Elian's gaze. There was something raw in the way he watched her-something that made her heart race and her mind spin in a whirlwind of confusion. She wasn't sure if it was the years of resentment

making sense. She had come here for a reason, desperate, on the edge of breaking, but now... now she was lost. The man who had tormented her f

tep closer, but his proximity still seemed to draw her in, like an invisible force that tugged

to evaporate in the face of his sincerity. She had spent so long hating him, blaming him for her failure, for the crushing we

ixture of anger and hurt. "Why didn't you sign my thesis? I worked so hard for it

as hidden away behind a mask of calm. He seemed to hesitate, as though weighing his next words carefu

sn't worthy of his approval. But to hear him say it wasn't about her efforts-about her-it made her feel unmoored. As if everything she

he choices you made. The way you let your desperation guide you. I saw it from the start. I could tell that you were struggling-

l along, but she had never noticed. He had stood there, silently observing her, while she had blamed him for everything that had

coloring her voice. "By pushing me away? By r

essing down on him too. "In a way, yes. I thought... I thought it would force you to face what you were really ru

she had viewed Elian as this untouchable figure-the one who had the power to destroy her future, to make her life miserable. But now, in the quiet of the room, she w

She was suddenly so very aware of the proximity between them, of the way her

-something dark and complex. "You've been running from yourself, Serena. From wha

herself as someone stuck, someone who had no way out of her situation. But now, the idea that she might be avoi

tone softening. "I never wanted you to fall so far. I want

that she hadn't even considered that Elian might have been going through his own version of hell. The revelation shook her to her co

ler now, more confined. "You want to help me?" she asked, her voice laced wit

re difficult to comprehend-regret, perhaps. "I didn't want to hurt you, Serena," he said

longer aligning with the anger and resentment she had carried for so long. What was she suppose

painful truth: nothing would ever be the same again. The world she had built around her, the cert

s happening. Because, deep down, she knew she had a

e knew before, but whether she could face the new path that lay a