I didn't wait.
Not this time.
The house was quiet again, but it didn't feel the same anymore. It no longer felt like something pressing down on me.
It felt like something I wanted to break.
His sister's words hadn't left my head.
Don't wait to be allowed to exist.
I exhaled slowly, my fingers tightening at my sides.
For once… I didn't want to think about consequences.
I just wanted to do something that was mine.
The silence stretched as I stood there, staring at nothing in particular, my thoughts moving faster than I could keep up with.
Then before I could talk myself out of it—
I moved.
My steps were slow at first, almost hesitant, like my body wasn't fully convinced yet. The sound of my own footsteps echoed faintly through the house, too loud in the stillness.
I paused halfway.
Listening.
Nothing.
No movement. No voices.
No Sebastian.
A part of me expected him to appear out of nowhere. To stop me. To remind me, in that calm, controlled way of his, that I didn't get to decide anything here.
But he didn't.
And somehow, that made it worse.
I kept walking.
The closer I got to the door, the heavier my chest felt. Not from fear—no, not entirely.
Something else.
Something sharp.
Something reckless.
I stopped in front of it.
My hand hovered over the handle.
This was a line.
And I knew it.
If I opened that door, I wasn't just stepping outside.
I was disobeying him.
A slow breath filled my lungs.
Then I turned the handle.
The door opened quietly.
Too easily.
The air outside hit my face instantly—cool, fresh, real.
I stepped out.
And for a moment… I just stood there.
Breathing.
It felt different.
Lighter.
Like something invisible had loosened around my chest.
No walls.
No silence that didn't belong to me.
No him.
A small, almost disbelieving smile tugged at my lips.
So this was it.
Freedom.
I took a few steps forward, then a few more, my movements becoming more certain the farther I got from the house.
Nothing stopped me.
No one called after me.
No one followed.
It almost felt… easy.
Too easy.
Sebastian's pov
She was asleep when I left that morning, her small frame tucked beneath the duvet, still and undisturbed. For once, there were no sharp eyes fixed on me, no resistance, no silent defiance. Just quiet.
I watched her shift slightly, turning to the side as the duvet slipped lower. My gaze followed without thought.
She was pretty. That much was obvious. Not my type, but there was something about her eyes—those wide, brown eyes that never quite revealed everything they held.
I had seen them before. From a distance. Through glass. On nights I had no business being there.
I told myself it meant nothing. Just observation. Nothing more.
Her hair had fallen across her face, a few strands brushing against her lips. I exhaled quietly, almost a scoff. She would hate being seen like this.
"...mum," she murmured under her breath.
My body stilled.
So that still lingered.
Of course it did. Everyone knew the story—her mother, the blood, the silence that followed, and the man who walked away from it. Her father.
I had called her weak for it once. I still did. Because if it were me, if I had to stand in the same room as the man who killed my parents, there wouldn't be silence. There wouldn't be restraint. There would be blood, and it wouldn't be mine.
But Ariana stayed. She endured. She lived in the same space as him and called it survival.
I didn't understand it. I didn't respect it. But it made her predictable, and predictable things were easy to control.
I had somewhere else to be that morning, something more important to attend to, so I left her alone.
On purpose.
Because I already knew what would happen. It was never a question of if, only when.
I had given her the opportunity.
And I intended to see exactly what she would do with it.
I was quite sure she didn't know where she was headed.
The mini tracker showed she had left the penthouse and was heading up toward the cliffs above Monaco.
Ariana could be in danger because of her carelessness. Ten minutes later I was speeding towards the mountain roads.
I checked the tracker once again and it showed that she was walking towards the cliff. "What the fuck is wrong with her!" I cursed out loud.
My foot hit the brake again, moving past the speed limit. I didn't give a damn. I needed to save her.
In less than ten minutes, my car came to a stop exactly where she stood. She was standing a few meters away from the edge of the cliff, just enough not to get kicked down by the wild wind, but not enough to withstand a tiny push from someone else.
So I made sure to keep my distance.
She was in a white sundress that highlighted her tanned skin and made her look just like the princess she was. Her brown hair was flowing, the wind a perfect actor.
She hadn't noticed me yet, so I watched her in silence.
"Are you now suicidal or have you gotten deranged?" I finally voiced out after running out of patience.
She jumped, startled by my voice. I muttered a prayer of thanks under my breath that she didn't jump to her death. She gaped as she stared at me.
"Seb—sebas—tian," she was scared. I had taken away the little courage she had mustered.
"First, answer my question."
"Have you gone mad?" "If you wanted to run, why come to a place as dangerous as this?" I said.
"Come over here now."
"No," she replied, taking a step back.
"Don't take another step back," I ordered, genuinely scared for her.
"No, I'm not in the penthouse. You can't tell me what to do here," she said, taking another step back.
"Ariana, now is not the time, for Christ's sake!" I shouted. I needed to. She was gradually taking steps to her death.
"Please stop... just stop," she cried out.
"I hate you. I fucking hate you with everything in me," she continued. I could see the tears beginning to crowd her eyes from where I stood.
Her words were laced with hatred, and I knew she meant it. I couldn't let it affect me... even though it did.
I needed to save her. She wasn't mentally stable at the moment to assess the deadly situation she was in.
Just another step backward would lead her to her fall to death.
"Ariana, can you just take hold of yourself and listen to me," I tried to say calmly as I walked towards her, step by step.
"No... no... don't come close," her voice sounded cracked.
Yet, I still walked closer. It was either that or let her fall.
"We can talk about all of this later, Ariana," I said again, trying my best to act calm even if that was the opposite of how I felt. "You can hit me all that you want after now, tell me you hate me a hundred times, but please... do not take another step back," I continued. I took another step. I was close enough to her now.
"No, you don't get it, Sebastian, do you?," she cried out.
"I was finally free! Free from you... free from my dad," she paused, using her hands to wipe her tear-stained cheek.
"I was finally going to meet..." Suddenly, there was a loud sound coming from God-knows-where, causing Ariana to lose balance, stumbling backwards.
Falling.
In a swift moment, my hand dived at her, too late, a little.
I was able to catch her hands.
"Thank fucking God," I cursed out loud.
Her hands held onto mine tightly, the same way her eyes held mine.
She was scared. She never wanted to die.
She just wanted to live.
"Seb...astian... please don't let me go."
In that moment, the eyes that once looked at me scornfully, and the same name she had pronounced with hatred, was what she called out and looked up to me for saving.
Exactly what I wanted.