Part 122
When he said please, something in her chest nearly broke.
It was the way he looked at her — steady, soft, so painfully human.
For a moment, Aura almost believed him. Almost wanted to hand him the keys and watch him walk out the door, just to see if he'd really come back like he promised.
But then she saw his eyes.
The quiet calculation beneath the tenderness.
The flicker of hope that didn't belong to her.
That's what shattered the illusion.
She stood there, her pulse drumming in her ears, her hand still tingling where he'd touched her.
Every nerve screamed don't let him go.
She turned away before he could see her expression — because if he saw, he'd know she was seconds away from crying or breaking something. Maybe both.
Aura gripped the edge of the counter until her knuckles went white.
Her voice trembled even as she whispered to herself,
"He'll leave… He'll forget you again… like before."
The thought crawled under her skin.
She'd seen the look on his face back then — when he'd smiled for the cameras, surrounded by people who said they loved him but never knew him.
They didn't deserve him.
They never did.
"They'd destroy you again, Adrian," she muttered. "And I won't let them."
She picked up the tea cups, her hands steady again. Calm, almost.
Her mind was clearer now — sharpened by fear and certainty.
He was still trying to escape.
Still pretending to care just long enough to find a weakness.
Aura looked back at him through the open doorway — sitting on the couch, hands resting quietly, face unreadable.
Her heart throbbed.
She wanted to run to him, to hold him until he stopped thinking about running, until he finally realized she was all he needed.
But love wasn't enough anymore.
If he wouldn't stay because he wanted to,
then she'd make sure he stayed because he had no choice.
She exhaled slowly, setting the cups down.
"I didn't want it to be like this," she whispered, more to herself than to him.
"But you left me no other way."
Her eyes drifted toward the drawer where she'd hidden the small bottle — her insurance, just in case persuasion failed.
It wasn't poison. It wasn't meant to hurt.
Just something to help him rest, keep him calm, keep him close.
Because if he wouldn't believe that she was saving him —
she'd just have to show him.