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Pride swells in my chest, nearly choking me. This woman, this incredible force of nature, choosing me.

Matthew makes one last desperate move, stepping toward her even as I still hold his wrist. "Your mother—"

"Needs to understand that I'm not her dress-up doll anymore." Sadie's voice rings through the cabin, clear as a mountain stream. "I'm done living someone else's life."

I release Matthew's wrist, but my stance doesn't relax. Every muscle in my body remains coiled, ready. "You heard her. Leave."

He looks between us, and I see the moment he realizes it's over.

The fight drains from him like water through cupped hands, replaced by something colder, harder.

His face smooths back into its corporate mask, but his eyes burn with wounded pride.

"You'll regret this," he says to Sadie, his voice now carefully controlled, though I catch the tremor underneath. "When the novelty wears off, when you realize what you've given up for this..." his eyes rake over my cabin one last time, "...this nobody—"

"He's not nobody," Sadie interrupts, and the fierce certainty in her voice makes something in my chest crack wide open. "He's everything I never knew I needed. And the only thing I regret is not running sooner."

Matthew's jaw clenches, the muscle ticking visibly.

For a moment, I think he might try something stupid, and part of me—the part that's been aching to show him exactly what this 'nobody' is capable of—almost hopes he does.

But then his shoulders slump, defeat finally settling over him like a heavy cloak.

He turns, stalking toward the door, his expensive shoes echoing against the wooden floors. At the threshold, he pauses, one hand on the doorknob. The morning light catches his profile, and for a second, I see what Sadie might have once seen in him—the polished exterior, the promise of an easy, predetermined life.

"Don't come crawling back when this falls apart."

The door slams behind him with enough force to rattle the windows, the sound echoing through the cabin like a gunshot.

Neither of us moves until we hear his car start, the engine's expensive purr fading as he drives away, taking with him the last remnants of Sadie's old life.

Only then do I let myself really look at her. She's trembling slightly, but her eyes are clear, her chin lifted.

Beautiful. Strong. Mine.

"Did you mean it?" she asks softly, turning those clear blue eyes on me. "What you said about love?"

I turn to face her fully, cupping her face in my hands.

Her skin is soft against my callused palms, and the contrast strikes me again—her softness and my roughness, somehow fitting together perfectly. "Every word."

She leans into my touch, and the simple trust in that gesture undoes me completely.

"I meant what I said too. About belonging here." Her hands come up to rest on my chest, right over my heart. "With you."

I kiss her then, pouring everything I can't say into it.

She responds with equal fervor, her body melting into mine like she was made to fit there. Her fingers curl into my shirt, holding on like she's afraid I might disappear, and I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her closer, grounding us both.

There's no hesitation now, no holding back. The morning light bathes us in gold, and I can feel her heart racing against my chest, matching rhythm with mine.

She smells like my soap, my cabin, but underneath there's her floral smell—something wild and sweet that I'm starting to associate with home.

Chapter 7 – Sadie

His dark eyes search mine, a question in their depths. My heart races, every nerve ending alive with anticipation.

"Vincent," I whisper, my voice trembling slightly. "I want... I need..."