- 5 months ago
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😹
FunTranscript
00:00I swear, I didn't plan on walking into that house.
00:03Not that morning.
00:04Not in that weather.
00:06Not looking like I'd barely survived another week of pretending I was okay.
00:10But I was desperate.
00:12I'd been skipping meals to pay rent,
00:14sleeping with the oven open for heat,
00:16and pretending to my sister that the fever wasn't getting worse.
00:20The job listing was vague.
00:22Live-in nanny needed immediately.
00:25Discretion required.
00:26No name, no address until you were selected for an interview.
00:30It paid three times what I made cleaning hotel rooms.
00:33So I went.
00:34The neighborhood looked too clean for me.
00:36Wrought iron gates, quiet streets, no kids outside.
00:39I remember clutching my thrift store coat tighter and whispering to myself,
00:43Don't mess this up, Lila.
00:46A tall man opened the door.
00:48Not a butler.
00:49Too broad, too alert.
00:50The kind of man who checks corners before he moves.
00:53He just looked at me for a moment.
00:55Miss Carter?
00:56Yes, I, uh, had an interview?
00:59He nodded once.
01:00Follow me.
01:01No warmth, no smile.
01:03Just that voice.
01:04Low, clipped, almost dangerous in its calm.
01:07Inside, everything felt...
01:10Staged.
01:11No family photos.
01:12No clutter.
01:13Just expensive silence.
01:15The house smelled like wood polish in control.
01:18Then I heard it.
01:19Soft crying.
01:21A child.
01:22The guard-looking man led me through a long hall to a room flooded with sunlight.
01:27A little girl sat by the window, maybe six years old, clutching a stuffed wolf.
01:31She looked up at me with eyes too old for her face.
01:34Tired.
01:35Watchful.
01:36Like she already knew that love could disappear.
01:39Hi, sweetheart.
01:41I said, crouching down.
01:43I'm Lila.
01:44You must be...
01:45Isabella.
01:46She whispered.
01:47Her voice was so fragile it made my chest tighten.
01:51She reminded me of myself at that age.
01:53Too quiet.
01:54Trying not to take up space.
01:56Then I felt it.
01:58That prickling sensation at the back of my neck.
02:00Someone watching.
02:02I turned.
02:03He was standing in the doorway.
02:05Black suit.
02:06Black shirt.
02:07Sleeves rolled up.
02:08A man who looked like he didn't need to raise his voice to make the world stop breathing.
02:13Dark hair.
02:14Sharp jaw.
02:15Eyes that didn't just look.
02:16They assessed.
02:17Dissected.
02:18Decided.
02:19Isabella.
02:20He said, without looking away from me.
02:24Go to your room.
02:25She ran.
02:25The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on.
02:29He stepped forward.
02:30Slow.
02:31Measured.
02:32You came from the agency.
02:34Yes.
02:35They called me this morning.
02:36And you're here because you need money.
02:39I blinked.
02:40I'm here because I'm good with children.
02:42His mouth twitched.
02:44Not a smile.
02:45Not even close.
02:46People who say that usually aren't.
02:48That stung.
02:49Then why call me here?
02:51I didn't.
02:52My housekeeper did.
02:53The way he said my housekeeper, like everything that breathed in that house belonged to him,
03:00made something cold crawl up my spine.
03:02I should have walked out right then.
03:05But my legs wouldn't move.
03:07There was something about him.
03:09Something that felt like danger wrapped in gravity.
03:12Your name?
03:14He asked.
03:15Lila Carter.
03:16Age?
03:1727.
03:18No family?
03:19The way he said it wasn't a question.
03:21None that matters.
03:22I answered.
03:23He studied me for too long.
03:25Then start tomorrow.
03:27Room's on the second floor.
03:28You'll be responsible for Isabella's meals, schooling, and safety.
03:32You'll not enter the West Wing.
03:34Wait.
03:34That's it?
03:35You're hiring me without references?
03:37His gaze cut through me.
03:39You think I don't already know everything about you?
03:41My throat went dry.
03:43He stepped closer.
03:45I could smell him.
03:46Clean, sharp, like cedar in danger.
03:48Don't be late tomorrow, Miss Carter.
03:50When I walked out of that mansion,
03:52my heart was pounding so hard it felt like my ribs might crack.
03:56Something was wrong.
03:58But the next morning,
03:59I came back anyway.
04:01The job was nothing like I expected.
04:03The house had rules that made no sense.
04:05No phone calls after dark.
04:07No going out without the driver.
04:09No deliveries.
04:10Every morning,
04:12the men in black suits moved through the halls,
04:14speaking in low voices,
04:16their eyes always scanning,
04:17never resting.
04:19I didn't ask questions.
04:21I'd learned the hard way that curiosity can cost you everything.
04:25Still,
04:26there were signs.
04:28Subtle things.
04:29The phone that rang once then stopped.
04:32The way the news was always muted when I walked in.
04:34The scar on his hand that looked like it came from more than a kitchen knife.
04:38But what broke my self-control wasn't the fear.
04:42It was the moments in between.
04:44The way Isabella would crawl into my lap and whisper,
04:47Daddy never smiles anymore.
04:49For the rare nights I'd catch him standing outside her door,
04:53just watching her sleep,
04:54expression unreadable.
04:56He wasn't heartless.
04:57He was haunted.
04:58And I hated how that made me feel.
05:01One night after putting Isabella to bed,
05:03I found him in the kitchen.
05:05He was drinking.
05:06Something amber.
05:07Expensive.
05:08His tie was gone,
05:09shirt unbuttoned,
05:10sleeves rolled high on his forearms.
05:12You shouldn't be up this late,
05:14he said,
05:15not turning.
05:16I was cleaning up.
05:18You're not paid to clean.
05:19I can't sleep.
05:21He looked over then.
05:23Why?
05:24Because this house doesn't feel like it ever does.
05:27Something flickered in his eyes.
05:30Amusement?
05:30Pain?
05:31I couldn't tell.
05:32He set down his glass.
05:34You think you know this place?
05:36I don't.
05:37And I'm not trying to.
05:38He leaned back against the counter.
05:41Then why do you look at me like you want to?
05:43The question hit me harder than it should have.
05:46I don't,
05:47I said too fast.
05:48Liar.
05:50His voice was low,
05:51almost a whisper.
05:52And for a second it felt like the room wasn't big enough for both of us.
05:56I swallowed.
05:58You're my employer.
06:00That's one way to put it.
06:02What's the other?
06:03The man who signs your checks.
06:05And decides whether you get to stay.
06:07That should have scared me.
06:09Instead,
06:10I felt heat crawl up my neck.
