Lurgard.

"No."

She said it once and then again. It was firm and unyielding. As if repeating it would make it stronger, more solid and impossible to break.

And damn... it hurts.

The word struck deeper than I expected, settling heavily in my chest. She was pushing me away, just like I had done to her.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

For a brief second, something twisted painfully inside me, a reflection of my own past actions staring back at me. But I didn’t step back.

I wasn’t willing to take ’no’ for an answer.

"Theresa, I’m not leaving," I said, my voice low but firm as I stepped forward again, closing the distance she had tried to create.

Her breath hitched slightly, but I didn’t stop.

"Ever since we were kids, we were barely apart," I continued, my gaze locking onto hers, searching, trying to find something, anything, familiar within her eyes.

"I’ve grown used to it, Theresa," I added, softer now, but no less intense. "We’ve slept on the same bed before. So this... it’s nothing new."

"I’m not Theresa!" Her voice came out sharper this time, louder, almost desperate.

Those words again.

I exhaled slowly, frustration creeping in despite my effort to remain calm. I was getting tired of hearing it, tired of the denial, tired of the distance she kept placing between us.

"Do you want me to prove it?" I asked suddenly, the edge in my tone becoming more obvious.

Silence.

She didn’t respond.

"Come on... answer me," I pressed, my voice tightening when she still said nothing.

"There is nothing to prove," she replied finally, her tone firm. "Because I’m not."

"There is, princess," I murmured and without thinking, I leaned slightly closer, inhaling her scent and that alone was enough to make my control slip.

Yet, slowly and dangerously my thoughts blurred, shifting into places I knew I shouldn’t go, but couldn’t stop myself from wandering into. The warmth of her body, the defiance in her eyes, it pulled at something deeper within me. Something I had buried for far too long.

I wanted to know.

To feel.

To understand what it would be like... to have her beneath me, stripped of that resistance, that distance she kept throwing at me.

My hand moved almost instinctively, gripping her waist as I pulled her slightly closer. The heat radiating from her body seeped into mine, intensifying everything I was already struggling to control.

"The peach blossom birthmark..." I said quietly, my voice dropping as the words left my lips. "At the top of your waist."

Her body stiffened instantly.

"Is that enough proof?" I asked, my eyes fixed on her face.

And I saw it.

The color drained from her expression, her lips parting slightly as realization dawned on her. The implication of my words settled heavily between us. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"How did you..." she started, her voice shaking but I didn’t let her finish.

"When you turned eighteen," I cut in, my tone quieter now, but no less intense, "you changed your outfit in front of me."

The memory surfaced without warning, clear and vivid. A fleeting temptation. I swallowed hard, my jaw tightening as the images flashed through my mind.

Damn...even now...it felt like torture.

"Why would I change before you?" she asked, her brows furrowing in clear confusion. "What were we?"

The question lingered in the air, simple... yet heavy.

I paused.

For a brief moment, the truth hovered at the edge of my lips.

We were just friends.

That was what I should have said. That was what it had been, at least on the surface. She had been comfortable around me, open, unguarded... because in her eyes, I was nothing more than that.

A friend because it was Leonard she liked.

The thought burned.

We had the same face. The same blood. The same everything.

So why couldn’t she love me too?

Why was it always him?

Something twisted deep inside me, something bitter and unresolved, and before I could stop myself...I said something else.

"We were lovers, Theresa."

The words came out low, controlled, but firm enough to sound convincing.

I pulled away from her immediately after, creating a small distance as I tried to regain control over myself, over the storm building inside me.

"So it was normal," I added.

I turned back to face her again, watching her reaction carefully. And then... a thought slipped into my mind, slow, dangerous and Sly.

If she didn’t remember...If she truly believed she wasn’t Theresa...

Then what was stopping me?

I wanted her, although not like this—confused, distant, pushing me away.

I wanted her to be completely mine. At least... until she remembered everything.

"I want to see it again," I muttered, my voice dropping as heat surged through me. Lu stirred restlessly within me, pushing, urging, trying to take control.

"No!" Her response was immediate, sharp, cutting through my thoughts like a blade.

The force of it made me still.

"Until the divorce is finalized," she continued, her voice firm despite the tension between us, "I’m still married."

Something snapped within me, my fists clenched tightly at my sides, anger flaring up so suddenly it caught even me off guard.

Married?

And mean to him?

Alex!

The word echoed in my mind, each repetition fueling the rage building within me as the realization hit hard and fast—he must have seen her, touched her, been close to her in ways I hadn’t.

My jaw tightened painfully as the images forced their way into my mind, uninvited and unwelcome. A dark possessiveness surged through me, raw and uncontrollable.

How dare he?

The thought burned fiercely, consuming every rational part of me.

How dare he lay his hands on what was never meant to be his?

My breathing grew heavier, uneven, as the anger coiled tighter within my chest, demanding release.

I wanted to rip him apart.

To make him pay.

To erase every trace of him from her life.

"Alex..." I muttered inwardly, my gaze darkening as the name settled like a threat on my tongue. "...Just you wait."