The drive back to the manor was quiet-Athena remained silent the entire way, wrapped in her own thoughts. Anna, too, said nothing.

When they arrived, Tyler gently helped Athena out of the car and walked her up to her room, his arm steady around her shoulders. She didn't protest or even utter a word.

He called for the doctor, who came to tend her wounds. Afterward, Tyler knelt down, soaking a towel in warm water, and began to carefully clean the dirt from her feet.

Athena was exhausted her whole body ached. When Tyler cradled her foot in his hand, the heat from his palm almost stung. She tried to pull away, but his grip was gentle yet firm, refusing to let go.

"Don't move," he murmured. "Let me clean you up. You need to rest—you can't take a shower right now."

Athena glanced at him and managed a soft, "Thank you."

Tyler paused, a little thrown by her sudden formality. He finished drying her feet carefully, then slipped away into the bathroom to clean himself up.

His own ankle was only mildly sprained, so he took a quick shower before returning to the bedroom.

had happened that night. But when he heard her quiet, even breathing, he hesitated—and let the questions fade away as he drifted

school days, of that boy who seemed to step out of a sunlit memory-laughing, running across the basketball court, surrounded by the cheers of their classmates. When she woke, she stared at

so badly. Her emotions were a tangled mess; she didn't feel like going downstairs at

today she would finally

Tyler had

seen.


up, “Tyler, is Athena just

else was ready to go-why should they

down his mug. "She went out for a walk last night and ended up hurting

laughed. “Didn't know you had such a soft spot for women,

just

he was a player, that he never took women seriously. But here

Now she had

Athena, Tyler. She used to have a first love, you know. Treated her like a princess. But she broke his

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