Chapter 4: Acceptance

Juan stayed where he was for a while and then he sat on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, fingers tangled in his hair as he exhaled slowly. The room had gone too quiet, save for the clock ticking on the wall and the faint hum of electricity from appliances.

He stayed in that position for another few minutes, running through every moment that had led to now. The sounds of the gunshots were still.ooud in his ears as well as the beeping of the hospital machines, he still heard the inteen who to the senior doctor Arya's drip had been poisoned and he could still see the way Belle looked at him before walking out, her mouth twitching like she wanted to cry or curse or both but didn’t bother doing either.

At first, he told himself it might be better this way. Maybe Arya didn’t need to come home to Belle. Maybe Belle didn’t need to be here when Arya walked through the door with her half-healed body and guarded silence. There’d been too many arguments between them already. And now that Arya was awake and was soon going to be discharged...

Arya still hadn’t spoken more than a few words since waking up, and Belle wasn’t the type to keep her mouth shut just to keep the peace.

But the more he sat there, the more the silence turned from something manageable into something unwelcome, that made it hard to think clearly. He stood up slowly and walked over to the window, pushing the curtain slightly to the side. The compound lights were on. The driver Belle had probably called earlier was still by the car, standing by the door, but Belle wasn’t inside the car yet. She was by the passenger side, her arms folded across her chest, her bag resting on the hood as she spoke to the man.

Juan didn’t think again, hr just moved.

He walked out the front door and crossed the short path to the car. He turned at the sound of his steps, her arms still folded, her expression unreadable but her mouth already pulled into a slight frown.

“What now?” she asked, lifting her brows. “You’re upset I didn’t say goodbye?”

“You shouldn’t be leaving in the first place,” he said, stopping a few feet away from her.

Belle let out a short breath, shaking her head. “Of course. Of course now it’s a problem. It wasn’t a problem when you ignored me for nore two days straight. It wasn’t a problem when I walked around your house like I didn’t exist.”

“I didn’t ignore you.”

“Yes, you did.” Her voice was flat, even. “And it’s fine. I’m not asking for an apology. You’ve made it clear where you stand. But don’t stand there and act like this is sudden or unreasonable. Oh, I haven't even forgotten when you wanted me to go back home because of your precious lover girl even though I could barely walk properly because of the accident."

“I’m asking you to be logical,” he said, his tone calm. “You don’t know what’s out there.”

“I know exactly what’s out there, Juan. I’ve lived outside your mansion before.”

He looked at the driver, then back at her. “Can we talk inside? Just five minutes.”

“No.”

“Belle.”

She exhaled, clearly tired. She gestured toward the car. “What do you want me to do? Sit and listen to you lie to me again? You made your choice the moment Arya was shot."

“I didn’t lie to you." Hw said with a sigh. "I care about you. A lot, and I have told you this before." he said. “We had something that was somewhat a bit more than casual I guess, but what happened between us… it wasn’t meant to last longer than it did.”

Belle scoffed and looked away, pressing her tongue against the inside of her cheek like she was forcing herself not to say something worse. She didn’t speak right away, just stared at the gravel like it was suddenly interesting.

“I know you don’t love me the way I love you,” she said eventually. “I’ve known that for a while. But you didn’t have to treat me like I was disposable. You could’ve said it before I sat in your house for days like a damn fool.”

“You’re not disposable,” he said, taking a step closer. “And I never wanted to hurt you. But you’ve always been angry with Arya and treating her like some lowlife forcing her way into my life when I'm reality I was the one who forced my way into her life. You didn't even try with her."

“She didn’t try with me either.”

“She didn’t know how. You didn't make it easy."

“Don’t do that,” she said quickly, looking up at him. “Don’t defend her like that. You always do that. You make excuses for her and throw my flaws under a spotlight. I’m not perfect, Juan, but I don’t play the victim and expect everyone to rearrange their world around me.”

“I’m not rearranging anything,” he said. “I’m just telling you the truth. I might seem harsh sometimes. Cold, even. But it’s because I’ve been trying to protect something I care about. I love her. And no matter how you feel about it, that’s not going to change.”

Belle looked at him for a long time, her face unreadable. Her fingers tightened around her bag strap, then loosened again. She stepped back and let her hand fall to her side.

“Alright,” she said softly. “You want me to be nice to Arya? I will. You want me to pretend it doesn’t sting every time you look at her like she’s the only person who’s ever mattered to you? I’ll figure it out.”

She stepped past him without another word, heading back toward the house, and for the first time in hours, Juan followed without hesitating.