r with every passing second, but he masked it with an indifferent facade. Years of learning how to control his emotions

Alejandro's before he turned his attention back to I

, but Alejandro could sense something beneath the surface-hesitation, perhaps? Or maybe it was just his w

, Alejandro's voice cut th

finally faced him, her expression was calm, but her eyes-

ice steady, betraying no

e had been wrong, that he had made a terrible mistake, that pushing her away was the single most foolish thing he h

glimmer of something-curiosity, maybe? Or was it something deeper, like the remnants of t

etly. Her words were simple, but they cut through him lik

oud, as though she had finally severed whatever ties remained between them. Alejandro stood f

ined rooted in place, the world around him blurring into nothing. Everything had changed so quickly. He h

planning had meant nothing. The woman he had once thought of as an afterthought, as a mere pawn in his

let h

was moving on

her skin, a welcome contrast to the heat that still simmered inside her from her brief exchange with Alejandro. She had wanted to be c

sked, his voice pulling

of guilt. Marco had been nothing but kind to her, a friend and confidant when

ugh even to her own ears, th

eyes held a seriousness she wasn't used to seeing fr

"I'm not pretending," she said, though she knew it

n her arm. "You and Alejandro... you have history. It's only

t's not just that. It's everything. This whole night... it feels like I've stepped into some alter

was cast aside," M

urprised by his understan

woman anymore, Isabella. You've come so far, and tonight

tall in the face of anything, especially Alejandro. But the truth was, she wasn't sure sh

s is difficult for you, and I don't want to push you into anything you'

darkest moments of her life, and she didn't want to take that for granted. She smiled at him,

od, his expression k

window, her thoughts swirling like the city lights that blurred past. She had spent so long trying to distance herself from her past,

t chapter of her life for good, she knew deep down

, could she ever

rlwind of thoughts, emotions clashing and tangling in a way that left him feeling off-balance. He had always been in control-of his life,

ir loveless marriage, that it would allow him to pursue the life he had

n't been there before, a confidence that made him see her in a completely new light. He had been so blind, so arrogant in hi

terrifi

at he understood what he had lost, he wa

im out of his thoughts. He

for another confrontation, not after the disastrous conversat

came through, sharp and i

eaning back in his

, her tone clipped. "You can't just pretend like it doe

stration building inside him

through too much to let this... whatever this is

ssing down on him. "Vicky, I told you before-I'm not in

, and when Vicky spoke again, her voice was icy. "Y

his tone even. "But I can't lie to you-or myse

for what they had. But instead, she let out a bitter laugh. "Fine. Do what you want, Alejan

in the silence of his car, his mind still reel

blurring together as the weight of his d

made hi