Chapter 83 Eighty Three

• ARIEL’S POV
• The auction had drained me in ways I didn’t expect. Emotionally, physically… everything felt like it was wound too tight. The crowd. The whispers. The looks. Maya’s tantrum. The bidding war that had nearly lit the hall on fire with tension. And through it all, Ryan — quiet, commanding, unwavering — had stood right beside me, quite literally shielding me with his body and name.
• I didn’t know how to process it.