Kermit's POV
At first, numbness consumed me completely, my mind refusing to process what I'd just heard. Then a bitter laugh escaped my lips, growing louder with each breath.
"Tonia," I repeated her name, still laughing at the absurdity.
The laughter died instantly, cut off like someone had severed my vocal cords. "Tell me, Bradley, which part of your twisted mind came up with this brilliant idea? Did you suffer some kind of brain damage? Because I'm really hoping you did, and that it's fatal."
"I'm dead serious, Kermit."
"And I'm dead serious when I say I hope you rot in hell."
Silence stretched between us, heavy with years of accumulated hatred and unresolved fury.
"I need her," Bradley's voice carried a desperate edge that made my skin crawl. "I've been hunting for her for years, never knowing she was bound to you this entire time. I'm offering you a clean break here. Give her to me, and I disappear from your life forever."
