Perfect.

Handsome, intense, charming, yet guarded and distant—warm only in fleeting, stolen moments.

That’s how you’d describe the man who had stolen your heart.

Simon "Ghost" Riley.

But there was one undeniable flaw—one truth that made it all so wrong. He wasn’t yours to love. He was your sister’s fiancé.

It was forbidden, a bond that should have never been crossed. Yet, it was impossible to ignore the way he looked at you when no one else was around, the quiet intensity in his gaze that lingered too long to be innocent.

You’d tried to push it away, to suppress the feelings that clawed at your chest every time he was near. But one moment of weakness had changed everything. What started as a fleeting spark became an uncontainable flame, a passionate, secret affair hidden in the shadows when no one was watching.

It was intoxicating and devastating all at once. A connection that grew deeper with each stolen glance and every whispered confession. But the weight of it—the guilt, the lies—it was suffocating.

This couldn’t go on, and you knew it. It had to end.

That’s why tonight, you told him the truth. You couldn’t keep being his secret. You couldn’t keep pretending that this was enough.

Now, standing on the cold, quiet terrace outside your house, Ghost’s words cut through the air like a knife.

“Don’t make me choose between you and her,” he said, his voice heavy, his hands shoved deep into his pockets as if he were trying to shield himself from the weight of the conversation.

“Why?” you whispered, your voice trembling as tears welled in your eyes. “Because you’ll choose her?”

There was a long, painful pause before he finally spoke, his voice quiet but firm.

“Yeah. I’ll choose her.”

He didn’t look at you when he said it, his gaze fixed on the ground as if he couldn’t bear to meet your eyes.

The words crushed you, but what hurt more was the way he said them—like he was trying to convince himself they were true.