“Baby,” Cleopatra muttered under her breath, fury simmering through every fiber of her being. “How dare you?” she shouted, her voice sharp with restrained rage. 

“I… I apologize,” Anthony murmured, his voice subdued and unsteady. “If calling you baby displeased you, it was never my intention.” 

His gaze lowered, lashes casting faint shadows as his eyes drooped, the apology weighted with quiet remorse and unspoken restraint. 

The word struck her like a thunderclap, reverberating deep in her chest. Anthony, someone who had never once offered an apology, now spoke with an ease that felt almost alien, his fingers brushing lightly against her arms as he guided her to sit. The...