06:13He stepped forward.
06:14Slow.
06:16Until he was close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating from him.
06:20You have no idea what kind of house you walked into, Miss Carter.
06:23My voice shook.
06:25Then tell me.
06:26I don't think you'd want the answer.
06:29The next morning,
06:30there were three black cars parked outside.
06:33Men with guns at their sides.
06:35Isabella clung to me, whispering,
06:37Daddy's angry.
06:39He came down the stairs like a storm in a suit.
06:41Cold,
06:42commanding,
06:43lethal.
06:44One of the men followed,
06:45murmuring something I couldn't hear.
06:47He saw me watching.
06:49His jaw tightened.
06:50Take her upstairs,
06:51he ordered the guard.
06:52No,
06:53I said before I could stop myself.
06:55She's scared.
06:56His eyes snapped to me.
06:58That wasn't a suggestion.
07:00But I didn't move.
07:01For a second,
07:02just a second,
07:03I saw it.
07:04Surprise.
07:06No one disobeyed him.
07:08Then his hand clenched into a fist.
07:10Upstairs.
07:11Now.
07:12I gathered Isabella in my arms,
07:13heart pounding as I carried her up.
07:16Through the railing,
07:17I saw the men open the door to the study.
07:19One of them dragging a stranger inside.
07:21Face bloody.
07:22Hands tied.
07:24I froze halfway up the stairs.
07:26And then I heard it.
07:27His voice.
07:28Calm.
07:29Controlled.
07:31You don't touch what's mine.
07:33The sound that followed wasn't a punch.
07:35It was worse.
07:37When the door shut,
07:38I realized I was shaking.
07:39I held Isabella tighter,
07:41whispering,
07:41It's okay, baby.
07:42It's okay.
07:44Even though every nerve in my body
07:45screamed that it wasn't.
07:47That night,
07:48I packed a bag.
07:50But before I could reach the front door,
07:52he was there.
07:54You were going to leave,
07:56he said quietly.
07:57Not a question.
07:58A statement.
07:59I don't belong here.
08:01Maybe not.
08:03He stepped closer,
08:04until the space between us felt electric.
08:06But you're not walking out that door.
08:09I have to.
08:10His eyes darkened.
08:12You think you've seen too much?
08:13I don't want to see anything.
08:16He exhaled.
08:17Slow.
08:17Like he was fighting himself.
08:19Then his hand lifted.
08:21Hesitated.
08:22Before brushing a strand of hair from my face.
08:25His touch was gentle.
08:26Too gentle for a man like him.
08:28I don't hurt people who take care of what's mine.
08:31He said softly.
08:32Remember that.
08:34And before I could respond,
08:36he turned and walked away.
08:38Leaving me in the dim hall,
08:39with my heart trembling between fear
08:41and something I didn't want to name.
08:43I didn't sleep that night.
08:45I couldn't.
08:47Because no matter how much I told myself to leave,
08:50one truth settled in the pit of my stomach like a curse.
08:53I wasn't scared of him anymore.
08:55I was scared for him.
08:57And that terrified me more than anything else.
08:59I've never been good at running.
09:04Not from bills.
09:06Not from memories.
09:07Not from men like him.
09:08I told myself I stayed for Isabella.
09:11That a child shouldn't wake up alone in a house where doors locked themselves
09:14and men whispered behind closed rooms.
09:17But that was only half true.
09:18The other half was something I couldn't say out loud yet.
09:21That I'd begun listening for his footsteps,
09:24waiting for that low voice to cut through the silence.
09:28He didn't speak much to me after that night.
09:31He'd pass by, cold, distant,
09:34but his eyes would always find me,
09:36measuring, searching,
09:38daring me to ask.
09:40I didn't.
09:42I already knew the truth about men like him.
09:44I grew up watching one destroy my mother.
09:46My father was charming when sober and cruel when drunk.
09:50He taught me that love could sound like an apology
09:53whispered through broken glass.
09:55By the time I was sixteen,
09:56I stopped believing in safety.
09:58I learned to disappear.
09:59Quietly.
10:00Efficiently.
10:01Never attract attention.
10:03Never need anyone.
10:05So when this man,
10:06this stranger,
10:07hired me,
10:08I promised myself I'd keep that same distance.
10:11But he wasn't like the others.
10:14He didn't chase.
10:15He didn't flatter.
10:16He simply existed like gravity,
10:18pulling everything toward him without effort.
10:21His name, I learned, was Adrian Moretti.
10:24The housekeeper slipped once,
10:26saying it in a hushed tone that made my blood run cold.
10:30The name sounded like something whispered in warning.
10:33And when I searched it online, nothing came up.
10:35No records.
10:36No photos.
10:37Just absence.
10:38The kind of absence that meant power.
10:41Days passed.
10:42Isabella grew attached to me.
10:43Too attached.
10:44She'd follow me everywhere,
10:46clutching my hand like I was the only real thing left in her world.
10:50You smell like soap, she told me once.
10:53Not like Daddy's house.
10:55That one hurt more than it should have.
10:58One evening,
10:59I was helping her with reading lessons when Adrian appeared at the door.
11:03He didn't say anything,
11:04just stood there watching,
11:05his presence filling the room like shadow and smoke.
11:09Daddy?
11:11Isabella said shyly.
11:12Lila says I'm doing really good.
11:14Really well,
11:16he corrected automatically.
11:18Then his gaze softened for a heartbeat before flicking to me.
11:21You're patient with her.
11:24She's easy to love,
11:25I said.
11:26The words slipped out before I could stop them.
11:30His eyes darkened,
11:31not with anger,
11:32but with something unreadable.
11:35Later that night,
11:36I heard footsteps outside my room.
11:38Then his voice,
11:39low,
11:40uncertain.
11:41Lila,
11:41I opened the door.
11:42He stood in the hall,
11:44shirt unbuttoned at the collar,
11:45tie loose,
11:46eyes tired.
11:48She had a nightmare,
11:49he said.
11:50She won't sleep unless you're there.
11:53I followed him silently.
11:54Isabella was curled up in bed,
11:56clutching her stuffed wolf.
11:58When I sat beside her,
11:59she reached for my hand.
12:00Mommy used to sing,
12:02she mumbled.
12:03I looked up at him.
12:04He stood frozen,
12:06rigid,
12:06hands in fists.
12:08She misses her,
12:10I said quietly.
12:12I know.
12:13That was the first time his voice cracked.
12:16After she fell asleep,
12:18I rose to leave,
12:19but his hand caught mine.
12:22Rough,
12:22warm,
12:23desperate.
12:24Thank you,
12:25he murmured.
