Chapter 4 Opening up

The café was quiet-too quiet, almost-except for the soft murmur of patrons, the gentle clinking of coffee cups, and the low hum of background music that seemed to fade into the corners of her mind. The smell of fresh espresso and baked pastries filled the air, but Aria barely noticed it. Her mind was occupied with the man sitting across from her, his presence somehow familiar yet distant, as though they had never been apart for three years, but simultaneously, as though she were meeting a stranger.

Damien had taken the seat across from her, his dark eyes fixed on the cup of coffee in front of him, his hands wrapped around the mug like a lifeline. Aria noticed the subtle tremor in his fingers, the way he seemed to hesitate before every word, as if choosing his next sentence carefully. It wasn't the confident, commanding man she had once known-this version of him was more fragile, more uncertain.

She looked at him closely, her eyes tracing the lines that now marred his face. The sharp jawline she had once adored now seemed harder, his face thinner, more worn. There were shadows under his eyes, evidence of sleepless nights, perhaps of regret. He wasn't the polished, flawless billionaire she remembered; this was a man who had weathered storms, a man who had lost something-or someone-and was searching for a way to reclaim it.

The silence between them stretched for a long, unbearable moment. Aria shifted in her seat, her fingers curling around the edge of her coffee cup, unsure of how to start. She wasn't angry-not anymore. She had let go of the bitterness long ago, when she realized that no amount of rage would change the past. But she was still hurt. The wounds were still there, beneath the surface, ready to be reopened by just a few words. And she wasn't sure if she was ready to let them bleed again.

Damien finally broke the silence, his voice low and rough, carrying a weight that sent a shiver down her spine. "I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, Aria. I've spent years regretting everything I did-the way I left you, the way I hurt you. But... I need you to know that I never stopped loving you."

The words were like a punch to the gut. She hadn't expected him to say them so plainly, so honestly. It wasn't some half-hearted apology. It wasn't just a "I'm sorry" that could be brushed aside. This was Damien, in all his raw vulnerability, confessing something she had never thought she would hear from him.

Her breath caught in her throat. The weight of his words settled on her chest, and for a moment, she couldn't speak. She couldn't trust herself to say anything at all. Everything she had buried inside for years, every ounce of resentment, every pang of longing she had tried to forget, was bubbling to the surface.

Damien leaned forward slightly, his gaze never leaving hers. "I know I hurt you, and I know I don't have the right to ask for anything... but I need to make things right. I need to fix what I broke."

Aria swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around her cup as if she could hold herself together that way. Her voice was soft, almost hesitant. "You think you can fix this? You think you can just waltz back into my life and make everything better?"

He flinched at the question, his expression faltering, but he didn't look away. "No, I don't expect it to be easy. But I want to try. I've spent the last three years thinking about nothing but what I could've done differently, how I could've kept you in my life, and I can't move forward until I know I at least tried to make amends."

Aria closed her eyes briefly, a sigh escaping her lips. This wasn't how she had imagined this moment. When she'd first walked in here, she thought she would be stronger, that she would be able to hold herself back, to keep him at arm's length. But sitting here, across from him, feeling the weight of his words, the sincerity in his eyes, she wasn't sure anymore.

"You left me, Damien," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "You didn't even give me a chance to fight for us. You didn't even look back. Do you know what that did to me? To us?"

"I know," he whispered, his voice breaking slightly. "And I regret it every single day. I was a coward, Aria. I didn't think about you-about us. I was so caught up in my own world that I couldn't see how much I was hurting you. I couldn't see how much you needed me. I was selfish."

Aria's eyes stung with the sting of tears that she quickly blinked away. She wasn't about to let him see how much his apology hurt her-how much it broke her to hear him speak those words. She had built herself up so carefully, so meticulously over the past three years. She had learned to live without him, to thrive without him. She had learned that she didn't need him. And yet here he was, asking for something she didn't know if she could give.

"I don't know what you expect from me, Damien," she said, her voice steady despite the storm of emotions threatening to break free. "I'm not the same woman I was when you left. I'm not the girl who would drop everything for you, who would forgive you the moment you said you were sorry."

"I don't expect you to be," he said quickly. "I'm not asking for forgiveness right away. I'm just asking for a chance to show you that I'm not that man anymore. That I've changed."

A heavy silence fell between them, thick with the unspoken things they both wanted to say but couldn't quite find the words for. Aria stared at the table between them, her mind racing. She didn't want to let him back in. She didn't want to risk opening herself up to the same pain she had felt before. But as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew deep down that she wasn't entirely sure she could turn him away.

"I'm not sure what you want from me," Aria said finally, lifting her eyes to meet his once more. "I'm not the woman I was when you left. I've moved on, Damien. I've built a life for myself."

"I know you have," he replied, his voice quiet but firm. "And I admire that. I do. But... if you can find it in your heart to give me a chance to prove that I can be the man you deserve, I'll spend the rest of my life making up for what I did."

Her chest tightened at his words. It was a lot to process. Too much, maybe. And yet, there was something in his gaze, something raw and pleading, that made her question everything she thought she knew.

"Damien..." Aria started, but she stopped herself, unsure of what to say. There were so many things she wanted to say. So many things she needed to say. But she didn't know where to start. She didn't know if she was ready to open that door again.

"I don't expect you to have all the answers, Aria," he said softly. "I just want a chance to try."

For a long moment, they sat in silence, the weight of his words hanging in the air like a fragile promise neither of them was sure they could keep. And though Aria knew she wasn't ready to forgive him-not yet, maybe not ever-she also knew that something between them was shifting, changing. The past was never truly gone, and maybe, just maybe, it never would be.