Chapter Four
THIS DIDN’T CHANGEanything.
The words sounded right in his mind, but why did they strike his heart like it was a curse?
This didn’t change anything.
Arkane first started hearing it the moment Tiara told him of the things he knew deep down were what Icelle had tried her best to tell him long ago.
‘I need you to listen to me. Please.’
And though he had known even then that his stepsister would only beg for the most painful of things, the ones that really made her normally tough heart start to break—
‘There’s nothing you can say to change my mind.’
It had been the same for him, and Tiara’s betrayal had him reeling so fucking bad—
‘Do not make me turn my back on you, too.’
That no one had even mentioned her name in his presence again.
Because they all knew, even when he had already moved out, and Arkane had started drowning himself in work—
They all knew.
He had never stopped reeling since that night.
And that was why—
Even though to have her in his arms like he did now was like regaining the missing pieces of his heart—
This didn’t change anything.
And even though her body was still trembling against his side, her tears were still falling, and she was following him without question like his heart had enslaved hers for life—
This didn’t change anything.
He took her to his home. His room. His bed.
This didn’t change anything.
Her eyes never shying away from his as he bent his head, her lips parting under his, and ah, this kiss—
This didn’t change anything.
Because he couldn’t fucking afford otherwise.
This MUSTN’T change anything.