Isabelle’s POV
The moment Damion stepped out of my office, it felt like the air finally moved again.
But instead of relief, all I felt was a deep, aching emptiness.
He had stood there—raw, open, broken—and for a moment, just a fleeting moment, my heart had whispered a truth I’d buried long ago:
“I still love him.”
I hated it.
I hated how just the sound of his voice sent my pulse racing.
How even after everything he’d done, everything he’d taken, a part of me still ached for the man I once believed he was.
And maybe that was the worst part—because I didn’t love the man standing before me now.
I loved the version I thought he could be.
And yet… today… for the first time in years… I saw that man again.
Even if it was just a glimpse.
I pressed a hand to my chest and closed my eyes.
