My vision blurs before I even realize I’m crying. A tear slips free, then another, and the rest break free in a rush I can’t control.
My grip on the sofa tightens, knuckles whitening, but it does nothing to stem the tremor that is spreading through my body. The sounds I’m making are small and wounded, nothing like the way I’ve carried myself my whole life.
The sob builds faster than I can swallow it down. It rises, breaks, and the next one follows. I heave, gasping for air as my whole body trembles. It feels as though a fault line inside me has split open, releasing everything I’ve ever held back.
And through all of it, he stands there watching me with that same devastating composure.
I see red.
My voice cracks, rising despite my effort to contain it. “Nathaniel, this is my future?—”
“Ourfuture,” he cuts in, firm and unyielding.
The interruption stuns me for a second, then the words rip out of me.
“You had no right! I’ve spent years—years—working toward this. I made every sacrifice I could think of, and you—” My hand claws at my chest as if I can hold myself together physically. “How could you?Is my life just some kind of joke to you?”
At that, his gaze sharpens.
“I assure you,” he says, voice low, “I’ve never taken anything more seriously.Youare my whole life, Olivia.”
The words should soothe, but they don’t. They scrape raw against the wound that he’s inflicted on me.
“Then make this make sense to me.” My hands rise to my face, scrubbing furiously at the tears I can’t seem to stop. “Why would you do something like this when I’ve already given you everything, Nathaniel? I chose you. Ialwayschoose you. Isn’t that enough?”
His jaw tightens, and for a moment, I think he won’t answer. But then he exhales long and slow, as though he’s been holding this in for far too long.
“No,” he says simply. “It’s not enough. And it never will be.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, and I blink at him, unsure I heard him correctly. But Nathaniel isn’t looking away. If anything, he seems to be leaning into the moment, letting it crack open the facade he’s carefully maintained since we first met.
“W-what?” I stammer, willing myself to hold his gaze even as my heart breaks open in real time.
“I need you in ways that you can’t begin to comprehend, Olivia.” He takes a step toward me. “You think this is about control? About power?” He lets out a mirthless chuckle, shaking his head. “No, it’s not. It’s aboutsurvival.Mine.”
He keeps advancing, and every inch of distance he closes makes my pulse climb higher. “I know what my life becomes without you. I’ve played out every version, and I don’t survive any of them.” I step back, but he closes the gap with ease. “Instinct drives me, baby. It pulls me toward you, and it pushes me to eliminate anything that could take you away from me.”
My back hits the wall and I realize too late that he has me cornered. There is nowhere else to go. His mere presenceis overwhelming, suffocating… And god help me, I can’t bring myself to look away.
“Nathaniel…” I choke out his name, but I don’t know what else to say.
His hand comes up and caresses my cheek. “You think you’ve seen the worst of me?” he asks, tone almost indulgent. “You haven’t. You’ve only seen the version of me I let you see, the man I hoped you could love without running. But…” His fingertips trace the line of my jaw, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “I’m done pretending. So will you let me be honest with you now?”
His hand slides to my throat, warm and possessive, while the other hand lands on the wall beside my head. He braces himself as he leans closer, his breath brushing my temple, his scent enveloping me.
“I love you like a sick man,” he whispers, his lips so close to my ear that I can feel the vibration of his words. “It’s consuming me alive, but I let it happen.” His grip around my throat tightens, and shamefully, it incites a rush of arousal through me. “Do you know why?”
My breath hitches as he pulls back enough to meet my gaze again. His eyes are dark, fevered, and so beautiful, like the calm before a storm that promises to destroy everything in its path.
“It’s because you’ve held my heart in the palm of your hand the whole time,” he confesses, voice thick with emotion. “And I’d ruin myself a thousand times over to be with you. I’d burn my whole life to the ground before I’d let you go.”
My lips part. A question slips out before I can stop it. “But…what would you do if I walked away? If I left this all behind?”
“What would I do if you walked away?” he repeats slowly, tilting his head as if considering it. Then, a small, knowing smile touches his lips—the kind that curls heat and dread together in my stomach. “I’d follow.”
“Even if I didn’t want to be with you anymore?” I whisper.
I regret saying it instantly when I see the wounded look that slashes across his face.
