Aegis remained perfectly still, like a pillar of stone, allowing Bella to continue to break down and sob against his shoulder while his mind desperately struggled to process the monumental weight of her words.
He looked down, searching her tear-streaked eyes for any hint of falsehood, any flicker of a calculated lie. But the profound way she wept, the sheer, raw agony in her confession, left no room for doubt. She was telling him the truth he had refused to believe for years.
"So I was wrong all this time? She hadn't rejected me."
For the very first time in years, something deep and vital stirred in his previously broken heart. It began the impossible process of healing, slowly regaining the life, warmth, and spirit it had ruthlessly cast aside.
"I still love you, Arlan," she added, lifting her head, looking straight into his eyes with conviction. "I wish we could build a family in this world, a home where there is no one and nothing left to stop us this time."
