The room was charged with an intensity that neither of them seemed willing to break. The soft sound of their breathing was the only thing that filled the space between them, but the tension was thick, heavy in the air. Ryan's chest tightened, his mind racing as he lay there next to Jane, the silence stretching painfully. His heart pounded, knowing that if there was a chance to fix this—if there was a chance to salvage whatever was left of the trust between them—he had to speak.
He turned his body slightly toward Jane, his eyes tracing the contours of her face in the dim light, her features bathed in the soft glow of the moon. There was an undeniable beauty in her sharpness, in the way her grey eyes could pierce through him, cutting through any pretense. Yet, tonight, those same eyes were clouded with something else—something darker. Jealousy? Fear? Ryan couldn't tell.
But he knew one thing for certain: he couldn't lie to her anymore.
"Jane," he said, his voice soft but firm. "I'm already married to you. I've committed myself to you. I don't know how else to make you understand that. I'm not... I'm not thinking about Mei Lin in that way."
Her body tensed, her back stiffening, but Ryan pressed on. "I know I've made mistakes. I know I've given you reason to doubt me, but you have to trust me. I'm here. With you. I'm not going anywhere."
For a moment, Jane said nothing. Her gaze drifted away from him, staring at the shadows in the corner of the room, as if she were searching for something in the dark. Ryan could feel her hesitation, the way her breath seemed to catch in her throat.
Then, without looking at him, she spoke, her voice cold yet tinged with something deeper. "You really think that matters to me? That you're married to me?" She let out a bitter laugh, her eyes glistening with something like frustration. "You don't know what it means to truly commit, Ryan. You don't understand what it feels like to be... left behind, to have someone you care for slip away."
Ryan's heart clenched at her words, but he couldn't help but feel that this was more than just about Mei Lin. This was about something deeper, something that went back to the heart of their relationship.
"You're right," Ryan admitted quietly, his voice carrying the weight of regret. "I didn't know then. I was young, naïve... I didn't understand life. But I learned, Jane. I learned the hard way." He paused, his eyes searching hers, desperate for her to see the truth in his words. "What happened with Hazel... It changed me. I know I can't take back the past, but I know who I am now. And I'm not going to let anyone else get in between us. Not Mei Lin, not anyone."
Jane's eyes flickered with something—maybe surprise, maybe a flicker of understanding—but it was gone in an instant. She turned her face away, her voice almost a whisper now. "Hazel. You always go back to her, don't you? Do you still think about her?"
Ryan felt a stab in his chest, his breath faltering at the mention of Hazel's name. The memories of that time, of everything he had lost, flooded back—Hazel's sacrifice, her death, the pain he'd carried with him since that moment. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to speak.
"Hazel... she was a part of my life," Ryan said, his voice thick with emotion. "And I'll never forget what she did for me. But that was the past, Jane. You're my future. You're the one I'm with now."
Jane's lips tightened as she turned to face him, her eyes narrowing. "You think it's that easy? To just forget? To pretend like everything's fine? I gave you everything, Ryan. And we never even had our honeymoon. We never celebrated what we should have celebrated. You were too busy grieving, too busy lost in your past. And now? You're trying to tell me that you're here, that you're committed? When you haven't even given me that part of you?"
Ryan's heart sank. He had never realized how deeply Jane felt about this—about them. She wasn't just angry; she was hurt. The depth of her pain was something he hadn't understood, hadn't truly seen until now.
"I didn't know how to celebrate, Jane," he admitted softly. "I was... broken. And I didn't know how to move forward. But I want to, now. With you. I'm sorry I didn't see it before. I didn't see how important it was for us."
Jane's expression softened, but there was still a sharpness in her gaze. She leaned back against the pillows, her hands folding over her stomach as she stared at the ceiling. "You were too busy with the world, Ryan. And I understand that. But I won't wait forever. I won't let you go through life wondering what could have been. You're mine now. And I'm going to make sure that you remember that."
Ryan's chest tightened as he felt the weight of her words settle around him. She was right in so many ways. But the guilt that lingered, the shame he felt for not being there when she needed him, crushed him.
"I'm not going anywhere," Ryan repeated, his voice stronger this time, though the doubt still gnawed at him. "But Jane... I can't let go of what I've lost. I can't erase it. I can't erase her. But I can move forward with you. I can do that."
Jane didn't answer immediately. The silence between them stretched out again, and Ryan could feel the emotional wall between them, thicker than it had ever been before. But then, Jane's voice broke the quiet, soft and almost hesitant.
"I didn't want to push you away, Ryan. I wanted to give you time. I wanted to wait for you to come to me, to choose me. But I'm not sure how much longer I can keep doing that. This... this feeling inside me—it's growing. I can't pretend that everything is fine when I'm not sure if you're really here with me."
Ryan's heart ached as he watched her, the vulnerability in her words cutting deeper than he expected. He had always thought that their bond was unbreakable, that no matter what had happened, they would always find their way back to each other. But now, sitting in the room with Jane, he could see how much of a strain it had put on her, how much pain she had hidden beneath her strong exterior.
"I am here," Ryan said quietly. "I don't know how to prove that to you, but I'm here. For you. No one else. I'm not letting you go, Jane. I'm not leaving you behind."
Her eyes met his, grey and sharp, piercing through him like a blade. "You better not," she whispered. "Because if you do... I won't let you walk away from me."
Ryan's stomach dropped at the intensity in her voice, the finality in her words. He understood now that Jane wasn't just angry; she was desperate. Desperate for him to choose her. Desperate for him to prove that his past didn't define their future.
"I'm not going anywhere," Ryan repeated, more firmly this time. "But there's something else, Jane... I know you've never pushed me about the honeymoon. You've never made me feel like we had to do it, and I... I realize now that was because you wanted me to focus on the revenge. You've been waiting for me to finish what I started, to get closure. And only then will I truly belong to you."
Jane's expression shifted, her eyes glinting with a mixture of pain and something else—something possessive, something that reminded Ryan of the hold she had over him. "That's right," she said softly, almost to herself. "Once you've completed the revenge, you'll be mine, entirely. And until then... we'll wait. But don't make me wait too long, Ryan. You belong to me. Only me. And that's something I will not let go of."
Ryan felt a strange sense of finality in her words, as if she had sealed their fate with that simple statement. His mind raced, the weight of everything he had to face—the past, the present, and the future—crushing down on him. But one thing became clear: Jane was right. There was no turning back now. He had chosen this path, and he had to walk it, no matter how difficult the journey.
The silence between them stretched again, but this time, it was filled with understanding. The battle for their relationship was far from over, but for the first time in a long time, Ryan felt like he had a chance to make it right. To truly be hers, in every way.
And so, he whispered into the dark, his voice barely a breath. "I'll finish this. For you. For us."