Miley's POV:
Nico looked at me like he was seeing something he didn’t quite know how to name. His eyes searched mine, steady but unreadable, and then his voice broke the silence, low and deliberate.
“There’s been a lot of pain in your childhood, hasn’t there?”
I stared ahead at the stream, the way the water glimmered like silver threads under the moonlight. I didn’t answer right away. My throat felt tight.
“I was grateful for my life,” I said finally. “However it was. The first few years… I had nothing to complain about. We were very well to do, because my mom's business was flourishing. I my had books, my mother’s stories to keep me company whenever my parents were not around. I had my own friends, and quiet gardens, and days where it almost felt like peace.”
I paused and folded my hands in my lap.
“But yes. I faced betrayal. More than I thought I ever could. The worst came from my father.”
Nico’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak.
“I used to think they had the greatest love story…
