Mina stepped out onto the porch, her heartbeat steady but strong, like she was walking toward something fragile and new. Aaron stood by the gate, hands in his coat pockets, watching her the way a man watches something he's afraid to touch too harshly — like she was both fire and home.
He didn't speak first. He always had words, sharp and certain — but with her, he waited.
Mina stopped a few steps away, drawing in a breath. "I'm not saying yes," she said quietly, "but I'm not saying no either."
Aaron's eyes flickered, something fierce and hopeful flashing there. He took a small step closer. "Then what are you saying, princesa?"
"I'm saying," she breathed, steady, clear, "if I move into that house, it won't be because you bought it. It won't be because you think protecting me gives you the right to decide for me. If I come… it will be our home. And every decision made inside it — about Ellie, about us — will be ours. Together. I won't live in a place where my voice echoes but is never heard."
Aaron's breath caught.
Her voice softened, but her eyes stayed unflinching. "If I move in, I'm not a guest, Aaron. I'm not something you guard. I'm the other half of every choice made there. I need you to understand that."
Silence.
A slow exhale left him, and then — his expression changed.
Not the dangerous confidence he showed the world. Not the cold precision of a man who conquered empires. Something gentler broke through. Something real.
"Baby," he said, the word falling from his lips like a vow. He stepped into her space, close but careful, his voice thick with emotion he didn't bother hiding. "When I claimed you… I didn't understand what love was. I only knew how to own, to hold, to keep. But now?" His hand hovered near hers, shaking just enough to betray him. "Now I want to build with you. I want a life where your voice ruins me and remakes me at the same time."
Her chest tightened painfully.
Aaron swallowed, letting a laugh escape, soft and disbelieving. "You saying you want a say in everything — Mina, that's the most beautiful thing you've ever given me." He reached up, knuckles brushing her cheek with infinite care. "It means you're considering a future. Our future."
His gaze softened fully — no mask, no empire, no blood. Just a man, flawed and desperate, but hers.
"I chose you years ago," he whispered, forehead touching hers. "And today… you choosing yourself like this? It reminds me I chose right."
Mina didn't answer with words — she didn't need to. She simply leaned into his touch, and Aaron — Aaron closed his eyes like a man who had just been handed a heartbeat after living inside silence too long.