“I’m going to propose to Emilia tonight,” Dante said.
The words were quiet, dropped into the stillness like a stone into a deep well.
Aria didn’t move. She didn’t gasp. She simply blinked, her reflection in the window looking back at her with wide, hollow eyes. The tiny, fragile spark she had carried for him—the f*******n "puppy crush" on her sister’s husband—didn’t explode. It just flickered once and went out, leaving a dull ache in its place.
She looked away, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders.
Dante glanced at her, catching the shift in her silhouette. A small, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Stop sulking,” he said, his voice regaining that casual, effortless edge. “The world isn't ending. You’re young, Aria. You have the whole city at your feet. Pick
