Elliot's face went deathly pale, his lips parting in a faint, wordless tremor.
Margaret's icy tone and detached expression cut through him, stripping away the last of his pretenses.
"You're a coward. You want everything without ever giving anything real. But you never understood me—not truly. I carried you for miles over mountain paths without complaint. I cared for you, wholeheartedly, for more than half a year. When you left, I asked for nothing. For five years after, I gathered herbs in the village just to catch a glimpse of you. You should have realized by now—when I set my mind to something, nothing could change my mind."
He stood frozen, his heart aching as if torn apart.
It finally dawned on him that the girl he had once underestimated could be so resolute, so unwavering.
In th
