CHAPTER 12: THE CHOICE
ARORA'S POV
The silence in the penthouse stretched, heavy with the weight of Nathaniel's words: "You are free. To go back to your life... Or... to explore whatever this is between us." My missing piece. His cure. The labels tangled in my mind, a complicated knot of fate and consequence.
Part of me screamed to run. To book the first flight back to my quiet, unremarkable life, to the art school that had suddenly become a distant dream. To pretend none of this—the show, the kidnapping, the revelation of my impossible connection to Nathaniel—had ever happened. I could disappear, shed the terrifying mantle of "medical marvel" and simply be Arora Creek again.
But another part, a quiet, insistent whisper, pulled me toward him. It wasn't just the sheer magnetic pull I felt when he was near, or the dreams that haunted my sleep. It was the raw vulnerability in his eyes, the subtle tremor in his voice when he spoke of his "cure." He was a man who had lived with an invisible torment for years, a billionaire isolated by his own biology. And I, somehow, was his respite.
I looked at him, really looked at him. The initial predator had softened, replaced by a weary honesty. He was offering me a choice, truly. Not coercing me, not demanding. He had just laid bare his biggest secret, sacrificed his privacy, and risked everything to expose his own family for my freedom. He hadn't asked me to stay, only to consider.
"My scholarship," I started, the practical side of my brain kicking in. "My visa."
Nathaniel stepped closer, reaching for a hand I hadn't realized I'd extended. His touch was warm, steady. "Already handled. My legal team is working with the embassy. Your scholarship is reinstated, and your visa extended. You're clear. You can start classes next semester, or tomorrow, if you wish." He paused. "It's all on your terms, Arora."
The relief was a physical ache, a tightness in my chest that finally eased. He wasn't just offering me a choice; he was offering me my future, the one I'd worked so hard for. He was giving me back what others had stolen.
I looked around the luxurious penthouse, then back at his intense, expectant gaze. The comfort, the safety, the overwhelming sense of rightness when I was near him. It was terrifying, yes. But it was also undeniably captivating.
"I..." My voice wavered, then strengthened. "I came to New York for a fresh start. For opportunities I never thought I'd get." I took a deep breath. "And this... this is certainly an opportunity."
A faint smile touched Nathaniel's lips, a slow, breathtaking curve that banished the shadows from his eyes. Hope, pure and untamed, flickered within them.
"I don't know what this means, Nathaniel," I confessed, my gaze holding his. "Or how it works. Or what the world will make of us." The paparazzi, the endless questions, the relentless scrutiny—it would be a storm. "But... I'm not running anymore."
He searched my eyes for a long moment, as if trying to decipher the depths of my decision. Then, slowly, he raised my hand to his lips, his touch soft, reverent. "Thank you, Arora." The simple words held a profound weight, a lifetime of gratitude.
I pulled my hand away gently, a small smile playing on my lips. "Don't thank me yet. This is just the beginning. And I have a lot of questions."
He chuckled, a low, rich sound. "I imagine you do. And I promise, I'll answer every single one." He stepped back, giving me space, respecting the boundary I'd subtly created. "So... what's your first question, Miss Creek?"
The city lights twinkled outside, no longer a backdrop to my desperation, but to a bewildering, thrilling new chapter. I had made my choice. And for the first time in a long time, I felt a spark of something new and exciting: a future I couldn't predict, but one I was ready to face.