The air between them was suffocating.
Amara's pulse thundered in her ears, but she didn't move, didn't breathe. Cassandra's words still hung in the air like venom: the little secret that binds us together.
Her gaze darted to Adrian—his fists clenched, his jaw locked, eyes shadowed with guilt. He looked like a man caught in a trap he'd built himself.
"Adrian," Amara whispered, her voice raw. "What is she talking about?"
But Cassandra answered for him.
"Oh, darling, don't look so surprised," she purred, circling the room like a predator savoring its prey. "Adrian and I… we share history. And history has a way of refusing to die. Isn't that right, love?"
Her hand brushed his arm, slow, deliberate. Adrian jerked away, but the damage was done. Amara felt the sting in her chest, sharp and merciless.
"Stop it, Cassandra," Adrian snapped, his voice low, dangerous. "This has nothing to do with her."
Cassandra's laugh was a dagger wrapped in silk. "On the contrary. It has everything to do with her. Because if she stays, she'll learn the truth. And when she does…" Her eyes gleamed. "She'll never forgive you."
Amara's heart faltered. The truth? What truth?
She turned to Adrian again, her voice breaking. "Please. Just tell me."
But Adrian stayed silent.
And Cassandra pounced.
"You see?" she said sweetly, feigning pity. "He can't. Because telling you would ruin the perfect little picture he's painting for you. He'd rather you stay blind, blissfully ignorant, while he hides what he's done."
Amara's throat closed. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
"Adrian…"
His eyes finally met hers—haunted, desperate, full of love and fear all at once. He reached for her, but she stepped back.
"Don't," she whispered. "Not until you tell me the truth."
Cassandra's smile widened, victory glittering in her eyes.
"Well, darling," she purred, leaning closer to Adrian, "you have a choice. Either you send her away, protect her from the truth she's not strong enough to handle…" She paused, her gaze sliding to Amara with deliberate cruelty. "…or you tell her everything, and watch her walk out of your life forever."
She leaned in, her lips almost brushing his ear as she whispered: "Choose."
Silence. The kind that cracks hearts open.
Adrian's hands trembled. His jaw tightened. His eyes burned with a war only he could fight.
Amara's tears fell freely now, but she didn't move. She needed his choice. She needed to know—was she worth the truth, or just another secret he'd bury?
Adrian's voice, when it came, was broken but resolute.
"I choose…"