-ALEXANDER-
The hollow disappointment that had gripped me when Lilian’s eyes opened, only for her to remain mute and immobile, had slowly receded. It hadn't vanished completely, but a new, more potent emotion was taking root: a desperate, aching tenderness. She was alive. She was breathing. And she was looking at me, even if her gaze was still clouded by weakness and, undeniably, by fear.
I could see it in her eyes. The raw, animal fear that flickered whenever my shadow fell over her, whenever my hand twitched. And I knew, with a chilling clarity that sobered me like nothing else, that I was the cause of it. Every trembling breath she took, every wide-eyed flinch, was a testament to my brutality. I knew everything. Every lash, every moment of starvation, every agonizing minute she had sp
