"Raena... I have something to tell you."
Vladimir's voice was thick with emotion, each word laced with a gravity that made Raena's heart skip a beat. The room, already dimly lit, seemed to grow even darker as if the weight of what he was about to say had pulled the very light out of the air. She looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat.
There was a new intensity in his eyes, a fire that both thrilled and terrified her.
What could it be?
"What is it, Vlad?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Her pulse quickened, every nerve in her body suddenly on edge as if she were standing on the precipice of something monumental.
Vladimir hesitated, his gaze locked on hers, and for a moment, the silence between them was so profound that it felt like the entire world had fallen away. Then, finally, he spoke, his voice trembling with a vulnerability she had never heard from him before.
"I like you, Raena."
