This was utterly insane. His proposal. His words. His reasoning. The entire day had been a relentless assault on my composure, growing heavier with every passing hour, more mentally straining than I had thought myself capable of enduring. It felt as though someone, somewhere above me, had decided to test the limits of my endurance—curious to see how much could be placed upon my shoulders before my mind finally fractured under the weight of it all.
I searched his face, studying every single detail as if the truth might be hidden in the smallest shift of muscle or flicker of expression. I took him in carefully, deliberately, memorizing the lines of his jaw, the steadiness in his gaze, the calculated calm that seemed permanently stitched into his features. I needed to be certain I was not be
