No one has ever done anything like this for me before. He hurt me, yes, but do I really want to destroy everything he’s built, everything he is, just for revenge?
“That’s my favorite work ever.”
I flinch.
Sebastian is behind me, tall, calm, hands deep in his pockets, his expression unreadable. His presence fills the room without a sound, like he owns the air itself.
“When did you arrive?” I ask, trying to steady my voice, but it wavers.
“Just now.” He steps closer, and my breath catches as his gaze rakes over me. A small, infuriating smile touches his lips. “New dress?”
I nod, unable to speak.
“It’s exquisite on you.”
“Thank you.” My voice cracks despite my best effort. Tears burn at the corners of my eyes, but I swallow them back. I can’t stop the whisper that slips past my lips. “You deserve to hate me…but you don’t.”
He tilts his head, a quiet tension in the air. “That’s the problem,” he says softly. “I don’t know how.”
The words hang between us, heavier than any silence. My chest tightens, and for a moment I can barely breathe. I want toreach out, to close the distance, to tell him everything—and yet, I freeze, afraid of what my truth might do to the fragile bridge between us.
I turn to face him, heart hammering in my chest. “This is why I can’t do this. This is why I—”
“Why you what?” His voice is calm, deceptively calm, but it carries a weight that presses against me.
“Why I wanted to hurt you.”
His brows draw together, shadowing his eyes. I swallow, shakily finding the words I’ve buried for far too long.
“After you left…my world,” I choke, “collapsed. I felt humiliated. Exposed. Broken. When I found out about the marriage alliance, I wanted revenge. And then Mikhailov…he approached because he knew. He knew everything. He knew you mattered.”
He goes still, like I’ve slapped him, the tension in his body visible even from here. My voice falters, cracks spilling out as I continue.
“He used that against me. He convinced me that ruining your career…that it would be fair revenge. That it would balance what you did to me.”
I catch the tiniest twitch in his jaw, a muscle flexing as he clenches his teeth. His fists tighten at his sides, but he doesn’t move toward me—not yet.
I’m shaking. My chest is tight. And yet, a strange part of me is relieved; I’ve finally said it. The truth is out.
His eyes blaze, and I can feel the fury radiating from him, but it’s tangled with something else…something deeper, something raw.
“I…I didn’t know he would go this far,” I whisper, voice shaking. “I didn’t know he planned to dismantle your life. He used me. I wanted revenge, yes, but not like this. Not….” My voice breaks. “Not this.”
Sebastian closes the distance in a heartbeat, his hand cupping the back of my neck, tilting my head up so I have no choice but to meet him. The heat from his body presses into mine, dangerous and consuming.
“I’m going to ask you one question,” he murmurs, low and deliberate. “And I want the truth.”
I nod, swallowing hard, heart hammering like it wants to break free.
“Do you still want to destroy me?”
I take a long, trembling breath, eyes fixed on his, and for the first time, I feel all the weight lift from my chest.
“No,” I whisper, almost inaudibly. “Not anymore.”
Relief crashes across his features—raw, unguarded, and impossibly human.
Then he kisses me.
