The silence after Adrian's words was heavy, like thunder crouching low in the sky, waiting to break. Elena's pulse pounded in her ears, her breath shallow, her body frozen between the two men who now faced each other like predators in a cage.
Daniel straightened, his voice calm but defiant. "You think money, power, and your perfect suits make you worthy of her? You think standing at her side in some glittering ballroom erases the years we shared?"
Adrian's lips curled, but the cold fire in his eyes didn't waver. "I don't need to erase the past. I only need to give her a future. One you couldn't."
Daniel flinched but stood taller. "You don't know what she and I had. You'll never understand."
Adrian stepped forward, the air between them crackling. "What I know is that you left her. You broke her. And I'm the one who's here now, holding the pieces together. That's all that matters."
Elena's chest ached as she looked between them. Daniel's jaw was tight, his fists clenched, but his eyes—his eyes were the same soft green that once held her entire world. Adrian's, on the other hand, burned like steel—unyielding, unrelenting, as though losing her wasn't an option he could even fathom.
"Stop," she whispered, but neither man heard.
Daniel's voice dropped, thick with pain. "She still feels it, Blake. I saw it in her eyes when she looked at me. Don't pretend you didn't notice."
Adrian's face hardened, but his hand shot out suddenly, gripping Daniel's shirt and pulling him close. His words were a growl, intimate and lethal.
"You will not take her from me."
"Then don't lose her," Daniel shot back.
"Elena," Adrian turned, his voice rough as he released Daniel, "tell him. Tell him you don't want him, and this ends now."
Her heart slammed painfully. Both men stared at her, their worlds colliding, waiting for her to break the tie.
But her lips wouldn't move. She couldn't. Because choosing one meant destroying the other—and maybe herself in the process.
"Please," she whispered, tears brimming. "Don't make me do this now."
Adrian's chest rose and fell with barely leashed fury. Daniel's shoulders sagged, his hope dimming, though not extinguished.
The silence stretched until it nearly suffocated her.
Finally, Adrian exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through his hair. "Fine. But know this, Elena—" His gaze seared hers, his voice trembling with a mix of anger and desperate tenderness. "I will fight for you until you're mine completely. I won't share you. Not with him. Not with anyone."
He turned on his heel and strode away, his presence leaving the air colder in his absence.
Daniel watched him go, then turned to Elena, his voice breaking. "You can't keep running forever. One day, you'll have to choose. And I pray it's me."
When he walked away, the emptiness was deafening.
Elena sank onto the park bench, burying her face in her hands, her tears spilling freely at last.
Because for the first time, she realized the truth.
No matter how this ended, love wasn't going to save her.
It was going to destroy her.