12:25I wanted to say it was nothing,
12:27but his eyes made it impossible to lie.
12:30He didn't let go right away.
12:32The air between us was charged,
12:34too close,
12:35too real.
12:36When he finally released me,
12:38I felt the ghost of his touch
12:39long after he'd walked away.
12:41That night,
12:42I dreamed of him.
12:44Not as the man who terrified,
12:45but as the man who'd lost something,
12:48he didn't know how to grieve.
12:50In the mornings,
12:51he'd disappear before sunrise.
12:54Some nights,
12:54he didn't come home at all.
12:56I never asked where he went.
12:58But I saw things,
12:59the bruised knuckles,
13:01the tension in his jaw,
13:02the exhaustion in his eyes,
13:04and the men in suits
13:06who came and went like ghosts.
13:08One morning,
13:09I found a drop of blood on his cuff.
13:12I shouldn't have noticed.
13:14I shouldn't have cared.
13:15But I did.
13:16When he caught me looking,
13:17his tone sharpened.
13:18You shouldn't stare.
13:20Then stop bleeding where I can see it.
13:22He froze.
13:24Then,
13:24unexpectedly laughed.
13:26It was a low,
13:27rough sound that startled me.
13:28You're braver than you should be.
13:30Or stupider.
13:31Maybe both.
13:33There was a beat of silence
13:34before his voice softened.
13:36Don't ask questions
13:37you don't want answers to,
13:38Lila.
13:39I didn't reply.
13:41But the truth was already
13:42forming inside me,
13:43quiet and undeniable.
13:45I wanted to understand him.
13:48Days blurred into weeks.
13:50The mansion became
13:51a strange kind of cage,
13:53safe but suffocating.
13:55I found myself memorizing
13:56the sound of his footsteps,
13:58the smell of his cologne
13:59lingering in the hall,
14:00the faint scrape of his lighter
14:01when he smoked out on the terrace.
14:04Every small detail
14:05became a confession
14:06I couldn't speak.
14:07Then came the storm.
14:11Rain pounded the windows that night.
14:13The power flickered,
14:14plunging the house into shadows.
14:16Isabella was asleep,
14:17but I couldn't rest.
14:18I made my way downstairs for water
14:20and found him in the living room,
14:22sitting alone,
14:23drink untouched.
14:25He looked different.
14:27Not dangerous,
14:28just human.
14:29You don't sleep much either,
14:31I said quietly.
14:33He didn't look up.
14:34Sleep doesn't fix what's broken.
14:36Nothing does.
14:37Not really.
14:39He finally turned to me
14:40and there it was.
14:41That same searching look,
14:43like he was peeling me open.
14:45What broke you, Lila?
14:47My throat tightened.
14:48You assume I'm broken.
14:50I recognize the look.
14:51I see it in the mirror every day.
14:53I sat across from him.
14:55I lost my mom when I was 19.
14:57Cancer.
14:58My dad drank himself
14:59into oblivion after that.
15:00I worked three jobs
15:02and still couldn't pay her medical bills.
15:04So, yeah,
15:05maybe I'm broken.
15:06But at least I survived it.
15:07His eyes softened.
15:09That's what strength looks like.
15:10No, I said.
15:12That's what exhaustion looks like.
15:14The silence that followed felt heavy,
15:17like truth settling in dust.
15:20Then he said something
15:21that lodged itself under my skin.
15:23You think you're here
15:25because of chance.
15:26You're not, I frowned.
15:28What do you mean?
15:29People like us.
15:31People who've already been through hell.
15:32We find each other.
15:34Whether we want to or not.
15:36I didn't know how to respond.
15:37Because in that moment,
15:38I believed him.
15:40A crash outside shattered the moment.
15:42A bottle breaking,
15:43a man's voice yelling.
15:45He stood instantly,
15:46all warmth gone,
15:48eyes sharp.
15:49Stay here.
15:50I didn't listen.
15:51When I reached the hall,
15:53two men were dragging someone
15:54through the rain.
15:55A stranger,
15:56face bloodied,
15:58screaming about a debt unpaid.
16:01Adrian's voice cut through the chaos,
16:03cold,
16:03commanding.
16:05Handle it outside,
16:06not in front of her.
16:08The man's pleas echoed
16:09into the night
16:10before silence returned.
16:12I stood frozen,
16:14soaked in the doorway.
16:15Adrian turned toward me,
16:17expression unreadable.
16:19I told you not to come out.
16:21I heard shouting.
16:22I told you to stay.
16:24His tone was steel.
16:25I felt small under it,
16:27but my anger rose anyway.
16:28You can't just pretend
16:29I didn't see that.
16:31He stepped closer.
16:32You saw nothing.
16:33I saw you.
16:34The air cracked between us.
16:36He grabbed my wrist,
16:37not to hurt,
16:38but to anchor.
16:39His voice dropped to a whisper.
16:41You don't know what that means.
16:43I'm starting to,
16:44I said.
16:45His grip loosened.
16:46His hand trembled once
16:48before he let go,
16:50exhaling hard,
16:51like he was fighting something
16:52deep inside.
16:53Go inside, Lila,
16:54please.
16:55That single word,
16:56please,
16:57broke something in me.
16:58I went inside,
16:59but I didn't feel safe anymore.
17:01Not from the world.
17:03Not from him.
17:04Not even from myself.
17:06Because that night,
17:07lying awake with the storm
17:08still raging,
17:09I realized the truth
17:10I'd been trying to bury.
17:12I wanted him.
17:14Not the safety of him.
17:16There was none.
17:17Not the power,
17:18or the danger,
17:19or the mystery.
17:20Just him.
17:20The man who drank alone.
17:22Who whispered to his daughter
17:23through closed doors.
17:25Who looked at me
17:25like I reminded him
17:26of something he'd lost.
17:28And that's when it hit me.
17:30I wasn't surviving anymore.
17:33I was falling.
17:38It started with the sound
17:39of his voice in the dark.
17:41That kind of sound
17:42you feel before you hear.
17:44Low.
17:45Steady.
17:46Certain.
17:47Lila,
17:48he said.
17:49And I woke with my heart
17:50already racing.
17:52When I opened my eyes,
17:54he was standing
17:54in the doorway of my room.
17:56No tie.
17:57No jacket.
17:57Rain still clinging to his hair.
17:59His presence filled
18:00every inch of space
18:01between us.
18:02I need you downstairs,
18:04he said.
18:05I didn't ask why.
18:07By then,
18:08I knew that questions
18:09were dangerous things
18:10in his world.
18:11The kitchen lights
18:12were dim,
18:13shadows pooling
18:14against the marble.
