Boundaries We Can't Keep
413 Words
Ava stood in the cold hallway, her fingers clenching around the strap of her bag. She had packed her things. Again. Not because she wanted to leave—but because staying was starting to feel like a slow form of self-destruction.
The mansion, despite its beauty, had begun to feel like a cage.
“I can’t keep doing this, Jace,” she whispered when he stepped out of his office and found her standing near the door.
He raised an eyebrow, face unreadable. “Doing what exactly?”
Ava laughed softly, bitterly. “Living here. Pretending this...marriage is just a contract when you can’t even look at me without your walls up.”
Jace didn’t answer immediately. He walked toward her, his steps controlled and slow.
“And yet you haven’t walked out,” he said, voice low.
“I’ve tried.”
“But you’re still here.”
Her throat tightened. “Maybe because I still believe there's a person beneath that stone shell you wear.”
That made him pause. For a brief second, something flickered in his expression—pain? Regret? Longing?
He looked away.
“I didn’t ask for this marriage either, Ava. I didn’t ask for my life to be a damn business strategy,” he said sharply, then softened. “But I never said you were just part of the deal.”
Silence stretched between them like a rubber band ready to snap.
Then he added, almost hesitantly, “I noticed you haven’t been sleeping well.”
Ava blinked. “You noticed?”
“I hear you pacing in the hallway at night,” he said. “You're not as invisible as you think.”
Something warm and dangerous curled in her chest. Why did those simple words feel like more than any kiss?
She dropped her bag.
“I don’t know what this is, Jace. But I’m tired of guessing.”
“So am I,” he said quietly.
Before she could reply, the intercom buzzed. The gatekeeper’s voice came through.
“Sir, someone named Damian Williams is here. Says he’s Ava’s fiancé.”
Her breath caught.
Jace’s jaw locked. “What?”
Ava stared at the intercom, stunned. “He’s not my fiancé. Not anymore.”
But the damage was done. Jace’s face hardened again.
“Tell him to wait in the car,” he said, voice sharp like glass. Then to Ava, “I guess you’ll have to choose who you really belong to.”
- Writer
