HIS TO RUIN, HERS TO DENY

Chapter 2

Elara did not look at him again immediately because something in her told her that doing that would make everything worse in a way she would not be able to control, so she forced her attention back to the room even though it no longer felt the same, because everything that looked normal before now felt like a cover for something else happening right in front of her.

“Elara,” Rhea said beside her.

“I heard you,” Elara replied even though she had not.

“You did not,” Rhea said, watching her closely, “you have been somewhere else since you walked in.”

“I am fine,” Elara said, reaching for a glass just to keep her hands busy.

Rhea followed her earlier gaze across the room and paused the moment she found him.

“Oh.”

Elara did not respond.

“You know him.”

“No.” Elara said.

“Then why is he looking at you like that?”

Elara did not answer because she did not have one, and that alone irritated her, because she did not like situations she could not explain.

“He is still watching,” Rhea added.

Elara knew.

She did not need to check.

That feeling had not left, it stayed steady, focused, like distance meant nothing and that alone made something uneasy settle deeper in her chest.

“Let’s move,” Elara said, already stepping forward.

They moved through the crowd, blending into people and conversations that now felt distant, like everything around her had faded into background noise while something else stayed sharp and clear.

“You are acting strange,” Rhea said.

“I told you I am fine.”

“You keep saying that like it is true.”

Elara did not respond.

Because it was not.

They stopped near a table and for a moment Elara forced herself to breathe slowly, trying to calm the tension building inside her, trying to convince herself this was nothing, just a man staring, just something she was overthinking.

Men do stare, that was normal… so why did this not feel normal?, she did not have an answer, and she did not like that.

For a second it almost settled, almost, until she felt it again, closer, not across the room anymore, but it was near.

Elara’s body went still without her choosing it, her grip tightening slightly around the glass as her senses sharpened instantly.

Someone was behind her, she was certain.

“Elara.”

Her name, low, right behind her… her breath paused for a second before she turned, and there he was.

“Adrian Voss.

He was closer now, too close.

Her eyes locked on his immediately and being this close made everything worse, because there was nothing to soften it, no distance, no space, just him and that same steady look that did not shift away.

“I do not remember telling you my name,” she said.

“You did not,” he replied calmly.

“Then how do you know it.”

A small pause followed…

“I know what I need to know.”

That did not sit right.

“And I am something you need to know.”

“Yes.”

No hesitation, that answer hit harder than it should have.

Elara felt something shift inside her, something she did not like, something that made her feel like she was already behind in something she did not understand.

“You are very comfortable acting like you know me,” she said.

“I do not act,” he replied.

Her fingers tightened slightly.

“And what exactly do you think you know.”

His gaze stayed steady on hers.

“Enough.”

“That is not an answer.”

“It is.”

“No,” she said quietly, “it is not.”

Silence settled between them, not awkward, just heavy, like something else was sitting in it, then he spoke again.

“You felt it before you saw me.”

Elara’s chest tightened, because that was true, and she had not said it.

“How do you know that,” she asked.

“Because you were supposed to,” he said.

That made no sense, but the way he said it made it feel like it did, and that was the problem.

“That does not mean anything,” she said.

“It will.”

“When.”

“Soon.”

That word again, and she hated it, because it sounded certain.

Elara stared at him for a second longer, trying to find something in his expression that made sense, something that proved this was nothing.

But there was nothing, just calm, just control, just certainty, and that made her chest feel tight.

“I think this conversation is over,” she said, turning before he could respond.

She walked straight into the crowd, away from him.

Rhea caught up quickly. “What was that.”

Elara did not answer immediately, because her mind was still there.

“I do not know,” she said quietly.

And that was the truth, but as she moved away, one thing stayed with her, because even without turning back… she could still feel it.., that same presence, still there, still watching, like walking away did not change anything at all.

And somehow…

That was the part that unsettled her the most.