(Siena’s POV)
Raiden’s words linger long after he speaks them, their weight pressing into the quiet spaces of my mind.
His confession—raw, unguarded, and so unlike the man I once knew—stirs emotions I thought I’d buried.
For nearly two years, I’ve worked to process the wounds he left behind, to rebuild my life without the shadow of his rejection looming over me. But now, his midnight eyes, filled with genuine regret, crack open something I’d long since locked away.
I don’t want to feel anything for him. But feelings don’t ask for permission, do they?
I turn back, unable to help myself.
“What do you want from me, Raiden?” I ask finally, my voice quieter than I intend but no less firm.
Exhaustion seeps into my words, the kind that comes not from physical
