---
Chapter Four: The Night It All Broke
Rain pounded against the glass, a relentless curtain blurring the city lights into streaks of cold fire.
Ava stood by the window of Damon's penthouse, watching the storm rage. The weight of the silence between them was suffocating.
Damon's voice finally cut through, low and sharp. "How could you?"
She turned slowly, heart breaking under the accusation she didn't understand.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded. "Why did I have to find out from someone else?"
Ava's throat tightened. "I wanted to, Damon. I was going to—"
"You lied to me."
"I wasn't lying," she whispered, tears burning her eyes. "I just didn't know how to say it."
He shook his head, stepping back as if the distance could erase the hurt. "You chose them over me. Over us."
"I never chose anyone over you," Ava said desperately.
"But you did."
The chasm between them yawned wide and deep.
And then the door slammed shut.
Damon was gone.
Ava was left with the rain and the silence and the fragments of a love she couldn't save.