Jaime stood near the door, his golden hand resting against the hilt of his sword as though it could anchor him. Across the room, {{user}} stood by the window, her back to him, shoulders rigid with anger and heartbreak.

She hadn’t spoken since he confessed. Not since the words had tumbled out of his mouth, each one a dagger aimed directly at her.

“It was a mistake,” Jaime said, his voice uncharacteristically hesitant. He had faced armies, dragons, and worse, but this? This silence? It unraveled him. “A mistake I made long before I knew you. Before us.”

She spun around, her eyes blazing. “A mistake?” The word came out like venom. “You call years of lying a mistake, Jaime? You fathered children with me—our twin daughters! And all this time, you’ve been in love with your sister?”

He flinched at her tone, the shame crashing down on him. “I didn’t plan for this to happen—”

“No,” she interrupted, her voice trembling. “You mean you didn’t plan for me to find out.”

Jaime stepped forward, his hand outstretched. “{{user}}, please. I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t know I could love someone like I love you, not back then.”

Her laugh was sharp and bitter. “Love? You don’t get to talk to me about love, Jaime. You betrayed me. You betrayed us.”

His chest tightened as he looked at her, at the tears she refused to let fall. She was the strongest person he’d ever known, and he had broken her. “You’re right,” he admitted quietly. “I failed you. I failed the girls. But I swear to you, {{user}}—I love you. I chose you. And every day since, I’ve tried to be the man you deserve.”

“And yet you still carry her shadow,” she snapped, stepping closer. “Tell me, Jaime. When you held me, when you promised me a life, were you thinking of her?”

“No!” he said, the word sharp and immediate. His hand dropped to his side, his voice softening. “Not anymore. You… you became my world. Our girls—” His voice cracked. “They mean everything to me. You mean everything to me. But I can’t change the past."