His expressions twisted into pure pity, contemplating me from top to bottom. "Eileen…" Unsure how to react, mouth gaped to search words but couldn’t.

"For a bare heartbeat, I might, just might share this darkness with you but the fear you engraved overcame my love." Losing my posture, I held his shirt, forcing him to stare directly into the soul he broke for his own selfishness.

"My terror is far greater than my love for you, Sebastian Stellios."

His eyes widened, for a bare minimum second, a blended emotion of hurt- for the first time- flashed in his eyes but it was not masked by his cruelty. He was trying...