" I'm sor-"
"DON'T, JUST DON'T SAY IT. YOU DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO SAY IT AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME! I BEGGED YOU, SCREAMED AND PLEAD, BUT YOU DIDN'T HEED MY WORDS. THEN WHY SHOULD I!"
I yelled with tears streaming down my face when witnessing m...
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Just when I thought of making things right and asking for her forgiveness, everything began spiraling in the opposite direction. I had been debating for days, restless and suffocating under the weight of my own guilt, trying to figure out how to fix what I had broken. The mall incident had been a disaster, a train wreck I had orchestrated myself, and the regret burned in me like an open wound. I treated her like she was nothing, thinking my anger was justified, but now all I could think about was the look in her eyes that day, the pain I caused her.
But before I could take a single step toward reconciliation, a storm brewed in the horizon. Suspicious activity near her house came to my attention, strangers lurking in the shadows, unfamiliar cars idling nearby, their presence sticking out like a sore thumb in her quiet neighborhood. My men reported that they had been following her for weeks, trailing her every move, and it was not hard to guess their intentions. My stomach dropped when I realized what this meant. Someone wanted her dead.
It became worse when I retrieved a letter from her house, a cold and calculating message that left no room for doubt that I knew from that point her life was in imminent danger. The thought of her in harm's way made my blood run cold. How could I let this happen? I had sworn to protect her, even if she hated me now, even if I did not deserve to stand by her side, I could never forgive myself if I failed her when it mattered most.
The final blow came when I got word from my men stationed at the mall, watching over her as she shopped. There was a killer among the crowd, waiting for the right moment to strike. Time froze for a moment as panic surged through me. No. Not here. Not now. I had no choice. I stormed into the mall with my men, my focus razor-sharp. This was not about redemption anymore; it was about saving her life.
We found him lurking near the fitting rooms, his predatory stance giving him away. My men took care of the situation swiftly, removing the threat before anyone could notice. But I did not want her to see it. I could not let her witness the blood on my hands. I had already hurt her enough, and this was not something she should ever have to experience.
I slipped into her dressing room while my men cleared the scene outside. My plan was simple: make sure she was okay, keep her out of harm's way, and leave without her ever knowing what had happened. But all my resolve, all my carefully laid plans, crumbled the moment I saw her.
She stood there in front of the mirror, wearing an emerald dress that clung to her in all the right places. For a moment, I forgot why I was there, my breath catching in my throat. The way she looked, it was enough to render me stupid, reckless, and completely powerless. Instead of stopping her, instead of warning her to stay inside, I made the most idiotic decision of my life.
I reached for her.
I don't even know what I was thinking. Maybe I wanted to tell her the truth. Maybe I wanted to hold her just once before I walked away. But that small act of selfishness came at a price, one so steep it left me frozen for three minutes straight, unable to move, breathe, or think.
