#Chapter 109: The Third Truth

Ember My hand is already shaking by the time I reach the end of the corridor. The trial is over, Bianca's lies are exposed, and Clara is safe—and I have been standing in this hallway for three minutes, unable to make myself walk the last ten feet, because there is one more truth I have to tell, and this one could unravel everything the first two built. If I stop moving, I won't start again, so I don't let myself stop. My hand trembles as I reach for the door handle. Inside, Kaine is waiting—he asked me to come after Clara fell asleep, said he needed to hear everything, and the look in his eyes when he said it, patient and careful, like he was afraid I might run, made my chest tight in a way I still don't have words for. "You're really going to do this?" Nara asks, her voice quiet, almost reverent. I have to. He might reject us, and I have to do it anyway. I push open the door. Kaine stands by the window, his back to me, shoulders tense beneath his uniform, and when he hears