Chapter 67

~ Elara’s POV

The raw pain in Rufus’s eyes softened a little at my touch. It was clear talking about his past had taken a huge weight off his shoulders, but the scars of that trauma still ran deep. And even though his confession had completely changed the course of our conversation, a small part of me couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Knowing how much he trusted me, how much he must care about me to reveal such a painful secret, made rejecting him even harder.

"I just wish..." he started, his voice catching, "I wish I could have explained it to him. I wish I could have made things right."

I squeezed his arm gently. "You can't change the past, Rufus," I said quietly, "but you can choose how you move forward. Don't let this define you."

He looked at me, a flicker of hope igniting in his eyes. But even as I offered him comfort, my own situation felt even more complex. There I was, encouraging him to move on, to find happiness, while I was about to shatter his heart by rejecting h