~Aliyana POV~The moment the door shut behind him, I finally let out the breath I had been holding. My lungs burned, like I’d been drowning, like he’d stolen every ounce of air from me and left me gasping. My hands trembled against the railing, and I had to curl them into fists, forcing the shakes away before they betrayed me.Nolan’s smirk still lingered in my mind, etched into the back of my eyelids. Arrogant. Confident. Hungry. He thought this was a game, and in a way, maybe it was. A dangerous one. He wanted me to fold, to bow, to crack under his gaze. He wanted me to admit things I would rather die than say out loud.But he wasn’t going to win. Not me.I straightened my back, lifted my chin, and forced the trembling out of my body. He would never see it, never smell the fear that crawled under my skin. I wouldn’t give him that victory.I stayed on the balcony a while longer, letting the wind cool the heat on my cheeks. The world outside the fortress stretched on endlessly, free,
Last Updated : 2025-10-09 Read more