Semua Bab When Love Crosses the Line: Bab 121 - Bab 130

The past had a way of returning when least welcome. Darren called again, his voice smooth, persuasive, and irritatingly confident.“Amara, you don’t belong in this uncertainty. With me, you’ll have stability. With him, ” His pause was deliberate, heavy with insinuation. “With him, you’ll have heartbreak.”Amara’s grip on the phone tightened. The sound of his voice was like a ghost she hadn’t invited back into her life, familiar, unsettling, and impossible to ignore. He still knew how to play on her insecurities, how to shape words into weapons that struck directly at her vulnerabilities.But even as his words sank in, she realized something: her love for Liam wasn’t about safety or predictability. It was about truth. A truth that frightened her more than Darren’s temptations ever could.She swallowed hard, her voice sharp though her chest trembled. “Darren, I don’t need your stability. And I don’t need your warnings.”His chuckle drifted through the line, warm and mocking all at once.

That night, she reached for him. One touch, soft, searching, desperate. Her fingers brushed against the bare skin of his arm where the fabric of his shirt had slipped, and for a heartbeat, she thought he might pull away. His body tensed, rigid and guarded, as though her touch threatened to unravel something he had fought hard to contain.But then, slowly, the tension gave way. He exhaled, and the air between them shifted. His arm relaxed under her hand, and when she dared to lift her gaze, she found his eyes on her, stormy, uncertain, but aching.It was enough.Amara leaned forward, her breath mingling with his. And when their lips finally met, it was as if a dam had broken. The kiss was not gentle, not at first. It was a clash of longing and regret, of words unspoken and nights spent in silence. His hands framed her face, holding her like she might disappear if he let go.Her body melted into his, the taste of him familiar yet sharp with the ache of everything they had endured. It wa

When Liam overheard the call, his composure snapped.She hadn’t realized he was standing near the doorway until his voice cut through the room like glass.“So that’s it?” His tone was sharp, brittle, the restrained fury in it making her chest tighten. “Every time they whisper, you fold? Every time they say Darren’s name, you shrink back?”Amara spun around, her phone still clutched in her hand. The blood drained from her face. She’d thought she was alone, that the words her mother had pressed into her wouldn’t echo beyond her own heart. But Liam’s eyes told her everything; he had heard enough.“Liam…” she began, her voice trembling.“No.” He stepped forward, his jaw set, his shoulders rigid. “Don’t ‘Liam’ me. Tell me I didn’t just hear you agree with her.”She swallowed hard. “I didn’t agree. I,”“You didn’t fight either,” he snapped, cutting across her words. His voice rose with each syllable, years of restraint unraveling. “You just stood there, nodding along like their puppet. Do y

Amara froze the moment she saw him. Liam was sitting on the edge of the sofa, elbows propped on his knees, his hands clasped so tightly that his knuckles were pale. His head was bowed, strands of his dark hair falling forward, obscuring his expression. The room around him seemed too still, too silent, as though it too was waiting for her answer to questions she hadn’t yet been asked.She lingered at the doorway, the faint scent of sea salt still clinging to her clothes. The walk by the shore had given her no answers, only sharper questions. Her chest ached with exhaustion, the kind that came from carrying too many lives inside one fragile body: the dutiful daughter, the obedient Nigerian child, the ambitious woman striving for her independence, and the lover who longed to choose freely.Liam raised his head slowly, and the sight of his eyes nearly shattered her. They weren’t angry, not this time. They were tired, tired in a way that went beyond sleepless nights. His gaze carried a hea

“You don’t get to decide where I belong,” Amara whispered, her voice trembling like a leaf caught between storms.The words left her lips with more force than she expected, yet the moment they hung in the air, the silence afterward was unbearable. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her pulse hammering against her ribs as though it wanted to break free.Darren’s eyes narrowed. His confidence, so carefully worn like armor, faltered for a split second. He stepped closer, lowering his voice into a tone that carried both danger and persuasion. “Then decide now. Him or me.”The room shifted. The world tilted.Amara felt her lungs constrict, as if the walls were closing in. Her vision darted between Darren, tall, commanding, every inch the man her parents adored, and Liam, who stood across from him, raw, unguarded, vulnerable in a way she had rarely seen.Liam’s gaze locked onto hers, steady but wounded. In his eyes, she saw not just love, but the fear of losing her. Not just the man he had be