Chapter 124: Chapter 124

"God Craig," she whispered, but the fight in her voice was gone. "Please...just let me go."

She tried to look away, tried to keep the tears in, but her body betrayed her, still she held herself together.

"I’m not letting you go," he said, his voice low, wrecked, like the words hurt him. "Not until you understand that I never will."

She let out a laugh, but it cracked halfway and fell apart into a sob. "God, I don’t even know why I’m crying." She wiped at her cheeks, but the tears only kept falling.

Craig stepped closer. She didn’t stop him.

His thumb brushed gently under her eyes, catching the tears she missed. "You don’t have to face this alone," he said quietly. "I’m always gonna be here."

Her breath hitched as he touched her, the gentleness undoing something tight inside her.

It didn’t matter how far she’d run, how tightly she’d held herself together. In this moment, in his presence, her heart moved first. It reached for him before reason could interfere, like it still remembered who it belonged to.

It had always been his.

"God...why does this hurt so much?" She didn’t know when the words slipped out, she let out a shaky breath and fell into his chest, her forehead pressing against him like it was the only place she could rest.

He held her without hesitation, one hand around her waist, the other curling protectively at the back of her head. He leaned down and pressed a soft, aching kiss to her forehead.

But then she pulled back, blinking up at him, torn and trembling. "We can’t keep doing this," she breathed, voice paper-thin. "There’s too much...too much between us. Too much damage. Too many people involved..."

His hands rose to cradle her face, his thumbs brushing away what was left of her tears.

"I don’t care," he said quickly, the words tumbling out before fear could swallow them.

"Craig, we can’t—" she started again, shaking her head, but her voice cracked in the middle.

"I love you, Merlina," he said, firm and steady. Like he needed her to hear it.

Her eyes widened, lips parting in a stunned breath. "Don’t...you can’t say that to me." She looked down, then back up, as if trying to find an exit that didn’t exist. "It’s not fair."

But he didn’t move. Didn’t falter. His hands only tightened slightly around her face, grounding her.

"I love you," he repeated, fuller this time. Like it was finally real. Like the words had been burning a hole in his chest, and now that they were out, he couldn’t stop saying them.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth, to the words that had just undone her. Her breath seized in her throat, and without even meaning to, her body tilted forward, drawn into him like gravity.

Their faces were inches apart now. Close enough that she could feel the heat of his breath, see the rawness in his eyes.

"I love you..." The words died under his breath.

Somewhere between Craig’s voice and the weight of everything they were feeling, they both leaned in, too close to turn back, too close to pretend they didn’t want this.

The kiss met them in the middle. Fierce and tender, desperate and familiar. Like a confession. Like a promise. Like the only truth they had left.

His hands slid beneath her thighs and he lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his waist like instinct. Her back hit the wall with a soft gasp, then the kiss turned rougher, more frenzied.

He kissed her like he needed to, like letting her go again would kill him. And when that wasn’t enough, when the wall couldn’t hold the urgency between them, he carried her, still kissing her, still devouring her, across the room.

The table met her spine as he laid her out across it, slowly and carefully but the moment his mouth found her skin, gentleness gave way to something hungrier.

His mouth teased down her body, until she was arching and trembling. Her fingers knotted in his hair, begging with every breath.

But even that wasn’t enough. Not for him.

With a low, breathless sound, he lifted her again, her limbs wrapping around him without thought, her mouth grazing his jaw, his temple, anywhere she could reach. He carried her through the dim hallway, their bodies pressed tight, hands roaming like they were trying to memorize each other in pieces.

By the time they reached the bedroom, clothes were tugged off in urgent, clumsy movements, his shirt over his head, her dress slipping from her shoulders, fabric pooling around them quick and fast. And when they finally fell into the bed, it wasn’t rushed anymore.

It was every truth she was trying to run from. Every feeling they almost buried under pride, fear, and silence. A slow undoing happening to them.

He kissed every inch of her as they made love. She moaned repeatedly, her breath catching with every thrust, deeper, harder. She felt the fullness of him, every inch a deliberate reminder of what they were.

Of what she couldn’t outrun.

She couldn’t do this.

And yet, she couldn’t do without him either.

"Craig," she breathed, her voice barely audible over the sound of their bodies moving in rhythm.

In that moment, their eyes locked, it was raw and unguarded, something passed between them that went deeper than touch.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice trembling as he thrust into her.

His forehead pressed to hers, breath shallow. "I love you," he whispered back, the words slipping from his lips just before he kissed her, slow and deep, like he meant to keep the taste of her forever.

They came together like a wave breaking, drawn into each other, undone by everything they’d tried not to feel.

