Anna could not believe what she was hearing. The words she had been starving for in her first life had finally found her in her second, and even though Daniel had been painfully clear, her mind struggled to accept it.
She studied him in silence, his confession echoing over and over, sinking deeper into her heart with every breath she took. It felt unreal, like something she had once prayed for and then buried with her past.
"Say it again," she whispered.
Daniel leaned closer, brushing his lips against her cheek before speaking, his voice steady and full of emotion he no longer tried to restrain.
"I love you."
This time he said it with everything he carried inside him.
Daniel had known something was wrong with him long before this moment. The dreams that haunted him night after night were not random. Every time he woke from them, regret clung to him like a shadow, as though he had made a terrible mistake once and his soul had never forgiven him for it.
