The room was silent, thick with something heavier than air — something unspoken, something unbearable.

She stood there, staring at him, the weight of his confession sinking in like lead in her chest.

“You expect me to just accept this?” she finally whispered.

His jaw tightened. “No.”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips, but there was no humor in it. “Then what? What do you want from me?”

He didn’t answer.

Because he didn’t know.

The Breaking Point

“You tell me you loved me. You tell me you killed me.” Her voice trembled as she took a shaky step forward. “You tell me we were meant to be, and yet — “ her hands clenched into fists “ — you never once fought for me.”

He flinched.

She saw it.

For the first time, he looked as though he was the one breaking.

“Do you know what it’s like?” she demanded. “To have someone constantly pull you toward them — only to push you away?”

His hands curled at his sides. “I — “

“To feel like your entire existence is tied to someone who won’t even let you in?”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“To think — just for a second — that maybe, this time, it could be different — “

She stopped herself.

Because she couldn’t say it.

She wouldn’t.

Not when her heart felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside.

She shook her head, blinking away the sting in her eyes.

“This isn’t fate. This is a curse.”

His eyes darkened.

“You think I don’t know that?” His voice was rough, raw. “You think I don’t hate it? Hate myself?”

Her breath hitched.

“Then why?” she whispered. “Why won’t you just let me go?”

He took a slow step forward.

And another.

Until he was close enough that she could feel the heat of his presence, see the torment in his eyes — the storm raging inside him.

“Because,” he murmured, voice barely above a whisper, “I don’t know how to.”

A Truth She Can’t Handle

She wanted to hate him.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to undo every moment she had ever spent caring about him.

But she couldn’t.

And that terrified her.

She looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the truth in his eyes.

Not just the burden of their past lives.

But fear.

The same fear she felt.

“You don’t deserve my forgiveness,” she finally said, voice unsteady.

“I know.”

“And I don’t think I can ever trust you.”

He said nothing.

“But — “ she hesitated, the words catching in her throat “ — I can’t hate you either.”

His breath faltered.

For a second — just a second — hope flickered in his eyes.

The Choice That Will Define Them

The truth was out. The past had unraveled.

But now, there was only one thing left.

The choice.

Would they walk away from each other?

Or would they fight — for the first time in seventeen lives — to break free of fate?

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them moved.

Because whatever happened next…

Would change everything.