Lillian's POV
I stood there, staring at the crowd as Nathaniel walked away. My heart was still thundering from everything that had just happened. Maxwell Arlo’s disgusting persistence, the way Adrian had abandoned me, and then… Nathaniel.
I had not expected him. I had not expected him to care. But he had, he had seen me, really seen me, and stepped in without hesitation. Like the man I used to know. Like the man I used to… love.
“Thank you,” I had said, and it didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to say more. I wanted to scream out everything I had been carrying for weeks. That I was sorry. That Adrian had lied. That I had never stopped thinking about Nathaniel and what we used to have. That I was drowning.
But the words tangled in my throat. Pride, fear, confusion, they all choked me at once.
Still, as he started walking away, I couldn’t let the moment end like that.
“Nathaniel!” I called after him, heart hammering in my chest.
He turned around instantly, brows slightly raised. His expr
