Chapter 6

Tania's POV 

When Nora said it, the room stopped breathing.

“The karma of the boy you killed didn’t follow you because of what you did to him,” she said. “It followed you because his family never stopped crying.”

My whole body went cold.

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.

For a second, all I heard was the buzz of the ceiling light and the soft scratch of her pen across the pad, like it was writing my obituary.

I stared at her.

She didn’t flinch.

“How do you…” My voice cracked. “How do you know about that?”

She tilted her head, her hair falling slightly across her face. “I know because energy leaves marks, Tania. Some stains don’t come out, no matter how long you run from them.”

“That’s not…” I tried to swallow. “He wasn’t…”

I had never told anyone about this, and people who knew me and this story back then we're really few so show did she know about it. 

She interrupted softly, “You killed him because he deserved it. But his family didn’t. That’s the kind of pain that lingers around you. You think it’s punishment. I think it’s noise. Either way, it’s blocking you.”

I couldn’t move. I wanted to throw the chair, scream at her, something. But instead, I sat there like a scared child caught stealing.

Nobody knew about that night. Nobody except me.

“How could you possibly…”

She stood and came around the desk, slow, calm, like she was walking toward a confession booth. “I told you. I don’t care about your story. I care about your pattern.”

“My what?”

“The way you live, the way you try to fill holes with noise. You think seduction is about controlling other people, but it starts with controlling silence. You can’t stand silence, can you?”

I hated that she was right.

Silence made me see things I’d buried.

Doctor Nora leaned against the desk right in front of me. “Alright,” she said, folding her arms. “Lesson one. You want to seduce someone? Stop trying so hard. Seduction begins when you stop begging for attention and start giving it selectively.”

“That’s not a lesson. That’s a quote.”

“Good. Then remember it.”

She motioned toward the chair opposite mine. “Stand up.”

I did. My knees were stiff, palms clammy.

“Face me,” she said.

Her tone wasn’t cruel, just firm enough to make me obey without thinking.

“Now, pretend I’m him. The man you want.”

That felt like a trap, but I did it.

She nodded slowly. “Alright. Look at me. But don’t try to charm me. Just… see me.”

I looked. At first, my gaze kept shifting her mouth, her eyes, her hands. I didn’t know where to focus. She sighed.

“Exactly. You scatter. You break your own spell before it begins.”

She stepped closer. “The secret is not in the eyes or the smile. It’s in the pause between them. When you stop talking, when you wait, when you let the air fill the space between you that’s where desire grows.”

Her voice was low, steady, but it wasn’t flirtatious. It was instructional. Still, the closeness made my stomach twist.

“Now you try,” she said.

I tried to hold her gaze again. This time I said nothing. I just breathed. Slowly.

Something shifted a pulse under my ribs, a quiet awareness.

Her lips curved slightly. “There it is. The beginning of presence.”

I blinked. “Presence?”

“Seduction isn’t a look or a line. It’s a shift in the room. You change how space feels around you.” She circled me, her voice right behind my shoulder. “People who can do that, they don’t have to touch. They draw others in without moving.”

My heart was hammering.

She came back in front of me. “Now, tone. The second rule. Never raise your voice unless you want to lose control. Lower it. Make people lean in to hear you. That’s how you win ground without stepping forward.”

She gestured. “Say something simple. Anything.”

I swallowed. “Like what?”

“Say his name.”

I hesitated. “West.”

“Again, but slower. With purpose. No begging, no tremor. Own it.”

I did. “West….”

The way it came out startled me not soft, not desperate, but calm.

Nora smiled faintly. “Better. The sound of your voice carries your confidence. Never forget that.”

I almost laughed. “You make it sound like witchcraft.”

“It is,” she said simply. “But only if you believe your own spell.”

The rest of the hour was filled with her making me repeat words, slow my breathing, walk toward her then stop before touching distance learning how to hold a line without crossing it. By the end, I wasn’t sure if I’d learned my first lesson of seduction or hypnosis. But I felt different. A strange, solid calm sat in my chest.

When I finally left her office, the world felt quieter, like everything had slowed down to half-speed.

***

West was sitting on the couch when I got home. Laptop open, shirt half-unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up like he’d been pretending not to wait for me.

He looked up. “Where were you?”

“Out.”

“Out where?”

“Somewhere that had walls and air.”

His jaw flexed. “Don’t be clever. I told you not to move around carelessly. There are people who’d love to see me dead, and if they can’t reach me, they’ll reach you.”

I dropped my bag and kicked off my shoes. “Relax. I wasn’t waving a flag on the street.”

“Relax?” he said, standing up. “Tania, you think this is a joke?”

“No. I just think you like scaring people because it makes you feel needed.”

That made him pause. His eyes narrowed. “You really want to test me tonight?”

Normally, that tone would’ve made me back down. But Nora’s voice was still in my head: control the space, not the person.

So I didn’t move.

I just looked at him really looked until he shifted his weight like the air got heavier.

“What are you doing?” he asked, uneasy.

“Looking,” I said softly.

“At what?”

“At how you breathe when you’re mad.”

He frowned. “You’re mocking me.”

“Maybe.” I stepped a little closer. “Or maybe I’m learning.”

His brow furrowed. “Learning what?”

“How to make you listen without yelling.”

He scoffed. “You sound like you’ve joined a cult.”

I laughed. “No. Just therapy with worse coffee.”

He didn’t smile, but something in his posture changed. He wasn’t used to me standing my ground this way.

Usually, I’d fill the silence. This time, I didn’t.

When he spoke again, his voice had softened. “Seriously, where were you?”

I shrugged. “Out learning how to show you what love looks like.”

That stopped him cold. His eyes flicked to mine like he wasn’t sure if I was joking. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me.” I took another small step forward. “You’re always so busy protecting me you forget to notice me.”

His face tensed. “Don’t start…”

“I’m not starting anything. Just showing you something. You don’t have to do anything.”

“Tania.” His voice was warning now, but his eyes betrayed him the flicker of curiosity, the crack in his guard.

I smiled slightly, not fake, not forced. “You told me once you don’t believe in love. Maybe I can change your mind.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Maybe,” I said. “But you’re still looking.”

That earned me a half-smile, the reluctant kind he gave when he didn’t want to admit I’d scored a point.

“Whatever game you’re playing, stop,” he said, moving toward the kitchen.

“It’s not a game.”

He turned back. “Then what is it?”

“A lesson.”

He stared at me like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or walk out. “Who’s teaching you this nonsense?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

He sighed. “I don't give no fucks on case you've noticed.”

I leaned against the counter, arms folded. “So I’ve heard actually.”

The silence stretched but this time, it wasn’t awkward. It felt… thick. Like neither of us wanted to break it first.

His eyes traveled over my face, not lustfully, just searching. For a second, the tension melted.

Then the door opened.

A voice came from behind me. “Well, isn’t this cozy.”