“Ma’am?”
I turned around.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice laced with sincerity.
My response was a quiet nod, and with that, I exited the space. In the hallway, I stopped in my tracks after Sergei walked into the ward, leaving Karik by himself at the window.
“How is she?” he asked, hands in his pockets as I approached him.
“She’s fine,” I replied, combing my fingers through my hair for no reason.
“Good.”
I halted beside him. “Thank you for making sure she has the best doctors attending to her.”
He didn’t respond.
I glanced at his left arm. “How’s your arm?”
“It’s a flesh wound,” he said, catching my eyes. “It’s healed.”
A pause.
“Good.”
Awkward silence.
We both stared at each other without saying a word, even though we could feel the tension in the air.
“You’re free to go now,” he said, his gaze unwavering.
My eyes squinted. “What?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “You’re no longer bound to me in any way. I’ll get the divorce papers ready so you can—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” I said, a nervous chuckle escaping my lips. “Wh–what’re…what’re you talking about?”
My heart was racing as I stared into those eyes, hoping this was some sort of joke. I should be glad that he’d finally decided to dissolve our wedding and let me go. But I wasn’t. Instead, the thought of returning to my old life scared the shit out of me.
“The Sokolov Syndicate is destroyed,” he began, his voice laced with a hint of pain. “Varro’s been captured. There’s no one coming for you.” A beat. “You’re safe outside the estate now. You no longer need my protection.”
His words broke my heart—they shouldn’t, but they did.
“Are you sending me away?” I asked, searching his eyes for the very truth his lips hadn’t spilled yet.
“God, no,” he said, closing the distance between us, his expression softer than I’d ever seen. “I’m just telling you, you now have a choice. There are no strings on you.”
I swallowed hard. “You’re telling me I can leave, walk away like the past few weeks never happened?” My tone was tinged with disappointment.
“If you want to.”
“If I want to?” I pulled my head back, my lips quivering subtly. “Just say you don’t want me anymore.”
Why was I being petty?
I knew he just wanted me to decide whether to leave or stay. However, the fact that sending me away was even an option didn’t sit well with me at all.
“Ellie,” he said, his voice firm and steady. “I don’t want you to be with me because you feel obligated to. I don’t want you to be with me because you feel like you can’t leave.” He let the words sink in.
