PH

about... us." His jaw tightened, and he let out a slow, controlled breath. "There is no 'us,' Daphne," he said, his voice cold and final. His words hit me like a blow to the chest. "How can you say that?" I whispered, my throat tightening. "After everything that happened that night... After....." "Forget about that night," he interrupted, his tone sharp and unyielding. "It was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened." I stared at him, stunned into silence. My hands trembled at my sides as I tried to process his words. "A mistake?" I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper. "Yes," he said firmly, his gaze hard. "Whatever you think happened between us, it meant nothing. I let my guard down for a moment, and it won't happen again." His words sliced through me like a blade. I felt a lump rising in my throat, but I refused to cry in front of him. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing how deeply his rejection hurt me. "So that's it?" I asked, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to steady it. "You can just pretend it didn't happen? That I don't... that I don't matter?" His expression softened for a brief second, but then his features hardened again. "You're here for one reason, Daphne," he said coldly. "To give me an heir. Nothing more." The air seemed to leave my lungs at his words. I felt like the floor was crumbling beneath me, like I was falling into an endless void. "Is that all I am to you?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Just a tool to fulfill your curse? A means to an end?" He stood then, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. His eyes burned with something I couldn't decipher.....anger, regret, pain? I didn't know. "You knew what this was from the beginning," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't make it into something it's not." Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. "You're a coward," I said