18:15Isabella sat on the counter,
18:17wrapped in one of his jackets,
18:19eyes half open with sleep.
18:21She couldn't rest,
18:22he said quietly.
18:24Thunder!
18:24I took her from his arms.
18:26Her small hands
18:27clutched at my neck,
18:28heartbeat trembling
18:29against my skin.
18:31He watched us
18:32for a long time,
18:33that unreadable look again,
18:35half tenderness,
18:37half torment.
18:37She only calms down
18:39when you're near,
18:41he said finally.
18:42Children feel safety
18:43before they understand it,
18:45I replied.
18:46His eyes flicked up to mine.
18:48You think I don't make her feel safe?
18:50No,
18:51I said softly.
18:52I think you make her feel protected.
18:54It's not the same thing.
18:56Something flickered in him,
18:58like I'd struck a nerve.
18:59When Isabella drifted back to sleep,
19:03he helped me carry her upstairs.
19:05Our hands brushed on the banister,
19:08just a graze,
19:09but it felt like a confession
19:10neither of us wanted to make.
19:13Once she was in bed,
19:14he didn't leave.
19:16He lingered at the doorway,
19:17shoulders tense,
19:18eyes shadowed.
19:20Do you ever stop being afraid?
19:21He asked quietly.
19:23Of what?
19:24Of the world?
19:25Of me.
19:25The honesty in his voice unsettled me.
19:27I wanted to say yes.
19:29I wanted to lie.
19:30But instead,
19:31no.
19:32I just pretend better than most.
19:35He huffed a faint laugh,
19:36then rubbed his jaw,
19:38exhausted.
19:39You shouldn't have to.
19:41He turned to leave,
19:42then stopped.
19:43Lila,
19:44yeah,
19:44if you ever see something
19:45that scares you here,
19:47don't look away.
19:48Pretending it doesn't exist
19:49won't keep you safe.
19:51That sentence stayed with me
19:52long after he was gone.
19:54The next morning,
19:56I found a small envelope
19:57outside my door.
19:58Inside,
20:00cash,
20:01neatly folded with a note
20:02in his handwriting.
20:03For your mother's hospital debt.
20:06It's gone now,
20:07I froze.
20:08My chest locked.
20:09He knew.
20:10I ran downstairs,
20:12found him by the terrace.
20:13You had no right,
20:14I said.
20:15He didn't turn.
20:17I had the means.
20:18It wasn't your problem.
20:20Everything under my roof
20:21is my problem.
20:23I hated how his words
20:24made me tremble.
20:26Not out of fear,
20:28but out of something
20:28too close to gratitude.
20:30I don't want your money,
20:32I said.
20:32Then think of it
20:33as protection.
20:34I don't want that,
20:36either.
20:36He finally turned.
20:38Then stop needing it.
20:40The wind caught his voice,
20:42dragging it through the silence.
20:44I stood there,
20:46staring at him,
20:47feeling both furious
20:48and exposed.
20:50You can't just fix people
20:51like debts, Adrian.
20:52He stepped closer.
20:54And you can't keep pretending
20:55you don't want to be fixed.
20:57His proximity burned.
21:00Every nerve in my body
21:01reacted to him.
21:02His scent.
21:03His heat.
21:04His restraint.
21:05I wanted to step back,
21:07but my body betrayed me.
21:09He reached out.
21:11Slow.
21:12Deliberate.
21:12And brushed his thumb
21:14against my cheek.
21:15The touch was nothing,
21:17but it felt like everything.
21:19Then he said it.
21:20I don't know what you did to me.
21:22My voice barely worked.
21:24What do you mean?
21:25I can't decide
21:26if I want to protect you
21:27or ruin you.
21:29His confession was a wound
21:30disguised as a whisper.
21:32Before I could respond,
21:34his phone rang.
21:36One glance,
21:36and the warmth vanished.
21:38Go upstairs,
21:39he ordered.
21:40I didn't move.
21:41Now, Lila.
21:42His tone was ice.
21:44I obeyed.
21:44But from the hall above,
21:47I saw him pacing.
21:48Speaking in Italian.
21:50Voice sharp.
21:51I caught fragments.
21:52Shipment.
21:53Betrayal.
21:53Family.
21:54Words that painted him
21:55in darker shades
21:56I didn't want to see.
21:58That night,
21:59the house didn't sleep.
22:01Shadows moved
22:02outside the windows.
22:03Headlights flashed
22:04across the gates.
22:05And somewhere beyond
22:06the walls,
22:07I heard gunfire
22:08muffled by distance.
22:10I found him again.
22:11Later,
22:11alone in his office,
22:13drink untouched.
22:14Hand bleeding from glass,
22:15he'd shattered.
22:17Don't.
22:18He warned when I stepped closer.
22:20You're bleeding.
22:22It's nothing.
22:23Let me see.
22:25He stared at me
22:26for a long moment
22:26before sighing,
22:28surrendering his hand.
22:30The cut ran deep,
22:31across old scars.
22:32I cleaned it silently.
22:34He watched me,
22:35never flinching,
22:36never looking away.
22:38When I finished,
22:39he said,
22:39You shouldn't be this calm.
22:42I've seen worse.
22:44From who?
22:46My father.
22:47His expression changed,
22:48like the word father
22:49was something poisonous.
22:51He hurt you.
22:53He hurt everything near him.
22:55The silence that followed
22:56wasn't empty.
22:57It was heavy,
22:59intimate,
22:59filled with understanding
23:00neither of us asked for.
23:02Then he said quietly,
23:04If he were alive,
23:05I'd kill him.
23:06It wasn't a threat.
23:07It was a promise.
23:09Something in my chest
23:10broke open.
23:11I whispered,
23:12Don't say that.
23:13Why not?
23:14Because it sounds like
23:14you mean it.
23:16I always mean it.
23:18He took a step closer.
23:20Then another,
23:21until I could feel
23:22the warmth radiating
23:23off his skin.
23:24His voice dropped
23:25to a whisper.
23:26I don't know how
23:26to be gentle, Lila.
23:28Then don't be.
23:29I don't know
23:30who moved first.
23:31All I remember
23:32is the air leaving my lungs
23:33when his hand slid
23:34to the back of my neck,
23:36his forehead pressing
23:37against mine.
23:38The silence between us
23:39pulsing with everything
23:40we hadn't said.
23:42For one suspended second,
23:44the world felt still.
23:46Then he pulled back,
23:47eyes dark
23:48with something dangerous.
23:49This can't happen.
23:51Then why did you let it?
23:53Because I forgot
23:53who I am
23:54when you look at me
23:55like that.
23:56He left
23:56before I could speak.
23:58That night,
23:59I couldn't breathe.
