I looked at him then, really looked. The mask was gone. The cold edge dulled. What remained was a man unraveling himself at the seams, laying pieces of his soul at my bedside like they were offerings. 

“I don’t want to own you, Aria,” he said. “I want you to choose me.” 

I blinked, a soft ache blooming behind my ribs. 

“You’re saying all the right things now,” I said, “but what about when I’m not bleed in a hospital bed?” 

“I’ll still mean them,” he said without hesitation. 

We stared at each other. The weight of everything between us pain, lust, control, power sat heavy on our shoulders. But under it, something else had taken root. 

Peace in the eyes of death. It was surprising and the most unexpected thing to happen to us at this moment. 

I reached for his hand again. This time, not because I needed to hold on. But because I wanted him to see that I am trying to reach out. 

He looked surprised. But he didn’t pull away. 

Instead, he moved closer, pressing his forehead gently to mine, careful of the wires and tubes. 

“You scare the shit out of me,” I whispered. 

He smiled, just barely. “You terrify me, too.” 

And maybe that was the truth we’d both been running from. That the danger wasn’t just outside. It was inside. Between us. 

Fire and fire. 

No safe place to fall. 

But still… 

I leaned up slowly, ignoring the tight pull in my side, and placed the softest kiss on his lips. 

His eyes closed. Just for a second. 

And he let me. 

His lips didn’t devour mine. Not this time. 

There was no hunger. No demand. 

Just stillness. Just him, letting it happen. 

Letting me happen. 

When I pulled back, he didn’t speak. Didn’t move. 

Just watched me like I’d carved something open in him he didn’t know could bleed. 

A knock broke the silence. 

Dominic straightened just as the door creaked open and a doctor stepped in, clipboard in hand, eyes scanning the machines before glancing at me. 

“You’re awake,” he said, surprised. “Good.” 

Dominic didn’t move from my side, but his hand slipped from mine, clasping it tight. It felt like he didn’t want the doctor to see what had just transpired between us. He was still afraid to show his weakness to outsiders and I understood. 

“How bad is it?” asked, voice rough. 

The doctor’s eyes flicked from me to Dominic, then back. 

“We removed the tumor successfully. It was risky. Especially with the bullet. The surrounding tissue was compromised, but the margins are clear. You’ll need rest. Physical therapy. Medication. But…” he paused, expression softening, “you’re stable. And for the first time in a long while, cancer–free.” 

My breath caught. 

Cancer–free. 

The words didn’t sink in immediately. I just stared at him and behind me,Dominic went still. 

I nodded, barely. “Thank you.” 

Successfully unlocked! 

The doctor gave a small smile, made a few notes, then turned to Dominic. “I’ll have the nurse bring in the aftercare forms.” 

When he left, the silence returned. But it was different now. 

I looked down at my hands. Trembling. 

1/3 

Chapter 129 

Not from fear. 

From relief. From shock. 

“I’m still here,” I whispered. 

Dominic exhaled, like he’d been holding that in too. 

“Yeah,” he said. “You are.” 

I looked up at him, studying the man who’d caused so much of my pain–and carried so much of it with me. My chest ached again, but not from the stitches this time. 

From the terrifying, quiet realization that I didn’t hate him like I used to. 

“I can’t believe that you actually…had a way to save me from the grim reaper.” 

He smiled. “Maybe I am the grim reaper.” 

I smiled, blinking back the tears that were forming and whispered, “I hate you.” 

But my lips trembled as they brushed his again. 

And he knew. 

He knew I didn’t mean it. 

His hand came to my face, gentle at first, then firmer as his thumb stroked the edge of my jaw. “Then hate me,” he murmured. “But don’t lie.” 

And God help me–I couldn’t. 

Not anymore. 

I parted my lips, but no words came out. My heart was thudding too loud in my ears, like it didn’t know whether to beat from anger or something far worse. 

I wanted to speak. To say something. Anything. 

But then his phone rang. 

Dominic didn’t move at first. His eyes were still locked on mine. It kept ringing, sharp and loud, cutting into the moment like a blade. 

He sighed and pulled back slowly, reaching into his coat. I watched the shift in his face as he glanced at the screen his features tightening, brows drawing in. 

He answered without a word. 

Silence. Just a breath. Then a grim nod. 

“What?” I asked, my voice barely audible. 

His eyes didn’t meet mine. He kept staring at the wall past me, shoulders tense. The kind of tension that doesn’t come from anger, but grief. Surprise and shock. 

He ended the call. 

“Dominic?” 

He swallowed. His jaw flexed. 

“Nico’s gone.” 

I blinked. “What?” 

“They found him this morning,” he said, voice low. “Dead.” 

The word hit me like a punch to the gut. 

No. 

No, that can’t be right. 

“Gone… like dead?” My voice cracked around the word. 

He gave a single, sharp nod. “Execution style. Bullet to the head.” 

I stared at him, numb. “But he–he was just-” 

“I know.” 

I searched his face, looking for a lie. A hint. A smirk. Some cruel joke wrapped in a crueler truth. But it wasn’t there. 

Dominic wasn’t lying. 

Nico was dead. 

“I didn’t think…” I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. 

2/3 

Chapter 129 

Dominic’s gaze finally met mine. “I didn’t want to leave you,” he said softly. “But I need to handle this.” 

I nodded, stiffly. “Go. It’s fine.” 

He lingered for a moment, like he didn’t believe me. Like he didn’t trust the silence that suddenly lived in my chest. Then he stood. Brushed his hand down my arm. Left without another word. 

The door clicked shut behind him. 

And I was alone. 

Completely, bone–deep alone. 

I stared at the ceiling for a long time. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours. I wasn’t sure. The weight of the news pressed down on me, heavier than the bandages around my ribs. 

Nico’s dead. 

The words wouldn’t stop echoing. 

I brought my knees up slowly, careful of my side. Hugged them to my chest and buried my face there. The tears didn’t come right away. They waited. Watched. Then cracked open all at once. 

I sobbed. 

Not because I loved him. Not like that. 

But because he mattered. Because he betrayed me. Because I trusted him, and I hated him, and I never got to say all the things burning in my throat. 

I never got to ask him why. 

I never got to tell him it still hurt. 

“Oh, Nico…” I whispered through clenched teeth. “Why?” 

My body trembled. 

I thought of the way he used to stand too close. The way he called me Mia cara in that annoying, smug voice. The way he laughed like he knew something I didn’t. 

And how he always looked at me like I was the center of a game he wanted to win. 

I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to hit him. But now? 

Now all I had was silence. 

I pressed my fists into my eyes, trying to push the pain away. It didn’t work. 

First my parents. Then Carmen. Now Nico. 

Everything around me kept disappearing. Dying. Turning to ash. 

And Mikael. 

God. Mikael. 

I could still hear his voice the last time he spoke to me. Cold. Threatening. Like I was nothing but a tool to him. 

He was the one pulling strings in the dark. Starting wars. Turning allies into enemies. And now… Nico’s blood was on his 

hands too. 

My chest tightened. Rage twisted in my gut. 

Mikael was ruining everything. 

Tearing apart whatever fragile pieces I had left. 

I wiped my face with the sleeve of my hospital gown, breathing hard. The pain in my side flared again, but I didn’t care. “Mikael’s making everything worse,” I whispered. 

Then louder. 

“He needs to suffer.”