Sebastian Blake –
She stood there in the doorway like a ghost.
No sound. Just oversized sleeves and bare feet. Her eyes wide and heavy, like she hadn't slept in years. Like maybe she never really had the chance.
For a second, I didn't move.
Then she shifted, and her hair slipped over her shoulder — long, dark, tangled like it carried secrets I hadn't earned yet.
She shouldn't have looked beautiful like that.
She shouldn't have looked so young.
I ended the call without another word. The job was done anyway. Names would come. Fire would follow. That house wouldn't stand by sunrise.
"Couldn't sleep?" I asked.
She shook her head. Tighter than she needed to. Like even her silence had been punished before.
"Too quiet," she said.
I knew that feeling. Silence that presses against your ribs. That doesn't soothe — it screams.
"Come in."
She did.
Carefully.
Like the floor might bite her.
She sat on the edge of the couch like she expected to be yelled at for it. Like she wasn't sure she deserved to take up space. My jacket swallowed her whole. She was wearing safety like armor, and the saddest thing was—it was mine.
I gave her milk. I didn't know what else to give.
And then she asked me: "Why do you care?"
I could've said nothing. That's what I do. That's what people expect.
But she was looking at me like she wanted to believe I could be good. Just a little.
So I told the truth.
"Because someone should've a long time ago."
Her eyes flickered, then dropped to the glass in her hands. Like the words were heavier than she expected.
She didn't cry.
But I saw it — the fracture.
The beginning of trust.
I sat across from her, leaning forward, elbows on my knees. Not too close. Not yet. I didn't want to make her flinch again.
I wanted her to feel something different. Something she might not have words for yet.
Safe.
Seen.
Unbreakable.
And if I had to destroy the world to make that happen, I would.
Because Ray Lin wasn't just some girl auctioned off like a product.
She was light in a place that never deserved it.
And I was already starting to burn just trying to keep her close.