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CHAPTER 153
~Valerie's POV~
The second the door clicked shut behind Kai, I was swallowed by silence.
It wasn't peaceful or comfortable. It had a haunting quiet filled with the echo of his voice.
I love you.
I hadn't moved. Not really. My fingers still tingled where he held them, and my lips still throbbed faintly from the weight of his kiss. And I… I couldn't stop replaying it.
Not just the kiss.
But everything he said before it.
He looked at me like I was all that existed in that moment. Like the pain I was hiding didn't make me broken, but sacred, like I was a war worth waging.
My throat was dry, my chest too full. I couldn't name what I was feeling—it wasn't just guilt or fear. It was… confusion, longing, anger at my past and dread.
And something deeper. Something that had no name because I wasn't ready to give it one.
It was filled with the rhythm of my heartbeat and the storm of thoughts swirling in my head.
He felt too real.