24:01Not from fear,
24:02but from want.
24:03Every wall I'd built,
24:04every instinct to survive,
24:06crumbled under
24:07the weight of his absence.
24:09The next day,
24:09he was gone.
24:10No warning.
24:11No message.
24:12Only silence.
24:13I told myself it was good.
24:15I needed the distance.
24:16I needed to remember
24:17that men like him
24:18destroyed everything
24:19they touched.
24:20But the truth
24:21came in whispers.
24:23Through the guards,
24:24the housekeeper,
24:25the phone calls
24:26that stopped mid-ring.
24:28Something had happened.
24:30Something violent.
24:32Three nights later,
24:33the front door
24:33slammed open.
24:34I ran downstairs.
24:36He stood there,
24:37blood on his collar,
24:39rage in his eyes.
24:40Don't ask,
24:42he said,
24:42voice raw.
24:43I wasn't going to.
24:45He stared at me,
24:46breathing hard.
24:47You were worried.
24:48I was human.
24:49That made him laugh once,
24:50a rough,
24:51humorless sound.
24:52That's a dangerous thing
24:53to be around me.
24:55He moved past me,
24:56but I caught his arm.
24:57You don't have to keep
24:58pretending you're alone.
25:00He stopped.
25:01Turned.
25:02His eyes locked onto mine.
25:03You don't understand,
25:05Lila.
25:06Everyone who gets close to me
25:07ends up buried.
25:09I held his gaze.
25:10Then maybe
25:11stopped digging graves.
25:13For a heartbeat,
25:14I thought he'd shout.
25:15Instead,
25:16he just closed the space
25:18between us,
25:19one step at a time,
25:20until his breath
25:21hit my skin.
25:22You should hate me,
25:23he said quietly.
25:25I've tried.
25:26His jaw clenched.
25:28Don't make me choose
25:29between you
25:29and the world I built.
25:30Then maybe
25:32the world you built
25:33deserves to burn.
25:34Silence.
25:36Then he kissed me.
25:37It wasn't soft.
25:38It wasn't careful.
25:40It was fire and surrender.
25:42The kind of kiss
25:42that rewrites
25:43every rule you've ever known.
25:45My hands trembled
25:45against his chest.
25:47His fingers
25:47tangled in my hair.
25:49Both of us breaking
25:50and holding on
25:51all at once.
25:52When he finally
25:53pulled back,
25:54his voice was a whisper
25:55against my lips.
25:57This is a mistake.
25:59Then why does it feel
26:00like the truth?
26:01He didn't answer.
26:02He just pressed
26:03his forehead to mine,
26:04breathing me in
26:05like a secret
26:05he shouldn't keep.
26:07And then...
26:08Footsteps.
26:10A gun cocked.
26:11He turned instantly,
26:12pulling me behind him
26:13as a man
26:14burst into the room.
26:15Boss, they found us!
26:17It's the Ruiz family.
26:19The rest drowned
26:19in the sound
26:20of shattering glass.
26:22Adrian shoved me down.
26:23Stay with Isabella.
26:25Don't move
26:26until I come for you.
26:27Adrian...
26:28He looked at me once,
26:29eyes burning.
26:30If I don't make it back,
26:32tell her I tried.
26:33Then he was gone.
26:35Into the chaos.
26:36Into the night.
26:37Into everything
26:38I was just starting to love.
26:40And all I could do
26:41was pray that this
26:42wasn't how our story ended.
26:47For two days
26:48I didn't sleep.
26:49The house went silent
26:50after the gunfire stopped.
26:52Too silent.
26:53The guards were gone.
26:55The phones disconnected.
26:55Even the air felt wrong.
26:58Heavy.
26:59Waiting for something
27:00I couldn't name.
27:02Isabella clung to me
27:03the way children
27:03cling to light.
27:05I kept her in my room,
27:07curtains drawn,
27:08a suitcase half-packed
27:09under the bed.
27:10Every creak
27:11made my heart jolt.
27:12Every shadow
27:13looked like him.
27:14Or something worse.
27:15But he didn't come back.
27:18By the third night
27:19I told myself
27:20he was dead.
27:21I whispered it
27:22like a prayer,
27:23like if I said it
27:24enough times
27:24it might stop hurting.
27:26Then I heard the car.
27:28It was near dawn.
27:29Engine low.
27:30Controlled.
27:31Headlights cutting
27:32through fog.
27:34I ran downstairs
27:35before my mind
27:36could tell me not to.
27:37Adrian stepped out.
27:39Alive.
27:40But not whole.
27:42His lip was split.
27:43Blood dried on his collar.
27:44A gash down his forearm.
27:46His eyes found me immediately.
27:48Like they'd been searching
27:49since the moment he left.
27:51He didn't speak.
27:53Just walked straight to me,
27:55grabbed the back of my neck,
27:56and pressed his forehead
27:57to mine.
27:59Not a kiss,
28:00just a trembling
28:00kind of relief.
28:02You're safe,
28:04he whispered.
28:05You're bleeding.
28:06I've been worse.
28:08You said you'd come back.
28:10And I did.
28:12But I could feel it.
28:13Something inside him
28:14was breaking.
28:16When he pulled away,
28:17his voice was different.
28:19Quieter.
28:19I handled it.
28:20But it's not over.
28:22The Ruiz family
28:22wants leverage.
28:24Leverage?
28:25Me.
28:25Or anyone close to me.
28:27I didn't understand
28:28what that meant
28:29until his gaze
28:30dropped to me.
28:31No,
28:32I said instantly.
28:34Don't you dare.
28:35It's the only way
28:36to keep you safe.
28:37You don't get
28:38to decide that.
28:40Yes,
28:41he said softly.
28:42I do.
28:43He turned away.
28:46And I realized
28:46he wasn't just
28:47protecting me.
28:49He was preparing
28:49to disappear.
28:51That night,
28:52he called in his men.
28:54Orders,
28:55instructions,
28:56relocation plans.
28:57I listened from the hall
28:58as his voice
28:58turned cold again.
29:00Sharp,
29:01precise,
29:02unrecognizable.
29:03The mask was back.
29:05The man I'd seen
29:06bleeding and broken
29:06had vanished
29:07into the one
29:08who commanded fear.
29:09After everyone left,
29:11I confronted him.
29:12You're planning
29:13to leave.
29:14He didn't deny it.
29:16If I stay,
29:17you die.
29:19I'd rather die
29:19than live like this.
29:21Hiding,
29:22running,
29:23wondering.
29:24You don't get
29:25to die for me,
29:25Lila.
29:26I stepped closer.
29:29Then live for me.
