It meant Leo had been carrying the weight of it all alone. Silent. Selfless. Magnanimous. He had kept the truth to himself, shouldered the heartache without complaint, and let her choose freely, even if it meant hurting himself in the process.
And now, realizing that, guilt bloomed in her chest like a thorny vine, tightening with every breath. Her eyes began to sting, turning red as she blinked back the rising heat of tears.
But seeing her like this, crying and fragile, only made Leo feel a sharp sting in his chest. He couldn't bear it. Hera's tears unsettled him more than he cared to admit. And now, knowing the truth, that she was, in fact, his fiancée, it didn't fill him with revulsion like he feared it might.
Instead, he felt... relieved. Joyful, even. There was a strange sense of familiarity stirring in his chest, a knowing that confirmed everything Dave had said. Deep down, some part of him already knew.
Yet that realization only brought him back to square one.
