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15. Closure

September 2026,
Ovzdusia, Soare-Luna Kingdom

Katerina

"Don't marry him," Ajax breathed.

"You're late," I said and his face fell. A small part of me rejoiced in hurting him. I wanted to make him hurt just as much as he had hurt me. But a larger part of me was trying to be a better person. And the first step towards it was being truthful. "I couldn't go through with it. Left him at the altar."

He released the breath he was holding. "You didn't marry him."

"I didn't marry him." I shook my head.

A moment later, I was in his arms, his one hand around my waist and the other one in my hair, angling my head, his own lowering to kiss me.

His touch was warm, his hold familiar, and our history unforgettable. He was the first man I ever loved. I could never forget that. But he was also the one who broke my heart. I couldn't forget that either.

But caught up in the moment, I sank against him. He took that as a go-sign and pressed his lips against mine. I melted. The kiss was soft, comforting, and chaste. It was the one he usually gave me when we were in the presence of other people.

I felt a sharp twinge of hurt in my chest.

I lowered my head, breaking the kiss, and backed away from his hold. I pressed my lips together. It was so easy to slip back into old habits. It was always hard to do the right thing. In a way, Ajax was like alcohol to me. I was used to him. Of course, I was, we had been in a relationship for five long years. But when the relationship was hurting me, I had to put an end to it. With help and time, I got over him. I got better. But at certain times- at times like these, the urge to go back was strong. I just had to fight it.

The memories of how much he hurt me made it considerably easier.

His eyes desperate, Ajax opened his mouth to say something but we were around people and this wasn't a conversation I wanted to have in their presence. But mostly, I didn't want to talk about all this in front of Dimitri. It felt wrong.

A part of me wanted to tell Ajax to leave but I knew I needed to talk to him. This conversation was long overdue. "Wait," I told Ajax, stopping him from saying anything, and turned around.

Alya was looking at me in concern. She didn't know what had happened. Jayden was looking at me with a mix of pity and you-have-my-best-wishes look. Dimitri looked... he looked heartbroken and furious. The intensity of emotions in his eyes confused me. We didn't know each other that well. We had something, sure, but it wasn't anything serious. Logically, I was doing nothing wrong. I wasn't cheating on him. I was free to do as I wished without feeling as guilty as I did.

"Please excuse us," I murmured, grabbed Ajax's hand - his gaze hadn't even wavered from me - and lead him into the bedroom. He shut the door behind us.

"Kate," Ajax rasped, drawing me in his arms again, his breath a little ragged.

I placed a hand on his chest, pushing him away, and then backed up, putting a bit of distance between us.

"I ...uh, I didn't do it for you." I looked up at him. "I did it for me."

"I know you didn't love him. At least not as much as you love me."

He was right. I loved Felix in my own way. Initially. But it was nowhere near as much as I had loved Ajax. "You're right. I did love you a lot... I think I still do," I said softly. "But you broke my heart, Ajax. I cannot forgive you for it."

"You still love me..." he said in awe as if he couldn't even believe it. It seemed like he hadn't even heard the next part of what I had said.

"You can love someone and still choose to walk away. One thing has nothing to do with the other."