That’s what you’re focusing on?” she snapped, her wolf flashing in her eyes. “You should be asking why he lied to you in the first place.”

Her voice dropped, thick with something dangerously close to fear.

“I’m scared, Lylah,” she admitted. “I thought he was different. I thought he was the one. What if this is history repeating itself? What if he’s no better than Row-”

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10:13 Fri, Apr 10

Chapter 280

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“Don’t.” The word came out sharp, immediate-a warning. My wolf stirred beneath my skin, not in rage, but in defence. “Don’t compare Ezra to that dipshit.”

Tiara went still.

The tension between us stretched thin before slowly easing.

I exhaled and reached for her, taking her hand and brushing my fingers gently over the back of her palm.

“Tiara, listen to me,” I said, softer now. “I understand why you’d connect this to Rowan. I do. You saw what he did to me, how he lied again and again, and how every one of those was meant to wound. But Ezra?” I shook my head slightly. “What has his silence done so far? Hurt me… or protected me?”

Tiara didn’t answer.

“Maybe he didn’t tell me,” I continued, my voice lowering, “because he didn’t know how. Maybe he was waiting for the right time.”

Because deep down, I already knew.

Ezra had spared me that pain.

If anything, it was grief that had held him back. He hadn’t told me because he couldn’t-not without reopening a wound he had never managed to close.

He had once found Nyx, tried to save her, and failed.

So he carried that truth in silence, knowing exactly how deeply it would shatter me to learn that Nyx was gone.

“Lylah…” Tiara’s voice softened, uncertainty creeping in.

“Tiara,” I said softly, a small, knowing smile touching my lips, “I’ve opened my eyes. I’m awake now. I won’t fall into the same trap twice-not for a man who would drain me of my worth and betray me in the end.”

The wind shifted faintly through the stable, carrying the scent of earth, hay, and something

warmer.

“If I had sensed even a hint of that from the beginning, I would have walked away from Ezra without a second thought. I know what that kind of filth feels like now.” My fingers curled slightly at my side. “And Ezra,”

I shook my head.

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