Lara froze. The question landed abruptly—like a stone dropped into still water.
Bla the driver? She hadn’t even thought about it.
The truth was... she couldn’t. There was nothing there. No mory. No anger. No grief she could personally recall.
Just facts she had been told.
"The report says it was an accident," she said slowly. "So I don’t bla the driver."
Her voice remained steady.
"Besides... I lost my mory. I can’t rember anything from that ti."
She glanced at him briefly.
"Even the people involved in the incident."
For a mont, the hallway seed unusually quiet.
Asher lowered his gaze.
Then he inhaled deeply. When he spoke again, his voice was heavier.
"I wish you could rember."
Lara’s brows knit slightly.
"Why?"
Asher looked down at her. His eyes darkened with emotion so deep, Lara could not pull away.
There was no avoiding it now.
"I am the driver," he said quietly.
His voice was low, but the words seed to echo along the silent hallway.
"The driver of the truck..."
His jaw tightened, the muscles along his face hardening as if each word cost him sothing.
"...that took the lives of your parents."
The confession settled between them like a weight that neither of them could move.
Heavy. Oppressive. Almost suffocating.
Lara stared at him in silence.
The hallway lights cast long shadows across the marble floor, and for a mont neither of them spoke.
Asher held her gaze, bracing himself.
Waiting. For anger. For shock. For hatred.
Anything.
But the woman standing before him remained unreadable.
And for the first ti since Asher Zuvel had finally spoken the truth he had carried for a year—
he couldn’t tell if the woman before him was a victim...
or the beginning of his penance.
After a long mont, Lara spoke.
"I could see the guilt you carry," she said slowly.
Her voice was calm, almost thoughtful.
"But I have no mory of my parents... or the pain of losing them."
Her eyes did not leave his.
"Maybe when I regain my mory, I’ll know how to answer your question."
Asher’s chest tightened. The answer he feared...
and the answer he hoped for...
were both still sowhere in a past she could not rember.
Lara paused, then took a small step back.
"For now," she continued evenly, "let’s leave it at that."
Her hand reached for the doorknob behind her.
"An accident." Her gaze softened slightly, though her composure never broke. "and you didn’t intend for it to happen."
She slowly turned the handle.
"Good night, Mr. Zuvel."
The door began to open.
"Larissa Reyes."
His voice stopped her.
Lara paused. Then she turned back slowly.
She didn’t ask what he wanted. She simply lifted one eyebrow, silently waiting.
Asher t her gaze with unusual seriousness.
"If there’s anything I can do," he said, his voice firm now, "to make up for what you lost..."
He inhaled quietly.
"...just tell ."
For a mont, the air between them seed to tighten again.
Then—
A door across the hallway swung open.
"Bro, don’t scare my sister like that."
Logan leaned casually against the doorway, arms folded across his chest, though the amusent in his eyes carried a hint of warning.
"It’s just one step short of saying you want to marry her to atone for your sins."
The joke landed like a stone tossed into still water.
Before anyone could respond—
Another door opened.
The master bedroom.
Ares stood at the doorway.
Tall. Silent. Domineering.
His expression was carved from pure stone.
His dark gaze moved once—from Logan... to Lara... and finally to Asher.
Then his voice cut through the hallway like steel.
"Don’t even think about it."
The hallway fell into a thick, uncomfortable silence.
No one moved.
Logan’s teasing smile slowly faded as he noticed the way Ares and Asher were staring at each other.
The air between the two brothers felt... dangerous.
Ares stepped fully out of the master bedroom.
The light behind him cast a long shadow across the polished marble floor, stretching toward where Asher stood. His expression remained cold, controlled—but the tension in his shoulders told another story.
"Asher," Ares said calmly. Too calmly.
"Walk with ."
It wasn’t a request.
Asher held his brother’s gaze for a mont, then nodded once.
"Alright."
Logan straightened slightly. His instincts imdiately told him this conversation was not ant to have witnesses.
He glanced at Lara.
"Well," he muttered lightly, though the humor didn’t quite reach his eyes. "That’s my cue to disappear before soone throws a punch."
Lara didn’t answer.
She was watching the two brothers.
Sothing about the quiet intensity between them made the back of her neck prickle.
Ares turned and began walking down the hallway without waiting.
Asher followed.
Their footsteps echoed softly until they disappeared around the corner, leading toward the open balcony overlooking the gardens.
The night air outside was cool.
Ares stopped near the railing. He didn’t turn around imdiately. Instead, he spoke while looking out into the darkness.
"What exactly were you trying to do back there?"
Asher leaned lightly against the balcony pillar.
"I was talking"
Ares finally turned.
His gaze was sharp enough to cut.
"You confessed to her."
It wasn’t a question.
Asher didn’t deny it.
"I told her the truth."
A muscle in Ares’ jaw twitched.
"You had no right."
"She deserved to know."
Ares took a slow step closer.
"That’s not the point." Ares’ voice sharpened.
"The point is you don’t get to reopen wounds she doesn’t even rember yet."
For a mont, neither of them spoke.
The night wind stirred the leaves in the garden below.
Then Asher said quietly,
"I wasn’t doing it for her."
Ares’ gaze darkened.
"I was doing it for because I’m tired of carrying this burden."
The words landed hard.
Ares’ expression went completely still. He didn’t know how deep the psychological trauma Asher had experienced.
It had been one year already.
"You think this is about protecting ?" Asher continued. "Then, why bring her to the Zuvel Mansion? You even let Shay call her mother."
Ares’ voice dropped dangerously low.
"Watch your tone."
But Asher didn’t stop.
"I killed her parents, Ares."
The words ca out harsh and raw.
"You don’t get to carry that weight for ."
For the first ti, Ares’ composure cracked slightly.
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