Adray's footsteps faded.
He didn't turn back.
Not once.
The silence he left behind was heavier than the fight.
For a moment, I just stood there.
Breathing unevenly.
Heart racing.
Something irreversible had just happened.
And then—
Shivrit laughed softly.
Not loudly.
Not mockingly.
Just… satisfied.
He stepped closer.
"So dramatic," he murmured.
I looked at him.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Because," he said, his fingers brushing the ring on my hand, "there's no one left between us now."
The words should have frightened me.
There's no one left between us.
No one to argue. No one to warn. No one to pull me away.
No one to protect me from him.
But instead—
I felt chosen.
His hands moved to my waist again.
Slower this time.
More deliberate.
"You chose me," he whispered.
"I did."
"Say it properly."
I swallowed.
"I choose you."
His eyes darkened.
And then he kissed me again.
This time—
There was no interruption.
No hesitation.
No witness.
It wasn't rushed like before.
It was deeper.
Hungrier.
His hand moved to the back of my neck, fingers pressing just enough to make me tilt toward him.
His lips moved against mine with control.
Not asking.
Taking.
His thumb traced along my jaw.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
The world blurred.
The parking lot.
The college.
Everything disappeared.
There was only him.
His breath.
His grip.
His presence swallowing mine whole.
He kissed like he was sealing something.
Like he was carving his name somewhere invisible inside me.
I didn't think.
I didn't question.
I didn't remember Adray's words.
I didn't remember Papa's blessing that morning.
I didn't remember anything except—
Him.
When he finally pulled back, my breathing was uneven.
My thoughts scattered.
He rested his forehead against mine.
"You don't need anyone else," he murmured.
And in that moment—
I believed him.
I thought he would protect me from everything in this world.
I thought his possessiveness was safety.
I thought his control was love.
I thought his dominance was devotion.
I thought I had chosen passion over predictability.
I thought I had chosen intensity over boredom.
I thought I had chosen love.
What I didn't know—
Was that I had just chosen my destruction.
And this—
This was only the beginning.