DORIAN'S POV
My feelings for Blake were akin to a relentless nightmare that had plagued me for years. Even in my dreams, shadows descended, shrouding my life and pulling me into an abyss. Due to my emotions for her, I found myself living a life that felt foreign, subject to the whims of many others.
Blaming her felt futile. My father reveled in exploiting people's vulnerabilities, and he meticulously observed me for seventeen years until he unearthed my own weakness. Had I resisted his threats on that first day, perhaps he wouldn't have been so certain that she was my weakness.
At every opportunity, he wielded her like a weapon against me. He shadowed my every move, his grasp tightening around my throat whenever I struggled for breath.
Regardless of her denials, Blake had always held a
