---- Chapter 20 Harper Griffin POV: "Stop it," | said, my voice cutting through the cacophony of flames and screams. | stepped forward, forcing Adler to look at me, to truly see me. "You said you'd make anyone who hurt me pay the price," | said, my voice dangerously calm. "Yes," he answered eagerly, his eyes shining with manic devotion. "Anyone. Just name them." "Alright," | said, taking a slow, deliberate step closer to him. "Then what about you, Adler? What price will you pay?" He stared at me, his brow furrowed in confusion. He didn't understand. He truly didn't see himself as part of the equation. From the cage, Juliana began to laugh, a wild, unhinged sound. "He doesn't get it," she shrieked. "You fool! She hates you! You're the one who deserves to be in here rotting!" Adler' s face went slack with shock. He turned to me, his mouth opening and closing, but no words came out. "You have a thing for perfection, don't you, Adler?" | asked, my voice soft but laced with venom. "A pristine car. A perfect reputation. You couldn't even stand a scuff mark on your ---- leather seats." | gestured to his own filthy, blood-and-grime-stained hands. "Look at yourself. Don't you feel... defiled?" He looked down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. "When you threw me out of your car for being 'unclean," | continued, my voice rising with every word, "did you ever imagine you would end up looking like this? Wallowing in the filth of your own making?" He collapsed, falling to his knees in the dirt, a great, heaving sob tearing from his chest. He slammed his forehead against the concrete floor, again and again, until a bloody wound opened up above his brow. "| love you, Harper," he wept. "| didn't mean to hurt you." "No," | said, the last vestiges of pity dying in my heart. "You don't love me. You love being loved by me. You love the character you play, the great, tortured lover. But the play is over, Adler. The curtain has come down." | took a step back. "I will move on. | will heal. | will have a life filled with peace and happiness with my family. But | will never, ever forgive you." As if on cue, Keaton burst through the factory doors, his face pale with worry. "Harper! Are you alright?" He rushed to my side, his hands hovering over me, checking for injuries. ---- | reached out and took his hand, our fingers lacing together. It felt right. It felt like coming home. We turned to leave the scene of madness behind us. "You think you've won?" Adler's voice, now filled with a chilling, venomous hatred, echoed from behind us. "You think he's any different? You don't even know who he really is! Do you think his love is any less of a lie than mine?" His laughter, broken and insane, followed us out into the clean, cold night air.