Chapter 64: The Truth Has a Name

The garden was still. Not silent — there was the rustle of leaves, the gentle buzz of distant city life — but still in the way only sacred moments are. The kind of stillness that followed a storm, when everything felt too fragile to touch, too precious to interrupt. Amelia hadn’t spoken since she made the promise. Her hand remained in Gray’s, their fingers laced together like a fragile tether. The weight of his plea—Promise me you won’t run—still echoed in her chest. She had promised. She meant it. But now… something else hovered between them. Something heavier. Gray turned fully toward her, their hands still joined, his thumb brushing lightly against hers like he was memorizing the shape of this peace before it shattered. “There’s something else,” he said, voice quiet but clear. “On