, and Aila stiffened, expecting

e. He stepped inside, closing the door quietly behi

oice breaking the silence bet

lection. Finally, she tore her gaze away and turned to face

," she admitted, her voic

o take her hand. "You don't have to say an

tween them was so tangled, so complicated. She didn't know how to untangl

ered, tears welling up in her e

. "I know. And I don't want to pressure you. But Aila... I can't keep

ing the air out of her lungs. Aila's eyes widened,

g. "None of this is fair. To me, to you, to Darian.

I'm not asking you to throw anything away, Aila. I'm asking you

ould she choose? How could she possibly make

er voice barely audible as the tear

his hands on her shoulders. "You can,

r vision blurred by tear

You are," he whispered softly, his breath warm agains

eve that she could find a way out of this mess. But right now, all she felt was trapped

-

awake in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Darian was beside her,

had married. There was a time when she had loved him, when she had believed in th

choices. Could she really leave Darian? Could she walk away

st the thrill of something new, something forbidden? Or was there

l she knew was that something had to change. She couldn't

sion-*the* decisi

t when everything would finally become clear. Wait for