CHAPTER 113 LORENZO RETURNS

"How could you never feel anything for me after all these years?" Katarina's voice cracked, barely a whisper that threatened to break into a sob. Her hand gripped George's arm, not with anger, but with a desperate plea hanging in the air. "Don't you remember all those nights, talking for hours until dawn? The way we'd sneak glances across the room at parties, like a secret language only we understood?" George stayed quiet; his jaw clenched tight. The muscles in his arm tensed under her touch, silently confirming the distance that had grown between them. He sighed heavily. "We were lovers, Katarina. Just lovers. But..." "But what?" she demanded, tears now spilling freely down her cheeks. "Don't you dare tell me you never felt the spark too! All those stolen moments, the way we confided in each other about things we wouldn't tell anyone else..." "It was different for me," he confessed, barely audible. "You were more like a mistress; someone I could use for comfort. But no strings at