Chapter 61 — Her Silence is Louder Than Heaven
Anastasia Celeste Volkov's POV
The scent of lilies still lingered on her fingers.
It was the only thing she carried back from that night—the only thing she allowed herself to take. Everything else, she locked behind the fortress of her mind.
Not because she didn't remember.
But because she remembered everything.
The Garden Aftermath
She walked back into the manor alone. Not once looking back.
Her heels made no sound against the stone floors of the estate's east wing—soundless steps for a woman who silenced the world the moment she entered it.
There was a mirror in the hallway. She stopped.
Her reflection was composed. Eyes calm. Not a single hair out of place.
But beneath that perfection, her mind buzzed.
Why didn't I walk away sooner?
Why did I let him keep talking?
Why did I not stop him the second he said—
She shut her eyes. Inhaled.
No. Don't think of him.
But even silence echoed when it was tied to his voice.
Back in Her Lab
The next morning, she was surrounded by holograms, coding panels, and the cold glow of AI interfaces blinking to life.
Three robotic systems—each built from scratch. Her hands had forged them. Her mind had designed their intelligence. One served her father. One served the second most powerful man on earth .
The third?
It stood still in the far corner of the room. Its artificial gaze fixed on her with perfect obedience. It did not speak unless instructed.
And yet, it had been listening to her ever since she ordered it to observe the man called Jaeheon Kang.
She had programmed it to calculate patterns—speech, movement, emotional flux.
After the ball, she deactivated the AI's surveillance protocols.
Not because she no longer wanted information.
But because she no longer needed it.
She already knew.
The Memory
"I don't love your name, your family, or your shadow. I love you—whatever you are when all of that is gone."
Three hours. He spoke for three hours.
No one had ever spoken to her that long in her entire life.
People either bowed, feared, or envied her.
Not him.
He looked at her like she was human. Like she could break. Like she already had.
She had stopped him eventually—of course she had. He would've talked until the stars fell.
And even then… he would've found a way to keep going.
But she didn't forget.
Not the words. Not the way he looked at her. Not the weight in his voice when he said he had waited all these years.
She had known.
Even back then. At the first ball.
The boy who looked at her like she was starlight itself.
Six Months of Silence
She never replied to his message.
She read it the moment it came. At 3:04 AM. Exactly two hours and thirteen minutes after he returned from the ball.
And then she locked her phone. Turned it face down.
For six months, she never opened the chat again.
Not because she didn't want to.
But because she didn't know what would happen if she did.
Anastasia Volkov could control markets, manipulate military-grade AI, and sit at the right hand of the most powerful empire in the East.
But she couldn't control what his voice did to her.
Even when it was only words on a screen.
One More Thing
She looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows of her private quarters.
The moon was full again.
The same as it had been that night.
And for a moment… for the smallest, most imperceptible moment… she imagined what he might be doing now.
If he was still waiting.
If he was still watching that phone.
If he still believed in her.
She didn't move. Didn't blink.
Then she turned back to the desk. Picked up her pen.
And resumed writing a code no one but her could read.