ya'
ything you want," Michael's voice felt sharp
my throat dry. "Y
st without the legal obligation. You will stay here with me, away fr
h to protest, bu
ouldn't have to worry about money, about your future. You'd have
but at what cost? I couldn't believe this was what I was getting for running away from home. At first, I had thought that Matt wou
sight, offering me the world without him in it. All I wante
hoked out the words, my voice tr
u meant by your feelings. Not like I should explain myself to you why I can't
take care of me, to be there for me. And I think you could be that p
y heart pounding in my che
But understand, Amaya, if you re
te, his silence h
ke sense of everything that had happened. Michael's offer was a double-edged sword, a gilded cage that promis
leftovers, instead of the full package. Why couldn't he just love me for who I was, fo
word. And we had just met for the very first time. Wh
rors of the auction, paid a fortune for my freedom. He'd even tried to comfor
ed at me. And I loved him too. It was a love that had sprung up in the most unexpected circumsta
dn't want to be his mistress. I wanted to be
I asking
but I wasn't sure I could do it. It was a choice between my fr
ate of food, a small gesture of care that
Amaya?" he asked, his
stead, I looked at him, his fac
say no?" I asked,
he doorframe. "I'll have to
don't want to go back there. I know I said I
heavy. "Then what
ight of his question crushed me,
y for the rest of my life. I might have found it in him. But what I d
tainty. Would he come back for me? Would he force me t
p blue sea. That's wh
anted me. Ever since my mom died five years ago, it had always been me left alone in that big house. His absence, his indi
o overwhelming, so consuming. It scared me, but it also made me want to
I knew and the deep blue sea tha
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