Chapter 32
“Fragile Facades
Selene Laurent’s steps were tight, calculated, as she approached from behind, the soft rustle of
hey dress the only sound in the room. She wasn’t the meek woman he had discarded years ago.
No, she was someone else now, someone stranger someone he couldn’t quite figure out. But it
unsettled him, and that was why he didn’t want her here. He couldn’t afford the weakness her
presence brought
“I told you,‘ she replied, her voice steady but laced with something darker, something more
intimate, I’m not leaving.”
Ares exhaled sharply, his hand gripping the edge of the windowsill. He felt a sharp pang, a
throbbing in his ribs that sent a flicker of discomfort down his spine. He tried to ignore it, tried to
act like it didn’t bother him, but the pain was growing, insidious, creeping up from the pit of his
stomach and into his chest. He couldn’t quite breathe past it. But he wouldn’t show it.
“You’re not here to help,” he snapped, turning to face her, his eyes cold, his stance rigid. He
hadn’t intended for her to see the crack in his mask, but there it was. It burned through his
veins. The weakness. His pain.
Selene didn’t back down. She was close now too close. Ares could feel the heat radiating from
her body, the calm way she held herself despite the tension thick enough to slice through. Her
eyes never left his, sharp and unwavering. She had always been this way stronger than anyone
realized, even him.
“Then what am I here for, Ares?” Her gaze softened, but there was no mistaking the challenge
in her voice. It was a quiet defiance that he could never resist.
He let out a short, humorless laugh, though it was tinged with bitterness. “To watch me fall? To
be some kind of martyr, holding my hand while I rot away in this… in this broken state?”
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Chapter 32
He shifted his weight, but the movement was too sharp, tem abrupt. Fain flared across his fi
slicing through his resolve. He stifled a grunt, but it was no use his face betrayed him His hand
shot to his side, clutching at the fabric of his shirt, the pain lancing through him like fire.
Selene was there in an instant, her hand on his arm, het grip firm and steady as if she had been
waiting for this moment. He flinched, not from her touch, but from the unexpected jolt of relief that shot through him. He couldn’t understand why her presence, her touch, felt like a balm even
when he didn’t want it.
You’re pushing me away, she said, her voice softer now, almost gentler, but there was still an
undercurrent of frustration. “But you need help, Ares. I know you’re in pain. Don’t hide it from
- me. You don’t have to do this alone.”
He looked at her then, really looked at her, and for a fleeting moment, he saw the cracks in her
perfect composure. Her brow furrowed, and the faintest trace of worry crossed her features. It
only made him angrier.
“I don’t need your pity,” he spat, his voice trembling with something he couldn’t control. His
pride. His anger. The last threads of his dignity, slipping through his fingers.
Selene didn’t move. Her hand was still resting on his arm, but it wasn’t an intrusion. It was a
tether something that kept him from spiraling. She wasn’t just here to fix him. She wasn’t trying
to save him. But he didn’t want her here, not when everything felt so fragile.
*Then what do you need, Ares?” Her words were quiet now, laden with something vulnerable, something he wasn’t sure he could afford to acknowledge. “Tell me what you need from me.
Because I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere.”
He shifted uncomfortably, the pressure on his ribs intensifying, the pain unbearable. He was
trying to keep his face neutral, to push past the agony, but his body was betraying him in ways
he couldn’t hide.
“You don’t get it,” he whispered harshly, his voice cracking slightly. “I’m not the man I was. I’m
broken. I can’t… I can’t keep up this charade.”
2/4
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Chapter 32
Her hand slid down his aim, the warmth of it seeping into his skin like a quiet storm. Her touch
was soft, understanding, yet it held him in place, a subtle reminder that she was still there,
despite everything he had done.
You don’t have to pretend with me, Ares, she said, her voice so low, so vulnerable now, it
tugged at something deep inside him. You don’t have to be that man anymore. You can lean on
me… even if you don’t want to.”
He turned sharply, his eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and pain. “I don’t need you to pity
me, he repeated, his voice hoarse. I’ve been fine on my own. I’ve always been fine on my
own.
But there was no hiding the weakness in his voice now. No masking the depth of the pain that
had been building in him for years, festering like an infection. The more he fought against it, the
more it consumed him.
Selene stepped closer, her eyes never leaving his. “Ares, you’re not fine. And I’m not going to
let you do this to yourself. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”
Her words hit him like a wave, crashing over him with the force of everything he had tried to
bury. His breath caught in his throat, his heart beating wildly against his chest. And for the first
time in a long time, he didn’t know how to protect himself from her. From the tenderness that
threatened to break him open.
“You can’t keep pushing me away,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. “You can’t
keep pretending that everything’s fine. Because it’s not.”
Ares stood there, frozen, as the pain in his body mixed with something far deeper a sense of
defeat, of longing, of wanting something he couldn’t name. He was losing control, and he hated
- it. He hated that she was the one person who could see through him, who could make him feel
like he didn’t have to be this invincible, untouchable man.
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Chapter 32
“You’re right, he said, his voice low, defeated, the words spilling from him before he could stop
them. “But I can’t let you in. Not like this.
Selene looked at him, het gaze filled with something tender and raw. You already have, she
murmured, stepping closer still, her breath warm against his skin. You just don’t see it.”
And then, without another word, she stepped back, leaving him standing there, the weight of her
words and her presence crashing down on him like a wave he couldn’t escape.
Ares stood motionless, his chest heaving, his mind spiraling. The pain in his ribs was a distant
echo compared to the turmoil he was feeling inside. He didn’t know how much longer he could
keep pushing her away, but he also didn’t know how to let her in.
And for the first time in years, he didn’t know how to protect his heart.
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