Aria's pov
" Damien, our contract marriage is over."
I paused, holding his gaze with steady calm before I went on.
"We both signed the deal. Once your fiancée woke from her coma, everything between us would end. From that moment, we were done—no vows, no ties, nothing binding us."
The drizzle softened into a fine mist, brushing against my cheeks like cold silk.
My legs ached from standing too long, and for a second I thought I heard a child crying somewhere behind me.
It wasn't real. It was the same ghost sound that had followed me for months, but it still made my chest tighten.
I took a slow breath and tried to stay on my feet.
"So," I said, my voice clear in the rain," stop talking about me in public. Respect goes both ways, Alpha. If you want it, give it. A man
