Chapter 9 – Breaking Point
237 Words
Camille’s silence was answer enough.
Elias’s hand slid to the back of her neck, and for a heartbeat, it felt like the world had stopped — just them, just this, just the pull they had fought against for months.
But when his lips brushed hers, Camille’s chest tightened, not from longing… but from panic.
She stepped back fast. “No. We’re not doing this.”
Elias’s jaw flexed. “You wanted it as much as I did.”
“Wanting you is exactly the problem,” she shot back.
The air between them turned sharp.
---
Inside, the music swelled, but the balcony felt like a war zone.
“I’m not going to stand here and pretend this marriage meant nothing,” Elias said, voice low but shaking. “I loved you, Camille. I still—”
“Don’t,” she cut in, eyes burning. “Don’t say it unless you mean to fight for me.”
His mouth opened… then closed.
And that was her answer.
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She left the balcony, left the gala, and didn’t look back.
By the time she reached the penthouse, she had already made up her mind. She packed a bag, stuffed it into the trunk of her car, and drove without knowing where she was going.
Maybe distance would save them.
Or maybe it would be the final nail in their coffin.
Either way, she couldn’t breathe around him anymore.
- Writer
