Chapter 231.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

"Kylie..." Christain voice followed the knock. "Blue, it’s Christain."

Emilia lifted her head. She glanced towards the entrance, then looked at Kylie. "Can I open it?"

Kylie drew in a quiet breath. Her fingers tightened around the edge of the blanket in her lap.

"He’ll have to be quick."

Emilia nodded. "All right."

She got up and opened the door.

Christian stood on the other side.

His eyes moved past Emilia, searching for Kylie, and whatever he saw on her face made his expression change.

"She’s had a difficult morning," Emilia said quietly. "Please don’t push her."

"I won’t."

Emilia studied him for another second before stepping aside.

Christian walked in slowly.

Kylie sat on the couch. The sight of her made something tighten in his chest, but he kept his distance.

"Hi, Blue."

She looked at him, but said nothing.

The silence that followed was heavy.

Emilia glanced between them. She wanted to stay. Every instinct told her to remain close enough to intervene if Kylie needed her.

Yet Kylie deserved the chance to decide what happened next.

"I’ll be just outside," she said gently, looking at Kylie first. "You only have to call me."

Kylie gave a small nod.

Emilia turned towards Christian. "A minute. Don’t make her regret giving you one."

"I won’t," he repeated.

She left them alone, closing the door softly behind her.

Christian remained where he was.

The television was on. Some woman on the screen was talking about the sudden collapse of the Sinclair engagement, gesturing animatedly beside a photograph of Christian at the podium.

Kylie had muted the volume.

The curtains were open, allowing the afternoon light to spill across the floor. A cup sat on the coffee table, untouched. Her phone lay beside it, the screen dark, and shattered.

Kylie slowly stood. "Christian..."

"Kylie."

She stared at him.

He didn’t move toward her. He didn’t smile and pretend that everything was fine. He didn’t make a joke about the television or ask why she hadn’t answered his message.

He simply stood there even if that hurt almost as much as if he had walked straight toward her and pulled her into his arms.

Her voice came out hard. "You gave up everything."

"I didn’t give up everything."

"Oh, really?"

He didn’t answer.

"You gave up your name, and your title."

"I don’t need it."

"Your family." Her voice rose. "You stood in front of the whole world," she whispered, "and said you were no longer a Sinclair."

"I did."

"Why?"

Christian looked at her. "I love you. You know I do."

The words came without hesitation.

Kylie blinked at him.

She crossed the space between them before she could think better of it, and then she slapped him hard across the face with the back of her palm.

The sound cracked through the room.

Christian’s head turned with the impact.

Silence followed.

His cheek burned.

For several seconds, he remained still, his face turned away from her. When he finally looked back, there was no anger in his expression.

Only hurt, and understanding.

Kylie stood in front of him, breathing heavily, tears already spilling down her cheeks.

"Why did you do that?"

Christian didn’t answer immediately. "Kylie—"

"Why?" Her voice broke. "Why would you do that?"

"I love you."

She shook her head violently. "Shut up!" She snapped. "You don’t. You are just a privillaged spoilt man."

He flinched.

She pressed her hands against her chest, as though she were trying to hold herself together.

"You can’t just walk into my life, tell me you love me, and expect me to understand why you decided to throw your entire future away without speaking to me!"

"I don’t expect that."

"Then what do you expect?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing from you."

She laughed bitterly. "That’s a lie."

His brows drew together. "Kylie—"

"You came here!"

Her voice cracked so sharply that she had to stop and swallow.

"You came here because you wanted to see me. You wanted me to look at you and understand why you did it. You wanted me to hear your explanation."

"I wanted to apologise."

"Then apologise!"

The words tore out of her.

"Don’t stand there and tell me how much you love me as if that means I have to be okay with what you did!"

Christian went silent.

Kylie wiped her cheeks angrily. "I never asked you to give up your family. I never asked you to renounce your name. I never asked you to choose me over everything you have ever known." She counted. "This was the same way you refused to go back to Isabel after I asked you to several times. Now, what would everyone say? That I bewitched you?"

"You did no such thing." He took a step closer. "I love you, Kylie."

Her eyes filled again. "Well, I don’t love you."

The words landed between them.

Christian went completely still.

Kylie swallowed. "I don’t." She could barely hear herself over the pounding of her heart. "I’m sorry, Christian."

He looked at her for a long moment, then he nodded once. "Okay."

Kylie went on. "I never told you I loved you, or even defined this."

"I know."

"You dropped your family name for what never existed between us."

Christian’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t interrupt.

"You don’t know that I would have chosen you. You don’t know that I was ready for a relationship. You don’t know if I even wanted to think about marriage, or a future, or any of the things you stood there talking about."

He lowered his eyes. "You’re right."

She shook her head. "Stop agreeing with me!" She snapped, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

His gaze lifted. "I don’t know what you want me to say."

"I want you to understand!"

"I am trying to."

"No, you’re not!"

She pressed her palms against her face.

"You made your decision, you went on television, you announced it to the entire country, and now you’re standing in my apartment telling me why you did it."

Her hands dropped. "Where was I in any of those decisions, Christian?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it.

Kylie shook her head. "You chose me, and you had no right."

The words were quieter this time.

Christian’s face changed.

He had heard the anger in ber voice, and also the fear. The feeling of having been made into a decision again.

He looked at her and understood, perhaps for the first time, that his declaration of love could have felt like another door closing around her.

He had stood in front of thousands of people and announced that she was the woman he wanted.

He had intended to give her a place in his life.

Instead, he had placed her at the centre of a decision she had never been asked to make.

"I chose my life, Kylie." he said quietly. "My life."

"Are you insane?"

"Probably."

She stared at him.

He gave her a small, exhausted smile. "But I’ve been insane about you for a while."

"God, I wish you were just an asshole."

She shook her head.

"If you were just a horrible person, I could hate you. I could tell myself I imagined everything good about you. I could decide that you were just another man who wanted to control me and be done with it."

She pressed a hand against her chest. "But you aren’t."