Page 235 of Sage Haven

Like she knew I’d catch her. Like she never once doubted I’d be there when she fell. Like she believed in me in a way no one ever had. In a way I sure as hell didn’t deserve.

I don’t deserve that trust anymore. I broke it.

I shattered it into a thousand pieces and left her to pick them up on her own.

I know that. I live with that. Every goddamn day.

But knowing it doesn’t stop me from wanting it back. From wanting her back. From aching for her in places I didn’t even know existed inside me until she made them real.

And it sure as fuck doesn’t stop me from loving her.

Even now. Especially now.

Because no matter how many times I tell myself I did the right thing…no matter how many times I remind myself that walking away saved her life…it doesn’t change one brutal, undeniable truth.

I’m still in love with her and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.

SAGE

Epilogue One

Two Years Later

"Everything will be fine.This will work."

His voice was so steady. Like stone polished smooth from years of weathering storms.

Unwavering. Certain.

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to let those words be enough.

But they weren’t.

“Reich…” His name broke on my tongue, softer than I meant it to be, laced with hesitation. “How can you be so sure? Given everything, you can’t possibly know that.”

I forced myself to hold his stare, though my chest ached under the weight of doubt, under the unbearable pressure of what if.

“What if it doesn’t work?” I whispered.

The question hung between us like smoke, thick and clinging, refusing to dissolve.

And for a moment, just a moment, he was quiet.

Then he exhaled slowly, like a man carrying the weight of the world but somehow still standing tall beneath it.

“Then I’ll figure it out,” he said, low and unshaken. “Like I always do.”

The convictionin his voice made something deep inside me twist painfully. A longing, a grief I hadn’t known I was holding until now. Because I wasn’t sure how many more times he could figure it out. How many more battles he could fight and still come back whole.

Still come back to me.

I dropped my gaze to the ground, swallowing hard as my heart thundered in my chest. I could feel it—fear, thick and relentless—curling like smoke in my lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Then I heard it.

The quiet shift of his boots against the worn wood floor.

The subtle brush of his coat as he moved closer.