Shyra stayed quiet for a long moment.
Then softly—
"Rhea."
Rhea didn't look up. Amaya was still clutched to her chest, tiny fingers tangled in Rhea's hair.
"Tell me," Shyra said. "What happened."
Rhea shook her head weakly.
"I can't."
Shyra didn't push. She just said, calm and steady,
"You're already breaking. Words won't make it worse."
Rhea laughed once—empty.
"You don't know that."
Shyra waited.
The silence pressed.
Finally, Rhea spoke—voice low, cracked.
"She invited me to dinner."
Shyra's eyes softened.
"At her house."
Rhea nodded.
"She planned everything," Rhea continued.
"The room. The lights. The wine."
Her lips trembled.
"Like she was preparing for a war she didn't know how to fight."
Shyra swallowed. "And you?"
"I went because I had to," Rhea said quickly.
"Because of the bet."
"Because of… revenge."
The word tasted bitter.
"She danced with me," Rhea whispered.
"Too close."
"Too careful."
Her grip on Amaya tightened.
"She knelt," Rhea said suddenly, voice rising.
"She—Ling Kwong—knelt."
Shyra stiffened. "She what?"
"She proposed," Rhea said, tears spilling again.
"With a flower."
"She was shaking, Shyra."
"Her hands wouldn't stop shaking."
Shyra closed her eyes briefly.
"She talked," Rhea went on, breath uneven.
"About the first day."
"About how angry I made her."
"How she didn't understand why she cared."
Rhea laughed through tears.
"She said she ate twenty strawberry bubbles so she'd taste good for me."
Shyra blinked, stunned.
"I tried to leave," Rhea said.
"I told her it was a joke."
"She hugged me from behind."
"She said she was losing her breath and I was walking away like it was nothing."
Her voice broke completely.
"She kissed me," Rhea whispered.
"Not like a game."
"Like she was terrified of time."
Shyra's hand tightened on Rhea's arm.
"She touched me," Rhea said, shame and confusion colliding.
"And I didn't stop her."
A sob tore out of her.
"I didn't stop her because I felt it too."
Shyra's jaw clenched.
"I forgot," Rhea cried.
"For a minute, I forgot everything."
"Mom."
"Revenge."
"All of it."
She shook her head violently.
"That scared me."
"She thought I was crying because of her," Rhea continued.
"She apologized."
"She begged."
"She said she'd become whatever I wanted."
Rhea looked up then—eyes wild, terrified.
"Shyra, she was ready to erase herself for me."
Shyra whispered, "Rhea…"
"I panicked," Rhea said.
"I pushed her."
"I said I hated confessions."
"I acted like I was disgusted."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I lied."
Shyra nodded slowly.
"I know."
"She fell," Rhea said, tears streaming.
"I heard her hit the floor."
Her shoulders shook violently.
"I ran," she sobbed.
"I ran before I could go back."
"Before I could choose."
Amaya stirred in her arms, sensing the distress.
Shyra wrapped both arms around Rhea carefully, holding her and the baby together.
"You didn't say you loved her," Shyra said quietly.
Rhea laughed bitterly.
"Because that would make it real."
She pressed her forehead to Amaya's.
"I don't know what I'm doing anymore," Rhea whispered.
"I came to destroy her."
Her voice broke into a sob.
"And now I don't know how to survive her."
Shyra held her tighter.
"That's why I warned you," she said softly.
"Because revenge doesn't fall apart first."
Rhea closed her eyes.
"The heart does."
Then she shook her head immediately.
"No," she said too fast.
"It's not love."
Shyra leaned back just enough to look at her face.
"For now?" she asked gently.
Rhea nodded, wiping her tears angrily.
"For now, I am feeling. But__"
"This will pass."
"It has to."
Shyra didn't argue right away.
She watched her sister breathe.
Watched her hands tremble around Amaya.
Watched the way her jaw clenched every time Ling's name stayed unspoken.
Then she said it—quiet, steady, unavoidable.
"You love her."
Rhea's head snapped up.
"No."
Flat. Sharp.
"I don't," Rhea said.
"Don't say that."
Shyra didn't flinch.
"I'm not asking," she replied calmly.
"I'm telling you."
Rhea stood abruptly, pacing once, then stopping.
"You're wrong."
"I came for revenge."
"I planned this."
"I control this."
Shyra stood too, voice still gentle but firm.
"Then why are you crying like this?"
Rhea opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
"You didn't cry like this for Mom," Shyra continued.
"Or for the past."
"Or for the plan."
She stepped closer.
"You cried because someone saw you," Shyra said softly.
"And didn't let go."
Rhea laughed bitterly.
"She doesn't know me."
"That's the problem," Shyra said.
"She wants you anyway."
Rhea's voice cracked.
"I can't love her."
Shyra nodded.
"I know."
She reached out and brushed Rhea's hair back, the way she used to when they were younger.
"But you do."
Rhea's shoulders sagged.
"I hate that," she whispered.
Shyra hugged her tightly.
"I know."
Rhea closed her eyes, tears slipping again—not loud this time, just exhausted.
"And that," Shyra said quietly, holding her,
"is exactly why this is going to hurt."
Rhea's grip on Amaya loosened.
Her breath broke first—then her voice.
"I love her."
The words fell like they had been waiting for years.
Shyra didn't react.
Didn't smile.
Didn't say I knew it.
She just waited.
Rhea laughed weakly, tears spilling again.
"I really love her."
"And I don't know what to do."
She sat back on the bed, staring at nothing.
"If I say yes," she whispered,
"Mom will never forgive me."
Shyra's jaw tightened.
"If I say yes," Rhea continued,
"everything I fought for, everything I survived… it will turn into another war."
Her hands curled into the bedsheet.
"But if I say no…"
Her voice cracked completely.
"If I say no, she might leave."
Rhea shook her head violently.
"Emotionally."
"Or worse—she'll choose someone else."
She looked up, eyes red, terrified.
"I can't bear that."
"I can't stand the thought of her smiling for someone else."
"Of her holding someone the way she held me."
"Of her loving someone and not even looking back."
Her chest heaved.
"I saw it today," Rhea said.
"How deep she was."
"How real."
She laughed through tears.
"She was shaking, Shyra."
"Ling Kwong was shaking for me."
Shyra swallowed.
"I wanted to push her away," Rhea said.
"I tried."
"But when she cried…"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I felt like I was killing her."
She hugged herself tightly.
"I don't know how to choose," she said.
"My mom… or my heart."
Shyra sat beside her again, slower this time.
"You're afraid of losing both," she said softly.
Rhea nodded.
"I already lost so much," she whispered.
"I don't want to lose her too."
Silence filled the room.
Amaya stirred slightly in Rhea's arms, murmuring softly.
Rhea kissed her forehead, tears dropping onto the baby's hair.
"I never planned this," Rhea said quietly.
"I planned revenge."
"I planned control."
She looked at Shyra, broken and honest.
"But I didn't plan love."
"And love," she said gently,
"never asks for permission."
The door creaked.
Rhea froze.
Her head snapped up—eyes wide, breath stuck in her throat.
Kane stood there.