Dominic
The house felt emptier than ever when I woke up.
Not just because Lila wasn't beside me — she hadn't been in the same room last night — but because something inside me had shattered along with that damn case I threw.
I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the shock in her face, the way she stumbled back, the tears she tried to hide but couldn't.
How did it get this bad?
I replayed the fight over and over, my own words like knives cutting deeper than I ever meant to wound.
I told myself I was angry at the situation, at the contract, at the empire I was trying to protect — but the truth was far worse.
I was angry at myself.
At how little I'd done to help her family when they needed me the most.
At how I'd let my pride and my empire blind me to the cost.
And worst of all — at how I'd hurt Lila, the one person I swore I'd protect.
I sat at the kitchen table, the cold morning light filtering through the blinds, casting thin lines across the scattered shards of the broken frame.
God, what had I done?
She deserved better than this.
I needed to fix it.
But how?
When I tried to reach out to her last night, she shut me out. Tonight, she'd fled to her room, probably trying to find a safe space away from me.
I knew she was scared.
I was scared too.
Not just of losing her, but of losing myself.
Because the more I pushed, the more I lost control.
The harder I tried to hold on, the more I broke what I was trying to save.
I reached for my phone, thumb hovering over her name.
What could I say that would make this better?
Sorry felt hollow.
I hated that I'd been the one to throw something in anger.
That moment when I missed her by inches — it was a line I never wanted to cross.
Yet here we were.
Two broken people caught in a fight neither of us knew how to win.
I thought about the contract — two months left.
Two months before we were supposed to be done.
But I didn't want it to end like this.
I wanted to find a way back to her.
To the woman I married, who had a fire in her that both terrified and captivated me.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair.
I didn't know if she'd forgive me.
I didn't know if I could forgive myself.
But I had to try.
Because losing her wasn't an option I was willing to accept.
I stood, determination hardening inside me.
Tonight, I'd find a way to make this right.