bChapter /bb185/bb: /bThe bFirst /bTime He Saw Her

Chapter 185: The First Time He Saw Her

b(/bElena ckwood’s POV)

I felt my blood running cold, the ringing in my ears so intense I thought I was hallucinating. Marcus had just confessed that he had fallen for me long ago.

The words echoed in my mind like a cruel joke. After everything we’d been through, after all the pain and betrayal, he chose now to tell me this?

My body went rigid in his arms. The warmth of his embrace suddenly felt suffocating instead offorting

“Is that so?” I asked, staring at a patch of light on the wall.

My voice came out t and emotionless. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

“You say you fell for me early on, but wasn’t it you who forced me to submit to Sophia, who distrusted me, who pushed me towards despair?”

Silence followed from behind me. The only sound was his shallow breathing against my neck.

I continued calmly, without a trace of emotion. “You were never on my side, even when you wavered, you still favored Sophia in your heart.”

The usation hung in the air between us like a de. Years of suppressed hurt poured out in those simple words.

“I favored her because I thought I had wronged her,” Marcus said quietly.

His voice carried a weight I’d never heard before. Raw and vulnerable in a way that caught me off guard.

“After she returned to the Northern Territory, I no longer felt that old stirring emotion for her. I knew it was your appearance that made me unable to guard my heart.”

He shifted slightly, his arms tightening around me as if afraid I might disappear.

“I didn’t really want to neglect you those years; I just resented myself for betraying my feelings for herb, /bsol had to treat you coldly.”

I was momentarily dazed, unable to respond for a long time. This exnation turned everything bI /bthought I knew upside down.

He had been fighting his own feelings for me while trying to honor what he believed he owed Sophia. The cruelty I’d interpreted as indifference had been his way of punishing himself.

“I admit, I was indeed disloyal, but in the lost memory of that kb********/bg, Sophia just happened to appear when I needed her most.”

His voice grew softer, more reflective. Like he was finally allowing himself to examine those buried memories.

“Before high school, I was always in private schools abroad. Because of my identity as the ckwood bheir/b, ssmates and teachers approached me with ulterior motives, so I didn’t like socializing.”

I could picture the lonely boy he must have been. Isted by his status, unable to btrust /banyone’s motives.

Chapter 185: The First Time He Saw Hei

“Later, my mother brought me back to the Northern Territory to make me more sociableb, /bhiding bmy /bfamily background and letting me attend public school.”

“Just because I wasn’t good at speaking and was withdrawn, I was isted by my ssmates, and only Sophia was kind to me.”

The pieces of his past were falling into ce. Sophia had been his lifeline during a vulnerable time, which exined his misced loyalty to her.

I lowered my eyshes, pursing my lips in silence. After I was rescued from the k********g, I never saw Marcus again, so I didn’t know what happened to himter.

I only recognized him again when I was a freshman in college. By then, he was already the confident Alpha heir, and I was just another healer in his world.

“Elena.” Marcus hugged me tighter.

His voice broke slightly on my name, and I felt something wet against my shoulder. Was he crying?

“Only now do I realize that the heart stirring feeling I had the first time I saw you wasn’t just because of your appearance, but because I already knew you, but my memory had forgotten you.”

The confession hit me like a physical blow. All those years, some part of him had recognized me even when his conscious mind couldn’t.

“But seeing you again, I’m still attracted to you.”

Heughed softly, the sound bitter and self–deprecating.

Then suddenly asked, “Do you think this is fate?”

I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I couldn’t handle this conversation anymore. The revtions were too much, too overwhelming.

Marcus didn’t get my answer, and knew she was pretending, and he was indeed disappointed, but how could he me her?

The next morning, I woke up with a start. I had actually fallen asleepst night while pretending!

Sunlight streamed through the medical facility windows, casting everything in a harsh, clinical light.

I turned to look at the man beside me and suddenly sat up. How was he still here?

Marcus hadn’t woken up; on the contrary, he was sleeping soundly, bso /bsoundly that even his breathing was

shallow.

Too shallow. Panic shot through me as I realized something was wrong.

“Marcus?” I pushed him.

He didn’t respond. His skin looked pale, almost gray in the morning light.

My heart skipped a beat, and I reached out to check his breath. Fortunately… he was still alive.

But barely. His breathing was so faint I had to lean close to feel it.

Marcus’s brow furrowed, then he slowly opened his eyes. My action of pulling my hand back happened to fall into his eyes.

Chapter 185: The First Time He Saw Her

b“/bLooking bat /bbme /blike bthat/b, did you bthink /bI was deadb?/bb” /bhe asked bweakly/b.

I bturned /bmy head away, embarrassed at being bcaught /bin my bconcern/bb. /bb“/bbWouldn’t /bbit /bbbe /bcreepy bto /bbwake /bbup /bwith a

bdead /bperson next to you?b” /b

bMarcus /bsat up slowly, wincing with the effort. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, what’s there to be afraid

bof?/bb” /b

I bdidn’t /bspeak. The truth was, I had been terrified. The thought of losing him, even after everything, had filled me with unexpected dread.

A rustling sound came from outside. Voices and footsteps approached the door with obvious intent.

Marcus opened the door, and several figures stumbled in. Leading the way was L.

Amber Stone and two nurses looked awkward behind her. The former forced a smile and saidb, /b‘Alpha, Luna,

you’re awake…”

The intrusion felt like a vition of the fragile moment we’d shared. I pulled the nket higherb, /bsuddenly aware of how intimate this looked.

Marcus nced at L. “She’s one thing, but why are you so clueless?”

These words were directed at Amber Stone, who looked like she wanted to disappear into the floor. ording to Amber Stone’s expression, she was inwardly protesting, it was clearly Miss L who led bthe /b

way!!

“Cousin Marcus, you can’t me us for this; it’s because you…” L nced at Elena, a smile hidden bin /bher eyes, “…didn’t stay in your own room.”

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