Chapter 101

Maya’s POV

My body freezes in place. The world around me grinds to a halt, leaving only my heart alive—pounding, racing to catch the echo of his words.

“W-what?” I whisper, my voice trembling as I try to confirm what I just heard.

“Don’t make me repeat it like this. It’s embarrassing—”

“Please, Elias, I want to hear it from your lips…”

I feel a soft snuffle. He slowly lifts his head from my shoulder, his gaze fixed on the floor even as his forehead comes to rest mere inches from mine. We sit in a charged silence for several long seconds while he gathers his courage.

“I said… I love you, Maya,” he finally confesses, forcing out a strained chuckle as his eyes shift to mine. “I’m in love with my wife. Isn’t that fitting, yet strange?”