The room was suffocating with tension, charged like a storm seconds before the lightning struck. Adrian's gaze was a blade, sharp and merciless, fixed on Daniel. Daniel stood firm, his arms around Elena, shielding her like he had once shielded lives on an operating table.
"Elena, come here." Adrian's voice was low, dangerous, the calm of a predator before it lunged.
"She's not yours to command," Daniel snapped, his chest rising and falling with anger. "You can't keep her locked in your world like some possession. She's not a business deal, Adrian. She's a woman. She deserves to choose."
Adrian's jaw clenched, his fists curling at his sides. "You think I don't know that? You think I don't wake up every day terrified she'll slip through my fingers? Don't stand there and talk about love like you're the only man capable of it."
Daniel's laugh was bitter, broken. "Love? You call this love? Planning her life before she even knew you? Signing her name to contracts she never agreed to? That's not love—it's control."
The words landed like a slap, and for a moment, Adrian's mask slipped. His eyes flickered with something almost human—guilt, maybe, or fear—but it hardened quickly, replaced by steel.
"I gave her everything," Adrian ground out. "Stability. Security. A future no one else could offer. Including you, Doctor. You left her once. Don't pretend you're her savior now."
Daniel's grip on Elena tightened protectively. "I left because I was broken. But I never stopped loving her. Not for one second. And I'll keep fighting until she sees that."
Adrian's restraint snapped. In two strides he was across the room, his hand fisting Daniel's collar, slamming him back against the wall. Elena gasped, caught between them, her heart tearing in two.
"Don't test me," Adrian hissed, his face inches from Daniel's. "I've destroyed men for less than what you're doing right now."
Daniel didn't flinch. His voice was steady, even as his body trembled with fury. "Then destroy me. Because I won't walk away from her again."
The silence after his words was deafening, broken only by Elena's ragged breathing.
"Stop it!" she cried, forcing herself between them, her hands against Adrian's chest. His heart thundered beneath her palm, wild and erratic. She turned to Daniel, her voice breaking. "And you—stop trying to drag me back into the past. I can't keep living in two worlds."
Tears blurred her vision as she stepped back, staring at both of them—the man who had built her dreams into steel and fire, and the man who had once held her heart so gently it almost didn't hurt to breathe.
"I can't do this," she whispered. "Not tonight."
And before either man could stop her, Elena grabbed her coat and fled into the night.
Adrian stood frozen, his fists still trembling at his sides. Daniel slumped against the wall, his eyes closing in agony.
For the first time, both men realized the truth neither wanted to admit.
If Elena didn't choose soon, there might be nothing left of her heart to save.