“Promise?”
I kissed his jaw. “Promise.”
He stopped walking for a moment and tilted his head back slightly — enough to brush his lips against my arm.
“I built an empire thinking that was enough.”
He resumed walking. “Turns out — this is what mattered.”
My throat tightened.
For the first time in years, standing under open sky with the man who once destroyed and rebuilt me...
I let myself believe we weren’t surviving anymore.
We were living.
And maybe —
Just maybe —
We deserved it.
Chapter 13
ELENA
The evening light slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, turning the marble floors into pools of molten gold.
Dust motes drifted lazily in the warmth of the sunset.
I sat cross-legged on the thick Persian rug, still wearing the soft linen sundress I’d chosen earlier that day — pale ivory, light as air, cinched at the waist with a thin braided silk belt.
It was the kind of effortless elegance Ruslan had begun gifting me in quiet abundance after Daphne was born, as if dressing me beautifully was another way he tried to protect something fragile.
My hair fell loose down my back in dark waves.
Bare feet tucked beneath me.
The house felt too quiet.
No echo of Ruslan’s deep voice.
No footsteps from Yannis racing through the halls.
No faint sound of his security team moving through the corridors.
Just silence.
Daphne was kneeling a few feet away, completely immersed in her world.
Our three-year-old miracle.
She wore a delicate cream cashmere romper from a Paris atelier Ruslan had personally commissioned after hearing about the brand from one of his contacts.
The fabric was impossibly soft, hugging her small frame like a cloud. Pearl buttons lined the front. Tiny lace detailing framed the cuffs and collar.
A matching ribbon tied her dark curls into a loose bow at the crown of her head.
