The Wall Between Them
She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, there was a pause, a tong stretch of time where the
only sound was the Talist hum of the city below. Then, with a voice that was as soft as velver but
with a firmness that made his heart skip a beat, she spoke.
“I want you to stop pretending you don’t need help. Her words were quiet, but they cut through
the air with precision, settling over him like a heavy blanket. “You’ve been running from this for
too long. Ares. Running from me. From what we were.”
Ares’s jaw clenched, his grip tightening around the edge of his chair. She was too close, too
dangerously close. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to push her away. Part of him didn’t want
- to. He wanted to hear what she had to say, wanted to feel the heat of her presence, but he
wasn’t ready to face the truth she seemed determined to shove in his face.
“Stop,” he muttered, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t need your pity.”
Selene’s eyes softened, but her expression hardened quickly. “It’s not pity,” she said, her voice
steady and sure. “It’s understanding. And you’re too proud to accept it.”
She was right. He was proud. Too proud to admit that he was still broken, still haunted by the
past. He had tried to put the pieces of his life back together, but it was like trying to build a
mansion out of shattered glass. No matter how carefully he moved, the cracks were always
there, and they always cut him in the end.
Selene took a step closer, just enough so that her presence was undeniable. Ares could feel the
the heat of her body could sense the vulnerability in her voice as she spoke again, softer this time,
her words carrying a weight that was difficult to ignore.
“You can’t do this alone,” she said quietly, almost pleading. Her voice wavered slightly, and for
the first time, Ares could see the crack in her armor. The mask she wore, so carefully
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Chapter 31
constructed, faltering just enough for him to catch a glimpse of the woman underneath.
Ares swallowed hard. His breath hitched in his throat. She was too close now. Too close for
comfort. His mind screamed at him to pull away, to push her hack. But his borty… his body
betrayed him. He stayed routed to the spot, his muscles locked in place.
“I’m fine,” he gritted out, though his words sounded hollow even to his own ears.
Selene’s gaze didn’t leave him. She stood there, watching him, as though waiting for him to give
in, for him to break down the wall he had built so carefully around himself.
“You’re not fine, Ares,” she said, her voice low but filled with quiet intensity. “And I’m not leaving.
Not until you see that.”
Ares turned slowly to face her, his eyes dark, his expression taut with frustration. “Why does it
matter to you?” he asked, the words sharp and biting. He didn’t want to feel this way. Didn’t want
to care about her, not after everything that had happened. But she was making it impossible to
ignore.
“Because I care,” Selene said simply, her gaze unwavering. “More than you think.”
The words hit him like a physical blow. He opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came
out. He was at a loss for words. He had never been the kind of man to let his emotions show,
ར
but there was something in the way she looked at him that made it hard to keep the walls intact.
Her presence in the room seemed to fill every corner, every inch of space between them. He
could hear the soft, steady rhythm of her breath, the subtle tension in the curve of her
neck, the way her hands were folded delicately in front of her, but her fingers were trembling
ever so slightly. It was the only sign of her vulnerability, the only crack in her perfect façade.
And it broke him.
He stepped closer to her, just enough to feel the heat of her body against his, to sense the pulse
of her heartbeat beneath her skin. He could see the way her chest rose and fell with each
12:04 Sun, Oct 12
Chapter 31
breath, could feel the way the alt between them seemed to grow thicker.
A
“I don’t know how to let you in again, Selene,” he said, his voice strained, vulnerable in a way he had never allowed himself to he
Selene’s eyes softened, and for a fleeting moment, he saw the woman he had once loved the
woman he had thrown away. The woman who had come back, not to punish him, but to show
him what he had lost.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Ares closed the distance between them, his breath coming faster, his pulse quickening. “Then
stop making me feel like I have no choice but to hurt you.”
The room was silent, the tension so thick it was suffocating. He could feel it in the air, the spark
between them, and it was undeniable. He wanted to reach for her, to pull her into his arms, to fix
everything he had broken.
But then, just as quickly, the moment passed. Selene took a step back, pulling away from him,
her expression hardening once more.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, her voice firm. “But you’ll have to decide if you’re ready to
face what’s been standing between us.”
And with that, she turned and left him standing there, alone in the silence, his heart pounding in
his chest. The door clicked shut behind her, and he was left with nothing but the weight of her
words hanging in the air.
Ares Calloway stood at the window, staring out at the skyline. The city stretched beneath him
like a web of tangled ambitions and fractured dreams, but he didn’t see that anymore. His
once–revered empire now felt like a cage a gilded prison. His back was to her, but he could feel
her presence, like an invisible thread tugging at him, relentless and unforgiving.
“Why are you still here?” The question was more of a growl than a query, words strained
between clenched teeth.
