The morning sun slipped softly through the white curtains, across the large bedroom.
Elena slowly opened her eyes, her lashes fluttering as the light touched her face. For a moment, she didn't move.
Her body felt warm, her head resting on the soft pillow beside him. Damian lay next to her, still asleep.
He looked so calm. His usual sharp expression was gone, replaced by something softer.
For the first time, she saw him not as the cruel man everyone feared but as someone human.
Someone she was starting to care about.
Her chest tightened.
She remembered everything — his anger, her aunt, his rough words, his moments of kindness, the way her body yearned only for him.
She bit her lip, her heart whispering the truth she didn't want to admit.
She was falling for Damian Volkov.
And it scared her.
Elena sat up slowly, careful not to wake him.
She took one more look at his face and smiled faintly a secret smile, soft and shy — before slipping quietly out of bed.
