I looked shocked, my eyes wide with uncertainty.
Clyde's gaze searched mine, his expression soft.
"Do you love me, Dahlia?" he asked.
His voice vibrated through his chest.
Memories flooded my mind.
Our seven years together.
The laughter.
The dates.
The late-night conversations.
The way Clyde made me feel alive.
But then I remembered Ani.
My sister.
Her love for Clyde.
Her selflessness.
My heart wrestled with guilt.
How could I betray her trust?
Yet, how could I give up on my love?
Clyde's grip tightened.
"Answer me, Dahlia," he whispered.
His breath caressed my ear.
I closed my eyes.
Torn between loyalty and desire.
The silence stretched.
Clyde's patience wore thin.
"Dahlia, please," he urged.
His voice cracked.
I opened my eyes.
Clyde's gaze bore into mine.
For a moment, time stood still.
Here's the rewritten continuation:
I didn't say a word.
Instead, I responded to the kiss with equal passion, my lips meeting Clyde's in a tender yet intense rhythm. Our mouths danced, tongues entwined, hearts beating as one.
I loved him.
The realization washed over me like a tidal wave, crashing against the shores of my soul.
It wasn't fair.
Not to me, not to Clyde, and especially not to Ani.
She'd never be loved by him, not truly.
And their unborn child?
Would they grow up sensing their father's distant heart?
The thought pierced me, a dagger to my core.
But in this moment, I surrendered.
My hands wrapped around Clyde's neck, pulling him closer.
His arms encircled me, holding me tight.
Our bodies swayed, lost in the haze of desire.
Time dissolved.
For an instant, the world outside receded.
Only we existed.
Clyde broke the kiss.
His eyes locked onto mine, burning with intensity.
"Dahlia," he whispered.
His voice trembled.
"I've always loved you."
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
"Then why?" I asked.
My voice barely audible.
"Why marry Ani?"
Clyde's gaze dropped.
"I thought I'd lost you forever after that...," he confessed.
" Why did you ever marry her..", I sobbed
Clyde's eyes, filled with regret, met mine.
"I married Ani because of a debt," he began.
"A debt of gratitude."
He took a deep breath.
"Ani saved my father's life."
Alex Grey, a name I'd heard before.
Clyde's father, a man of influence and power.
"Ani was at the right place, at the right time," Clyde continued.
"She saved him from a fatal accident."
His mother, overwhelmed with gratitude.
"Promised Ani anything she desired."
Ani's wish?
"To marry me," Clyde said.
His voice laced with bitterness.
"My father was thrilled, thinking she was selfless."
He scoffed.
"Little did he know."
Clyde's gaze dropped.
"Ani had seen me briefly that day."
"And became fixated."
His words painted a picture.
Of manipulation.
Of obligation.
"I was betrothed to her, without a choice."
Clyde's eyes locked onto mine.
"Trapped in a marriage, built on guilt."
Clyde's eyes clouded, memories of the past swirling like a storm.
"I defied my father's wishes," he began, his voice laced with determination.
"I refused to marry Ani, no matter the cost."
But Alex Grey, his father, would not be swayed.
"He threatened to disinherit me, to cut me off from the family legacy," Clyde recalled.
The weight of his family's expectations hung heavy, but Clyde stood firm.
"I was willing to walk away, to leave it all behind," he said.
For us, for our future, he thought.
But then, his mother, Trisha Grey, intervened.
"Aunt Trish" was a force to be reckoned with.
Her displeasure was palpable, her fury aimed squarely at Ani.
"How dare she take my son away from me.. can't you see his pain?" she raged.
But Alex Grey remained resolute.
His anger boiled over, and then, he fell ill.
Seriously ill.
Clyde's face twisted in anguish.
"I had to return, had to marry Ani," he whispered.
To save his father, to secure the family's legacy.
The sacrifice weighed heavily on his shoulders.
"I felt trapped," Clyde admitted.
"Trapped by duty, by obligation."
His eyes locked onto mine, burning with intensity.
"But my heart, Dahlia, always belonged to you."
In that moment, time stood still.
The past and present collided.
Our love, once forbidden, now seemed within reach