29:30Stop choosing
29:31violence every time
29:32love gets close.
29:33His jaw locked.
29:34You don't know
29:35what love costs
29:36in my world.
29:37Then teach me.
29:38For a second,
29:40I thought he'd break.
29:42He looked at me
29:42like I was everything
29:43he wanted
29:44and everything
29:44he couldn't touch.
29:46Then he said quietly,
29:47You deserve a man
29:48who doesn't bleed
29:49for a living.
29:50That cut deeper
29:51than any threat could.
29:53He left the room,
29:55leaving the scent
29:55of gunpowder
29:56and cologne
29:56behind him.
29:58The next morning,
29:59he was gone.
30:00No note.
30:01No trace.
30:02Just silence.
30:04Days bled
30:04into weeks.
30:05I stayed
30:06for Isabella's sake.
30:07The housekeeper
30:08told me the truth
30:09in hushed tones.
30:10That the Moretti family
30:11was at war.
30:12That Adrian
30:13had vanished
30:14into the kind
30:14of darkness
30:15you don't crawl out of.
30:17But I refused
30:18to believe he was dead.
30:19I would have felt it.
30:21Some part of me
30:22would have broken
30:22beyond repair.
30:23Then the phone rang.
30:24Just once.
30:26Then stopped.
30:27The next day,
30:28a letter arrived.
30:29No return address.
30:30No name.
30:31Just one sentence.
30:32Don't look for me.
30:33Keep her safe.
30:34It wasn't signed,
30:36but I knew the handwriting.
30:38I tore it to pieces.
30:39Because I was done
30:40being the girl
30:41who waited for permission
30:42to survive.
30:44I started selling things.
30:46His furniture.
30:47His cars.
30:49Even the watch
30:49he left on the nightstand.
30:51I paid off the housekeeper,
30:52bought fake papers,
30:54and began making plans
30:55to leave with Isabella.
30:56I told myself
30:57it was for her,
30:59but the truth
30:59was simpler.
31:00I couldn't breathe
31:01in that house anymore.
31:03Every hallway
31:03smelled like him.
31:05One night,
31:05while packing,
31:07Isabella looked up
31:07at me and said,
31:09Daddy said you'd
31:10never leave.
31:11My heart clenched.
31:13He's gone, sweetheart.
31:15She shook her head.
31:16He said he'd come back
31:17when it's safe.
31:19Children shouldn't know
31:20how to hope like that.
31:22I smiled for her,
31:23but inside,
31:25I felt that familiar ache.
31:27The one that comes
31:28from loving someone
31:29who belongs to violence.
31:30Two nights later,
31:32I heard it again.
31:34The car.
31:35I froze.
31:36The same low hum
31:37of an engine
31:38cutting through darkness.
31:40But this time,
31:40it wasn't his.
31:42Men stepped out,
31:43three of them.
31:44Faces I didn't recognize.
31:46Guns visible
31:46beneath their coats.
31:48I grabbed Isabella
31:49and ran upstairs,
31:50hard in my throat.
31:51One of the windows
31:52had a fire escape.
31:53I shoved it open,
31:54cold air hitting my face.
31:55But before I could
31:56climb through,
31:57a voice came from below.
31:58Don't move,
31:59Miss Carter.
32:00I looked down.
32:02A man with slicked back hair
32:03and a scar across his cheek
32:04stared up at me.
32:06You've been hard to find.
32:07The boss would be disappointed
32:09if I had to hurt you.
32:10My blood ran cold.
32:12Where is he?
32:13He smiled.
32:14Which one?
32:15Before I could answer,
32:16a gunshot cracked
32:17through the night.
32:18The man fell backward,
32:20blood blooming across his shirt.
32:21Then another shot.
32:23And another.
32:23I heard footsteps.
32:25Heavy.
32:26Fast.
32:26Familiar.
32:27Adrian.
32:28He burst through the front door,
32:29gun-raised,
32:30eyes wild.
32:31The sight of him,
32:32alive,
32:33furious,
32:33unrestrained,
32:34made every nerve
32:35in my body ignite.
32:37He found me on the stairs.
32:39His face was streaked
32:40with blood and rain.
32:41Are you hurt?
32:42No.
32:43Isabella?
32:44She's safe.
32:45He exhaled,
32:46relief and rage
32:47tangled together.
32:48Then his voice dropped.
32:50You shouldn't have stayed.
32:51You shouldn't have left.
32:53He froze.
32:54The words hung between us,
32:56heavier than gunfire.
32:58I told you to run,
32:59he said.
33:00I told you I don't run.
33:02He looked like he wanted to yell.
33:04But instead he reached for me,
33:06his hand trembling as it cupped my face.
33:09You could have died.
33:11So could you.
33:12His thumb brushed my jaw.
33:14His voice cracked.
33:16They're coming for me, Lila.
33:17I can't let you be here when they do.
33:20I'm not leaving you again.
33:22His eyes burned with a mix of fury and fear.
33:26You don't understand.
33:28Everything I've done.
33:30Every sin I've committed.
33:31It's not something you walk away from.
33:34It follows you.
33:36Then I'll follow too.
33:38He stared at me like he didn't believe I existed.
33:41Then the window shattered.
33:43Glass rained across the floor.
33:45Isabella screamed.
33:46Adrian shoved me down,
33:47pulling his gun.
33:48Shots rang out.
33:49One, two, three.
33:50The front door burst open.
33:52He fired again.
33:53A man fell.
33:54Another retreated.
33:55Silence followed.
33:56I looked up.
33:57Adrian was breathing hard.
33:59Hands still on the trigger.
34:00Eyes wild.
34:01Blood stained his shirt.
34:04Adrian.
34:05I whispered,
34:06crawling toward him.
34:07He looked down.
34:08Confusion flickering before the pain hit.
34:10It's not bad, he said.
34:11But his legs gave out.
34:14I caught him before he hit the ground.
34:16Stay with me.
34:17His hand found mine, squeezing weakly.
34:20Get her out.
34:21Not without you.
34:22Please, Lila.
34:23The word please broke me all over again.
34:26I'll find a way, I said, voice shaking.
34:28I swear I'll fix this.
34:30You can't fix me.
34:32I don't need to.
34:33I just need you to live.
34:34His breathing grew shallow.
34:36If I die...
34:37Don't.
34:39Tell her I wasn't always this man.
34:40I pressed my forehead to his.
34:43You don't get to say goodbye yet.
34:45His eyes fluttered.
34:47Then kiss me once.
34:48So I remember.
34:49I did.
34:50It was desperate.
34:51Trembling.
34:52Soaked in everything we'd lost and everything we hadn't said.
