The terror in her eyes.
The sound of her crying his name.
The way her trembling fingers had reached for him…before going limp.
Even unconscious, she haunted him. And maybe… maybe that was his punishment. Because men like Rafael were never meant to touch something as pure as her.
Never meant to love.
Never meant todeserve.
And yet his traitorous heart beat only for her now as though it had finally found its owner.
He lifted his head slowly, bloodshot eyes tracing every bruise still visible beneath the soft hospital light.
And despite everything. She was still beautiful.
Because even after hell tried to devour her, she survived.
A miracle.
His miracle.
Rafael’s jaw clenched as memory wrapped its filthy hands around his throat. He never wanted to remember that night.
Never.
But some horrors branded themselves into the soul.
He could still see her, collapsed in the darkness. Barely breathing. Soaked in blood that wasn’t all hers. Her dress was torn. Hanging from her body like the last remains of stolen dignity.
Her skin was painted in bruises, cuts, burns…evidence of monsters who had touched what should’ve never been touched.
Rafael’s stomach twisted violently.
His grip on her hands tightened.
He hated them.
But he hated himself more.
Because the signs had been there.
And he, the man who noticed every trembling breath… every racing heartbeat… every blush… had missed the wounds hidden beneath the fabric. Missed the silent cries.
Missedher.
A broken laugh escaped him. He brought her bandaged hand to his lips, pressing a trembling kiss against her knuckles.
He never tried to hear the meaning behind her pleas. He hated how he always slept with her on the same bed but never saw the scars, or simply never cared. He saw her every day but never saw her at all.
He regretted that. Every fucking second and every single time he brushed her words.
‘I…I need to talk to you.’
Rafael closedhis eyesas tears rusheddownhis cheeks.Only if he listenedto her that day. He hated himself for leaving her all alone that night, completely ignoring her pleas as she ran behind him barefoot. Five minutes, four missed calls, three words, two seconds and one last word. ‘Sorry.’
The doctors were all in a rush and panic as soon as he brought her to the hospital. They rushed her to the emergency room, saying something like it would be hard to save the girl. She had lost too much blood and she didn't seem in the best condition either. Rafael didn't know what he was expecting but he hoped she would make it alive. It was a gut feeling. An instinct that was telling him that he needed to save her at any cost.
