CHOSEN LAST
“I know we’ve built whatever exists between us slowly, deliberately, especially given everything Jasmine and my mother tried to suggest about the nature of our bond. But I need you to know something, regardless of how you choose to respond.”
He turned to face me fully, taking both my hands in his, his expression carrying such genuine vulnerability that my breath caught slightly.
“I love you,” he said simply. “Not because of some bond, not because fate decided we belonged together. I love you because of who you’ve proven yourself to be these past weeks, brave and stubborn and endlessly compassionate despite everything trying to break you down. I love you because every single day since this ni