Olivia’s lips parted, her breath hitching.
“Your nightmares, yes,” she murmured. “The ones that match mine.”
“They’re not just nightmares, amore mio.”
I caught her hand, pressing a reverent kiss to her palm. “They were real. You died in a fire—along with our children.”
Her breath left her in a shuddering gasp.
Malik stood silent, his expression unreadable.
My body tensed with fury, the fire roaring back into my blood as the next words tore from my throat.
“And if you hadn’t had an affair with my wife?—”
The sentence clotted my throat, rage coiling like a viper in my chest.
Malik staggered back, his hand clutching his heart as though my words had physically struck him.
“Roman…” His voice broke thick with something heavy and remorseful. “Please… forgive me.” His emerald eyes shimmered, his breath unsteady. “I have made many mistakes in the past… but my biggest regret, the one that haunts me most, was losing you two.”
His voice quivered, his expression open, exposed. “I think of what you always told me.” His eyes locked onto mine, glistening.
“I might have been born a monster…”
I stepped forward, my voice flat yet weighted with something ancient.
“You will never die a monster.”
The words felt like a vow from another time, something etched into our existence.
Olivia threw her hands between us, her voice rising, desperate for clarity.
“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!” she shouted, whipping her gaze between us. “You’re acting like you know Malik—like you’ve known him for centuries.”
I turned to her, my hands cupping her face, my fingertips pressing into her skin.
I had loved her beyond time, beyond lifetimes, beyond reason itself.
And somehow, she had always found her way back to me.
“We met in another lifetime,” I whispered, my voice aching with certainty. “You and I will always find one another.” My thumb stroked her cheek, reverent. “We are soulmates.”
Olivia’s lips parted, her chest rising and falling unevenly.
“We what?” she breathed, her gaze darting between me and Malik.
Malik exhaled shakily, his posture softening.
“Roman’s right,” he said, his voice carrying a finality that sent a shiver down my spine.
“We have all met before.” His eyes held centuries of secrets.
“In another lifetime.”
His words hung heavy in the air, thick with destiny and revelation.
“The year 1359 A.D.” His voice dipped lower, almost reverent.
