Amara couldn't breathe.
The room felt smaller, tighter, suffocating with the weight of Adrian's confession. His words replayed in her head, sharp and merciless: People got hurt. Innocent people. Because of me.
The man who had kissed her like she was his world… was also the man who had destroyed others'.
She staggered back, clutching her chest as if she could hold her heart together with her bare hands. "I need… I need air."
"Amara—" Adrian's voice cracked as he reached for her.
But she flinched.
That single movement gutted him more than any blade could. He froze, his hand falling uselessly to his side, his chest heaving with silent desperation.
"Please," she whispered, tears blurring her vision. "Don't touch me. Not right now."
Cassandra leaned against the wall, arms folded, eyes glittering with cruel satisfaction. "See, darling?" she purred. "I told you. She's not strong enough to handle the truth."
Adrian's head snapped toward her, his glare a wildfire. "Get out."
But Cassandra only smirked, brushing an invisible speck of dust from her sleeve. "Gladly. I'll let you two… sort out this mess. Though I doubt there's anything left to salvage."
Her heels clicked against the floor as she left, her laughter echoing like nails down Amara's spine.
Silence swallowed the room.
Adrian turned back to Amara, his voice low, pleading. "I never wanted this to touch you. I thought I could keep you safe, separate. But the moment I kissed you, I knew… there was no going back."
Amara's tears spilled freely now. "Then why lie to me? Why let me fall if you knew I might drown?"
His jaw clenched, his pain raw and visible. "Because I was selfish. Because I couldn't let you go."
Her lips trembled. Her body screamed to run into his arms, to believe the love in his eyes over the shadows in his past—but her mind screamed louder.
"I can't do this, Adrian."
The words sliced him open.
"Amara…"
"I love you," she confessed, voice breaking. "God, I love you so much it hurts. But love without trust? It's just pain."
And with that, she turned and walked away.
Every step was agony. Every tear was a scar. But if she stayed, she feared she'd shatter into pieces too sharp to ever put back together.
Adrian stood frozen, the echo of her words hollowing him out.
Love without trust is just pain.
For the first time in his life, the man who had once feared nothing was terrified—terrified of losing the one person who made him want to be more than his sins.
And as the door closed behind her, Adrian realized something that clawed at his soul:
If he didn't fight for her… he'd lose her forever.