Noah stood quietly nearby, watching her carefully. He had planned to leave after their conversation ended. Rafael would return soon anyway.
But something stopped him.
Because Aria looked like someone barely holding herself together.
Her eyes remained fixed on the rain-covered skyline outside, distant and hollow.
Then quietly, almost absentmindedly, she whispered,
"Did he really love me from the beginning?"
The question made Noah still completely.
For a second, he almost laughed bitterly.
Because if there was one thing nobody in Velmora would ever doubt…
It was Rafael Romano's love for her.
Noah leaned back slowly against the chair before answering softly,
"You still don't know even half of it."
Aria frowned slightly and looked toward him.
Noah hesitated.Because this truth wasn't his to tell.
Rafael had buried these memories for years like wounds he never intended anyone to touch again.
