Chapter 89

• “Elara,” he said quietly, his voice steady. “I never asked for this. I never asked for the war, or the bloodshed, or the battles. But I fought because I had to. And somewhere along the way, I stopped fighting for survival and started fighting for something else. For you. For us.”
• Her heart skipped a beat at his words, the weight of them settling deep within her chest. “You fought for me?”
• Vesper nodded, his gaze unwavering. “I did. And I’ll keep fighting. Not because of duty, but because it’s you. Because what we have—what we’ve built together—it matters. It always has.”