Liana's POV
And there it was.
That word. That stupid, dangerous, beautiful word.
Care.
I hated it. I hated that it cracked open something soft in me. That it made me want to believe him, even when every scar on my body said don’t.
“Why do you care?” I asked, and my voice broke in the middle like it couldn’t bear the weight of the question.
He didn’t answer right away.
Just closed the kit. Sat back. Looked at me like he could see every place I’d ever been hurt and wasn’t sure which one was bleeding louder—mine or his.
“Because ur foolish Liana,” he said.
He didn’t laugh when he called me foolish.
Didn’t smile either.
He just looked at me. Still. Unmoving. Like a portrait someone hung in the wrong room.
Like I was supposed to be grateful. Grateful he cared.
My mouth parted. A br
