The breeze had quieted.
Even the waves seemed more still now—watching them, maybe, waiting too.
Chloe hadn't spoken since he told her the full truth. She sat with her arms wrapped loosely around her knees, her gaze locked somewhere between the sea and the sky.
Kian stayed beside her, not crowding, not rushing, just… there.
Then finally, he said it.
"I'm sorry, Chloe."
The words weren't dramatic. No flourish, no weighty silence between them.
Just real. Simple.
Heavy.
"We can't go back to the time we missed. I've made peace with that. Maybe it just… wasn't our timeline back then."
He paused, then leaned forward slightly, voice softer now.
"But maybe we get to rewrite it. Maybe we can realign our stars this time around… don't you think?"
She didn't look at him.
She couldn't.
Her eyes were on the sky now—at the quiet stretch of stars above them.
"I've been wondering…" she murmured. "Wondering how much you must have loved me to still want me… even when I'm not the same Chloe you had."
Kian's chest rose, but he said nothing.
Because she wasn't finished.
"I'm a divorcee, Kian. I have a son. And you…"
She smiled faintly—almost sadly.
"You're still a bachelor. Untouched. Uncomplicated. What will you even get out of taking that chance with me?"
She turned to look at him then—finally—and for the first time, her voice trembled just slightly.
"I'm not worthy of you, Kian."
And there it was.
Raw. Bare.
Not dramatic.
Just honest.
And now?
Now it was his turn to speak—not to reassure, but to answer in a way only he could.
Because sometimes the people who believe they're unworthy... are the ones we've never stopped choosing.