34:55When I pulled back,
34:57his hand fell from mine.
34:59The house filled with sirens in the distance.
35:01I held him,
35:03whispering his name over and over,
35:05until the lights outside painted the walls red and blue.
35:07But when they reached us,
35:10he was gone.
35:11Or maybe,
35:12he'd just slipped into the shadows he'd always belonged to.
35:18They said he died that night.
35:20The police.
35:21The medics.
35:22Even the men who used to fear him.
35:24They all spoke the same way.
35:26Quietly.
35:27Like the dead could still hear.
35:29But they never showed me his body.
35:32And I learned long ago that in Adrian Moretti's world,
35:35nothing is ever final unless you see it buried yourself.
35:41I left the mansion before dawn.
35:43No goodbye.
35:44No funeral.
35:45No closure.
35:46Isabella slept in my arms as I carried her into a car I didn't own,
35:50with papers that didn't belong to me.
35:52The house behind us burned,
35:53flames eating through glass and memory.
35:55By the time the fire trucks came,
35:57we were gone.
35:58We settled in a small coastal town under new names.
36:03I told people I was her mother.
36:05She never corrected me.
36:06Some lies grow roots if you water them with enough love.
36:10The sea became our silence.
36:12Every morning I'd stand at the edge of the water and listen.
36:15Not for waves,
36:17but for footsteps that never came.
36:20Months passed.
36:22Seasons changed.
36:24I learned how to live without waiting.
36:26Almost.
36:26Every night,
36:29when the house was quiet,
36:31I'd hear it again.
36:33The click of his lighter.
36:35The low rasp of his voice.
36:37The way he'd say my name like a secret.
36:40I'd close my eyes and see him leaning against the doorway.
36:43Alive in memory,
36:44but unreachable in reality.
36:46And still,
36:47I couldn't stop talking to him in my head.
36:50Did you plan this?
36:51I'd whisper.
36:53Did you make me love you just to turn me into a ghost too?
36:55No answer.
36:58Just the sound of the ocean.
37:00Then,
37:00one evening in late autumn,
37:02I found the envelope.
37:04It was slipped under the door.
37:05No return address.
37:07Just my new name and handwriting I knew better than my own.
37:10Inside,
37:12a single Polaroid.
37:14Me and Isabella at the pier,
37:16taken that very morning.
37:17No message.
37:19No signature.
37:20Just proof that someone had been watching us.
37:23My hands trembled.
37:24My first instinct was fear.
37:26But beneath it,
37:27deeper,
37:28sharper,
37:29was something else.
37:30Recognition.
37:32Adrian had always watched from the shadows.
37:34He'd always been the man who made sure danger stopped one step before it reached me.
37:39That night,
37:40I packed again.
37:42Not to run,
37:43but to be ready.
37:45A week later,
37:47I saw him.
37:49It was raining,
37:50as if the world remembered the last time I'd seen his face.
37:53Isabella was at school.
37:55I was walking home,
37:56hood up,
37:57when I noticed the car parked across the street.
37:59Black,
38:00idling,
38:01windows tinted.
38:03Then the driver's door opened.
38:04He stepped out.
38:06No gun.
38:07No blood.
38:08Just a man who looked more tired than human.
38:11His hair was longer.
38:12A faint scar cut across his jaw.
38:14The same eyes,
38:15darker now,
38:16like they'd forgotten what light was.
38:19I couldn't move.
38:20My breath came in sharp bursts.
38:22My body wanted to run to him.
38:24But my mind screamed that he was a ghost.
38:26Something the world had already buried.
38:29He crossed the street slowly.
38:31As if testing if I'd vanish if he came too close.
38:34When he finally stopped in front of me,
38:36the rain fell harder.
38:38Lila,
38:38he said softly.
38:39My name broke in his mouth.
38:41I didn't trust my voice.
38:42I just stared.
38:44He looked down,
38:45like he didn't deserve to.
38:46I couldn't stay away.
38:48I tried.
38:49Why?
38:49I whispered.
38:50Because every time I closed my eyes,
38:53I saw you walking away.
38:56Silence stretched between us.
38:58Heavy.
38:59Trembling.
39:00Real.
39:01I buried them all,
39:03he said.
39:04The ones who came after you.
39:06The ones who thought I'd died.
39:08There's no one left to hurt you now.
39:10And you?
39:11I'm already hurt.
39:12His hand lifted slightly,
39:13then fell.
39:14You're safe.
39:15That's all I ever wanted.
39:17You think this is safety?
39:18I asked.
39:19Living like a ghost,
39:21pretending we don't remember.
39:23He closed his eyes.
39:24If I stay,
39:25you'll never be free.
39:28Freedom without you isn't living.
39:30The words came out before I could stop them.
39:33He looked up,
39:34hope flickering,
39:35dying,
39:36fighting to live again.
39:38You don't know what you're saying.
39:41Yes,
39:42I said,
39:43stepping closer.
39:44I do.
39:45I've had a year to think about it.
39:47He laughed quietly,
39:49bitterly.
39:50A year?
39:51That's all it takes to forget a monster?
39:53You weren't the monster.
39:54You were the man who kept monsters from the door.
39:57He swallowed hard,
39:59eyes wet despite himself.
40:00You still don't understand what I've done.
40:03Then tell me.
40:04He shook his head.
40:05If I tell you,
40:06you'll never look at me the same.
40:09I haven't looked at anyone else since you left.
40:12That silenced him.
40:13Then something in him broke.
40:16He reached for me like a drowning man reaching for air.
40:18His hands shook as they touched my face,
40:21as if he couldn't believe I was real.
40:23You should hate me,
40:25he whispered.
40:26I tried.
40:27Did it work?
40:28No,
40:29he pressed his forehead against mine.
40:31His breath was uneven.
40:32If I stay,
40:33they'll find me again.
40:35Then let them.
40:36He smiled faintly.
40:38You're still reckless.
40:40You made me that way.
40:42For a moment,
40:43it felt like the world stilled.
40:45The rain.
40:46The street.
40:47The years between us.
40:49Then I said what neither of us could run from.
40:52Come home.
40:53He didn't move.
40:54Didn't breathe.
40:55Finally,
40:56he whispered.
40:57Home was never a place,
40:59Lila.
41:00It was you.
41:02And when he kissed me,
41:04it wasn't like before.
41:05It wasn't desperation or possession.
41:08It was something quieter.
41:09A surrender.
41:10He didn't promise forever.
41:12He didn't need to.
41:13When we pulled apart,
41:15I asked,
41:16Will you stay?
41:17He nodded once.
41:19As long as I can.
41:20That was enough.
