Chapter 22
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photos. The ones of my family. Where did they go2”
The nurse didn’t inch She was standing by the window, as always, her face obscured by the
mask. She turned, meeting his gaze with something akin to resolve.
moved them,” she said quietly.
“Moved them?” he repeated, stepping forward. “You have no right ”
“I have every right, she interrupted. “This is not the man you were. These are not the memories
you should be holding onto.”
He gritted his teeth, his hands curling into fists. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m the person who is trying to help you,” she replied, her voice calm, unwavering. “You can’t
keep clinging to the past, Ares. You have to let go.”
Her words struck him like a physical blow, and for a moment, he felt something snap inside him.
It was as though her presence, her quiet rebellion against his control, was too much to bear.
The anger that had simmered for so long finally erupted, and he crossed the room in three
strides, grabbing her by the arm and spinning her to face him.
“You think you know me?” he growled. “You think you can change me? I’ll never be the man you
want me to be.”
For the first time, she looked up at him without fear. There was something else in her eyes
something he couldn’t quite understand. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t fight him.
“You don’t get to decide that anymore,” she whispered, her voice full of quiet defiance. “You may
be broken, but I’m not letting you stay this way.”
Ares released her arm, stunned by the force of her words, the weight of her gaze. She was
right, he realized. She had already begun changing the house, altering the very things that had
kept him trapped in his own sorrow. And somewhere deep inside, he found himself resisting not
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Chapter 22
just her, but the parts of himeell the way frying to pull from the chadn
It was late Too late, even to Ares His body ached, the medication making Me head spin as he
try back against the pillows, trying to find the etusive sleep that had evaded him for en fong.
The house was quiet, save on the faint hum of the air conditioning. Everything was still. The
shadows in the room stretched long, creeping across the walls like ghosts of his former self.
He must have dored off because when he woke, he wasn’t alone.
The nurse was sitting by his bedside, her figure silhouetted against the soft moonlight that
filtered through the window. She hadn’t spoken, hadn’t made a sound. Just watched him, as she
always did. He could feel the weight of her gaze even without seeing her eyes.
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Then, as if in a dream, he reached for her. His hand brushed against the coolness of her gloved
fingers, the touch sending a shock of electricity through his body.
She didn’t pull away.
“Ares,” she whispered, her voice so soft, it barely registered in his foggy mind.
He reached up, his fingers trembling, and gently cupped her cheek, the skin beneath his hand
warm and alive. He closed his eyes, feeling the connection between them deepen. And for the
first time in months, the ache inside him the one that had gnawed at his soul since the accident
began to ease.
She leaned closer, and without thinking, he met her lips with his. It was a slow, hesitant kiss, the
kind of kiss that spoke of old memories and new possibilities. There was no rush, no urgency
just the quiet acceptance of something neither of them had dared to confront before.
When they broke apart, he was breathless.
She didn’t speak. She simply stood, turned, and disappeared into the shadows, leaving him with
the warmth of her touch lingering on his skin.
h
CTD
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Chapter 22
The next morning. Ares awoke alone.
h
But something had shifted Something unspoken, something fragile hot real. He picked up the glass beside his bed, reaching for the water.
A crimenn stain caught his eye on the rim.
The lipstick was unmistakable.
It was her shade.
And with it, the knowledge that she wasn’t just his nurse.
She was something much more.
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