Athena's POV Dimitri keeps staring at me. For a few seconds, neither of us says anything. Then I see it. A familiar hint of a smile curves at the corner of his lips I know that smile. I used to love that smile. There was a time when I believed it belonged to me in a way no one else could understand. It was the smile I yearned for. The one that made something warm spread through me whenever I caught it after saying something that amused him. Dimitri rarely smiled, which made every small curve of his lips feel like something precious. Something I was lucky enough to receive. For a moment, I simply look at him. Some part of me waits. I wait for that familiar feeling to wash over me, the warmth that used to come whenever Dimitri looked at me like this. I wait for my heart to recognize him the way it once did. Nothing happens. There is only coldness. A deep, quiet coldness that comes from discovering there is nothing left inside you where something once lived. And suddenly, I
Last Updated : 2026-09-27
