Bella's POV
Lucius clearly hadn't expected my kick. My foot connected solidly with his chest.
He'd always seen me as some fragile woman with no real strength. But that single kick made him stagger back two steps.
I could see his chest must have hurt, though the real agony seemed deeper—written across his face.
Once upon a time, I'd smiled at him every single day, doing everything I could to make him happy. Now I stared at him with nothing but ice-cold indifference.
"Bellie." The way Lucius said my name was full of bitter pain.
His eyes held such hurt and disbelief as he looked at me.
Three years ago, even the smallest kindness from him would have made me ecstatic.
But that was then. Everything had shifted. The past was dead and buried.
I watched hurt flicker across his features, but when I heard him call me "Bellie," all I felt was revulsion.
When I'd loved him, he'd pushed me away. Now that I didn't, he followed me like some persistent shadow.
God, the irony.
