Chapter 206
Eliana’s heart twisted at Henry’s words, each syllable tugging at the delicate threads of their shared past. She pushed herself a little higher against the pillows, their thin fabric rustling softly as she adjusted. Her hospital gown slipped off one shoulder, exposing a sliver of warm skin to the cool air. The monitors beside her murmured in steady, mechanical beeps—a quiet reminder of how fragile she still was.
She reached out and took both of Henry’s hands in hers. Her touch was gentle, but there was a firmness in the way her fingers curled around his, as if grounding them both. When she looked up, her eyes—deep, expressive, impossible to guard against—locked onto his. For a heartbeat, the whole room seemed to grow still. Even the distant chatter of nurses and the rolling of carts down the hallway faded into silence.
“Henry Her voice wavered, thick with emotion. “I love you p>
The words hit him like a lightning strike.
Henry felt his heart lurch—no, explode—inside his chest. His breath faltered, caught somewhere between disbelief and the wild hope surging through him. His hands tightened around hers instinctively, as though letting go would break the moment and send it scattering like glass.
Her lavender scent drifted between them, soft and familiar, stirring memories he’d buried so deep he thought he’d thought they’d never see the light of day. Her curls, slightly messy from the pillow, framed her heart-shaped face in a way that made her look achingly human, achingly his—or so he dared to dream.
Could this be it? After all these years of silent longing, of watching her with Jason and then in Rafael’s orbit, was she finally seeing him the way he saw her?
But Eliana’s next words shattered that fragile hope like glass under a hammer’s blow. Her eyes filled with unshed tears, mirroring the pain she knew she was inflicting. “I love you, Henry… but I’m just not in love with you.” The words hung heavy, each one a dagger twisting in his chest. She squeezed his hands, willing him to understand, her voice dropping to a whisper laced with regret. “You’re so important to me. God, you’re my rock, my best friend—the one person who’s never let me down. I’ve tried, Henry. So many times, I’ve tried to fall in love with you the way you want me to, the way you deserve. I’d lie awake at night, picturing us together, imagining a life where I could give you my whole heart. But no matter how hard I push, I just… I can’t see you past that. You’re my brother in everything but blood. My confidant, my protector. But not… not my lover p>
Henry’s face crumpled, the hope draining away like water through cracked earth. He pulled back slightly, but she held on, her words tumbling out now, a torrent of honesty she couldn’t hold back any longer. “I can’t keep riding on your generosity, Henry. It’s not fair to you. I know what you want from me—a future, a family, real love. And I can’t give that. My heart… it’s tangled up elsewhere, in ways I don’t even fully understand yet. And staying in your life like this? It’s making you miss out on amazing chances with women who would love you back, wholeheartedly, without reservation. Women who see your kindness, your ambition, your warm eyes, and fall head over heels. You deserve that, Henry. Not this half-life with me p>
She paused, her breath hitching as a tear escaped down her cheek, tracing a glistening path over her warm skin. The room felt charged, the air thick with unspoken dreams and shattered illusions. “At first, I thought maybe being with you would be okay—that I could learn to love you that way. But I realized how selfish I’ve been. Especially now, with Mirabel threatening your life. All because of me. Because she thinks you’re my boyfriend, that hurting you will break me. I’m a woman who can’t love you back the way you need, and yet here I am, dragging you into danger. You deserve a hundred times better than this, Henry. A woman who lights up when you walk into the room, who dreams of building a life with you. Not someone who’s using your protection as a crutch p>
Eliana’s voice grew firmer, her eyes pleading for him to see the logic through the pain. “Once I marry Rafael, Mirabel will realize you’re not my boyfriend. You’re just my friend—my best friend. She’ll stop targeting you. You’ll be safe. We all will. It’s the only way to end this nightmare without more blood on our hands p>
Henry’s world tilted on its axis. Anger surged through him, hot and unbidden, mingling with the grief that clawed at his throat. Tears welled in his eyes, blurring her face into a watery haze. He tried to blink them away, to be the strong man he’d always strived to be—the aspiring doctor who fixed things, who didn’t break. But the dam cracked, and the first tear slipped free, trailing down his cheek like a betrayal. “Stop,” he choked out, his voice raw and ragged, laced with a fury born of heartbreak. “Just… stop talking, Eliana.” He yanked his hands from hers, the sudden absence of her touch like a physical wound. His chest heaved, sobs threatening to erupt as he backed away from the bed, his tall frame stumbling slightly against the IV stand, rattling it with a metallic clang.
He couldn’t stay. The room closed in, the walls pressing like accusations. Without another word, he turned and bolted for the door, his footsteps pounding against the floor in a frantic rhythm. He wrenched it open, nearly colliding with Rafael, who sat in his wheelchair just outside, James standing sentinel behind him. Rafael’s steel eyes flicked up in surprise, his chiseled jaw tightening. “Henry—” Rafael started, his voice a low, calculating rumble, but Henry didn’t care. He shoved past, his shoulder brushing the wheelchair with enough force to make it rock slightly. Tears streamed freely down his face now, hot and unchecked, as he ran down the hallway, the fluorescent lights streaking in his vision like comets. Nurses turned to stare, patients in open doors gawked, but he kept running, his heart a shattered mess, fleeing the woman he loved and the future she’d just ripped away.
Eliana watched him go, her own tears flowing unchecked, the door swinging shut with a soft click that echoed like finality. The room fell silent save for the beeping monitors, a hollow soundtrack to her breaking heart. Outside, Rafael exchanged a glance with James, his sarcastic facade cracking just a fraction. “Well,” he murmured dryly, though his voice held an undercurrent of something deeper—perhaps sympathy, perhaps triumph. “That went about as well as expected p>
But inside, Eliana curled into herself, whispering to the empty air, “I’m sorry, Henry. So sorry.” The weight of her choice settled over her like chains, binding her to a path of protection laced with pain. The bride in chains, indeed.