41:22That night,
41:23Isabella ran into his arms like no time had passed.
41:27He held her like he was afraid she'd disappear.
41:30For the first time in months,
41:32she slept without waking from nightmares.
41:34I watched from the doorway as the man who once commanded killers
41:37read her a bedtime story in a whisper.
41:41When he closed the book and looked at me,
41:43I saw peace in his eyes.
41:45For the first time.
41:47Maybe love doesn't save people.
41:49Maybe it just gives them a reason to stop running.
41:51It's been three years since the fire.
41:56Two since the night he came back.
41:57And one since we stopped running.
41:59We live in a house that doesn't have guards or cameras.
42:02The windows stay open.
42:03The curtains move with the wind instead of fear.
42:06The air smells like salt.
42:07And sometimes,
42:08when the sun hits the water just right,
42:10I can almost forget what his name used to mean to people.
42:13Adrian Moretti.
42:15The man who made empires bow.
42:17The man whose name carried more blood than mercy.
42:19Now he's just Adrian.
42:21My daughter's father.
42:22The man who fixes the porch when it creaks.
42:25Who burns breakfast because he still refuses to read recipes.
42:29People in town think he's a widower who remarried.
42:32I let them.
42:33Truth has too much history attached to it.
42:36Some mornings,
42:37I wake to find him standing at the edge of the cliff behind our home.
42:41Cigarette between his fingers.
42:43Smoke curling into the dawn.
42:45He doesn't light it anymore.
42:46He just holds it.
42:47Like a habit he's learning to forget.
42:50I watch him from the window.
42:52He always looks the same in that first light.
42:54Haunted.
42:55But alive.
42:57And every time,
42:58I feel the same ache.
43:00The quiet disbelief that we made it out.
43:02He turns when he feels me watching.
43:05Always does.
43:06That old instinct never died.
43:08Couldn't sleep?
43:09He says.
43:10Did you?
43:11He shakes his head.
43:12Smiles faintly.
43:13Didn't want to waste time dreaming when I have you right here.
43:16It's not a line.
43:18He doesn't say things to make me melt.
43:20He says them because, for once, he means them.
43:22There are scars he'll never talk about.
43:25Burns on his shoulder.
43:26A bullet mark near his ribs.
43:28But I've stopped asking.
43:30I learned that survival isn't about erasing what happened.
43:33It's about living without letting it define you.
43:36Some nights, when Isabella's asleep,
43:38we sit on the porch in silence.
43:40The air hums with crickets.
43:42His hand rests over mine.
43:44And the quiet between us feels like an old song we both still know the words to.
43:49He never asks for forgiveness.
43:51I never offer it.
43:53What we have now doesn't need to be clean to be real.
43:57Once I asked him if he still misses it.
43:59The control.
44:00The power.
44:01The fear he commanded.
44:03He just stared at the sea for a long time before answering.
44:07I miss knowing what I was, he said.
44:09Not who.
44:10I understood.
44:11Because I missed who I used to be before him.
44:13The girl who still believed love came without consequences.
44:17Neither of us got what we wanted.
44:19But both of us got what we needed.
44:21He works now.
44:22Legitimate.
44:23Quiet.
44:24Invisible.
44:25He does shipping under a false name.
44:27Never large enough to draw attention.
44:29Just enough to keep the lights on.
44:31And the past buried.
44:32Sometimes I catch him watching Isabella draw at the table.
44:35And something in his eyes softens.
44:37Like the man he once was never fully existed.
44:41She's older now.
44:42Wiser.
44:43The kind of child who sees more than she asks.
44:46One night she said,
44:48Mom, I know who Daddy is.
44:50My chest tightened.
44:51What do you mean?
44:52She shrugged.
44:54He doesn't talk about it.
44:55But I can tell.
44:56He used to be someone scary.
44:58I stayed silent.
44:59She smiled.
45:00He's not scary anymore.
45:02I didn't realize I was crying until she hugged me.
45:06Later, I told Adrian.
45:07He listened.
45:08Jaw tight.
45:09Eyes wet but steady.
45:11She's wrong, he whispered.
45:12I'm still scary.
45:14Just not to her.
45:15Then maybe that's enough, I said.
45:18He nodded.
45:19Yeah, maybe it is.
45:21Years don't erase what happened.
45:23They just dull the edges.
45:25Sometimes I still wake up from dreams where the house is burning.
45:28Where he's bleeding.
45:29Where I'm running again.
45:31But then his arm tightens around me.
45:33Warm and alive.
45:34And I know I don't have to run anymore.
45:36We talk sometimes about what comes next.
45:39If we should move again.
45:41If it's safe to stay.
45:43But the truth is,
45:44we stopped being fugitives the moment we stopped being afraid.
45:48One evening, near sunset,
45:50we walked down to the shore.
45:52Isabella was ahead, chasing the tide.
45:55Adrian slipped his hand into mine.
45:56The sky burned gold and violet.
45:59The kind of light that makes you believe in second chances.
46:02He said quietly.
46:05Do you ever think we deserve this?
46:07No, I said.
46:08But maybe we earned it.
46:10He smiled.
46:11The kind of smile that used to be rare.
46:13Like a secret only I was allowed to see.
46:16Then maybe that's the same thing.
46:17We stood there as the waves rolled in.
46:21Steady and endless.
46:22Like time itself had forgiven us.
46:25Sometimes I still think about who I was when I took that nanny job.
46:29Broken.
46:30Desperate.
46:30Naive.
46:32I didn't know I was walking into a house owned by a man who could destroy worlds with a phone call.
46:37I didn't know that he'd end up saving mine instead.
46:40Love didn't fix him.
46:41It didn't fix me either.
46:42But it made us both human again.
46:45And that's what survival really is.
46:48Choosing to love in a world that taught you how to fear.
46:51He still says my name like it's something holy.
46:54I still trace the scar on his jaw when I can't sleep.
46:57We still argue.
46:58Still laugh.
46:59Still burn.
47:00But we do it together now.
47:02This morning, Isabella left a note on the fridge in her childish handwriting.
47:07We're safe now.
47:08She doesn't know how much that sentence costs.
47:13Adrian read it.
47:14Smiled and said,
47:16Guess she's right.
47:18Guess she is.
47:20Then he looked at me.
47:22I soft, voice low.
47:23You ever wonder how we got here?
47:25Every day.
47:26He nodded.
47:27You think it was luck?
47:28No.
47:30It was love.
47:32He kissed me.
47:34Slow.
47:35Certain.
47:36Final in a way that felt eternal.
47:39And as the tide rose and fell beyond the window,
47:43I thought to myself,
47:45Somehow, after everything,
47:47we found our way home.
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