And afterward, wrapped in tangled sheets and the fading echo of their names on each other’s lips, they slept.

The sun still poured through the windows, golden and unapologetic, but neither moved. Not right away. Their bodies gave in before their minds could make sense of anything.

Especially Craig, who hadn’t slept in over a day, his breathing slowed, arms wrapped around her as if he could keep her there just by willing it.

Merlina woke first. Slowly. Her cheek was pressed to his chest, rising and falling with every peaceful breath. For a while, she just listened to the steadiness of him.

Then, like gravity shifting in her bones, she turned her head and looked at his face, softer now, unguarded in sleep.

She traced a fingertip over the curve of his brow, the faint line between them even now, like he was dreaming about something beautiful.

Her throat tightened.

She turned onto her back, eyes on the ceiling. Her body ached in places that felt too close to the truth. Her heart did too.

Quietly, she sat up. Found her dress and slipped it back over her skin like armor.

She padded barefoot out of the room, into the stillness of the apartment. On the table by the couch, she saw it. His phone.

Hesitating for just a moment, she picked it up and carried it back with her, tiptoeing into the bedroom again.

Craig still hadn’t moved.

Holding her breath, she angled the phone toward his face, trying to trigger Face ID. Nothing. She exhaled, then gently took his hand in both of hers, guiding his thumb to the screen.

Her chest tightened again, this time for a different reason.

She scrolled through his contacts, her fingers shaking just slightly, until she saw it.

She tapped, opened the contact, and copied the number into her own phone, saving it without a name. She placed his phone back exactly where it had been on the table.

Then she grabbed her bag.

The sunlight outside was too bright. The air bit at her skin, like it knew what she was about to do.

When she was far away from his apartment, she pulled out her phone. Her thumb hovered over the call button for the number she’d just saved.

Again. Still nothing.

What if she copied the wrong digits? Panic bloomed behind her ribs. She opened her messages instead. Fingers flying before doubt could stop her.

Mr. Lesnar, this is Merlina Sanchez. Daughter of Marjorie and Aiden Sanchez. I believe we need to speak. I won’t waste your time. Just one conversation. That’s all I ask.

She stared at the screen, then hit send.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, she went to class. Sat through lectures, but took zero notes.

It wasn’t just the distraction. It was the feeling, the after. That aching fullness that still lingered in her body, the phantom heat of his touch between her thighs, the imprint of Craig Lesnar on her skin, her lips, her soul. Every time she shifted in her seat, her body remembered.

It wasn’t just physical.

They had said the words.

Three times, maybe four.

And God, she had meant it, every syllable. But love didn’t cancel out consequences. It didn’t fix the mess. It didn’t erase the past.

Didn’t untangle the mess they’d both inherited.

She blinked hard at the lecture slides. The words swam uselessly in front of her. None of it mattered. Not when her entire future at Belford was hanging by a thread. The lawsuit. The disciplinary hearing.

She still hadn’t told him what she did. And maybe that was the worst part, that she hadn’t even tried to ask him for a meeting with his father. She hadn’t given him the chance to say no. But she knew he would’ve.

Not because he didn’t want to help her, but because she feared he would’ve refused the meeting to protect her. Or maybe to protect himself.

Or maybe it was the guilt of what she knew she was willing to do. Because the truth was, if it came down to it, if her future, her name, her mother’s reputation, her place at Belford...if all of it was on the line.

She knew what she’d do.

Even if it broke her, she could walk away. Craig Lesnar was the most complicated guy she’d ever known. All ice and fire, restraint and ruin. And maybe, just maybe, it was easier to lose him, than to keep loving him.

He made her recognize parts of herself she didn’t know existed, he made her feel seen in ways that terrified her. In just a short period, for her, he’d done things she thought only existed in fantasies.

He was always present, just right there, whenever she needed him. He loved her in a way that made her heart ache and flip at the same time.

And today, when he finally said the words out loud, it wasn’t sweet or safe, it was certain. Like it had always been true, and he’d just waited for the right moment he wanted her hear it.

But Craig came with shadows. With history. With the kind of love that could either save her, or cost her everything.

And that was the part that scared her the most. Not their relationship itself, but what it might take from her in the end.

Her stomach tightened, fingers fidgeted with the edge of her notebook, still blank after three lectures.

Then, as the final class wrapped and the professor’s voice faded into background noise, her phone buzzed quietly beside her. She reached for it on instinct, not expecting much.

From a number she didn’t recognize.

Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Lesnar is available at 5:00 PM tomorrow. CCL Group, Tower 1, Executive Level. Security will have your name. Please note this time will not be rescheduled.

— Executive Assistant to Mr. Charles Lesnar.