Chapter 170: I’d Rather Live Alone…

Flashback — Deniz and Bryan Talk:

The morning light glows softly in the room, golden and warm, spreading across the rumpled sheets like melted honey. Dust motes drift lazily through the sunbeams, suspended in the quiet peace of early morning.

Deniz and Zyren lie tangled together on the bed, limbs intertwined, bodies pressed close in the intimate tangle of lovers who fell asleep wrapped in each other, who couldn’t bear to let go even in unconsciousness.

The silver of Zyren’s hair catches the light, shimmering against the darker fabric of the sheets like moonlight on water.

Deniz’s eyes are open, fixed on the sleeping face beside him.

He doesn’t blink. Doesn’t move. Doesn’t dare break the spell of this moment. A soft smile plays on his lips, tender and wondering, as if he still can’t quite believe this is real, that someone like Zyren—beautiful, fierce, impossible Zyren—could choose him.

Zyren sleeps deeply, his face pressed against Deniz’s bare chest, his breath warm and steady against Deniz’s skin. The rise and fall of his breathing is a rhythm Deniz could fall asleep to forever, a lullaby written just for him.

Slowly, carefully, Deniz reaches up and brushes the messy silver strands from Zyren’s temple.

His touch is featherlight, reverent, as if he’s handling something infinitely precious. He leans down and presses a soft kiss to the same spot, lips lingering against warm skin.

The doorbell rings.

Ding-dong!

Deniz flinches slightly, the sound jarring in the peaceful silence, a crack in the perfect morning.

A moment of stillness. Then again—ding-dong, louder this time, more insistent, more demanding.

Zyren stirs, his sleep disturbed, a small furrow appearing between his brows. He shifts, murmuring something unintelligible, reaching instinctively for the warmth that’s no longer there.

Deniz moves carefully, slowly extracting himself from the tangle of limbs and sheets. Every movement is deliberate, designed to disturb as little as possible. He pulls the blanket up, tucking it gently around Zyren, then leans down and presses one more kiss to his cheek.

He pads out of the room, bare feet silent on the floor, stretching as he goes. His body still carries the pleasant ache of last night, the memory of Zyren in his arms.

Who could this be? he wonders, running a hand through his messy hair, still half-lost in the warmth of the bedroom.

Did I order something?

Did Zyren order something?

He opens the door.

And freezes.

The world stops.

Bryan stands there.

Deniz’s eyes widen, shock flooding through him like ice water, like waking from a dream into a nightmare. For a moment, he can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t process.

Before he can speak, before he can move, before he can do anything at all—Bryan steps forward and wraps his arms around him in a tight hug.

“Finally.” Bryan’s voice is a whisper against his ear, intimate, familiar in all the wrong ways.

“I found you.”

Deniz’s body goes completely still.

Deniz’s body goes completely still. For one terrible moment, he’s frozen, trapped in an embrace that brings back everything he’s tried to forget.

Then he shoves Bryan away. Hard.

“Don’t touch me.” His voice comes out cold, sharp as a blade, cutting through the morning air.

“Get out.”

He tries to close the door, needs to close the door, needs to put something solid between himself and this ghost from his past. But Bryan’s hand shoots out, stopping it.

“Deniz, please.” Bryan’s voice is urgent, pleading.

“At least listen to me. Just let me talk. Please. Just a conversation.”

Deniz’s jaw tightens so hard it aches. His hand grips the doorframe, knuckles white, the only thing keeping him upright.

“Fifteen minutes.”

Bryan nods quickly, relief flickering across his features.

They move to the couch, sitting with a careful distance between them. Bryan tries to sit close, the way he used to, but Deniz immediately shifts away, putting space between them like a physical barrier.

“Don’t sit so close.”

Bryan holds up his hands, palms out, the picture of reasonableness.

“Fine. Fine.”

Deniz’s voice is ice. “Why the hell are you here?”

Bryan takes a breath, composing himself, arranging his features into something Deniz is supposed to trust.

“Deniz, please forgive me. For everything I did before. For leaving. For all of it. For every way I hurt you.”

“I don’t need your apology.” The words are clipped, final, a door slamming shut.

“Get out.”

Bryan reaches out and takes his hand.

Deniz tries to pull away, but Bryan holds on, fingers wrapping around his like they have a right to be there.

“I left everything and came back here.” His voice is soft, earnest.

“For you. Only for you. Please—let’s be together again. Let’s try again.”

Deniz glares at him, dark eyes blazing with something that might be anger, might be pain, might be both.

“Don’t say that word.” His voice shakes, just slightly.

“’Together.’ Don’t ever say that word to me again.”

He tries to stand, to end this, to escape.

“And don’t come back. You’re just irritating me. You’re just—”

Bryan’s voice stops him cold.

“Do you really think you can find real love, Deniz?”

Deniz freezes.

The words hang in the air, poisonous and precise, aimed at the deepest wound.

Bryan presses on, his voice taking on a different tone—softer, almost pitying, the tone of someone who thinks they’re being kind while delivering a death blow.

“Everyone knows, Deniz. In this world, no one accepts a Beta as a true partner. Not really. Not forever.”

He shakes his head sadly. “I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just saying it’s true.”

Deniz’s fists clench in his lap, knuckles white against his trousers.

Bryan leans closer, his voice dropping to something intimate, conspiratorial.

“Deniz, please forgive me. I’m ready to live with you. Even though you’re a Beta. I’m the only one who’s always been with you, when no one else was.”

His eyes search Deniz’s face, looking for the cracks.

“Remember? Remember how it was? Remember how I held you when you cried?”

He moves closer, reaching for Deniz again.

“Do you really think you can marry an Omega? They can’t live without pheromones. And Alphas?”

A sad, knowing shake of his head. “They just use Betas for their pleasure. For when they get bored with Omegas. That’s the truth, Deniz. That’s the way the world works.”

He’s close now, too close, his voice a warm poison in Deniz’s ear.

“But I’m here. I’m with you. Just like always. I was wrong to leave you alone before—I know that now. But I did it for your own good. I swear it.”

A pause. “And now I’ve come back to make up for hurting you. To give you what no one else will.”

Deniz pushes his hand away.

Slowly, deliberately, he meets Bryan’s eyes.

When he speaks, his voice is quiet but steady, carrying the weight of absolute certainty earned through pain and growth and the discovery that he is worth more than he was ever told.

“If in this world, Betas have no place for love…”

He pauses, letting the words land, letting them settle.

“Then I’d rather live alone.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep