CHAPTER 71: HOLDING ON

George laughed, short and breathless, like he couldn’t believe himself as he looked at her. "I think I really went crazy."

"No, you are crazy from the start," Daisy shot back, wiping her mouth like his presence had left a taste she couldn’t stand.

His shoulder still throbbed from where she’d bitten him. There was a faint stain of red on his collar, and yet, instead of fury, his eyes gleamed with something more dangerous and a bit of amusement.

"You bit me," he said, almost admiringly. "Like a wildcat."

"I’ll bite harder next time." She glared.

He chuckled again, low and disbelieving. "God, even when you’re fighting, you’re... beautiful."

Daisy stared at him like he’d just confessed to loving poison. "You need help."

"And yet, I’m here offering you some." His grin faded just a little, replaced with something rawer, quieter. "You’re the only thing I’ve ever chased this far."

Her spine stiffened, jaw clenched. "I didn’t ask you to."

"You didn’t have to."

"Ah..." Daisy dragged her hands down her face. "Why does everyone I meet these days seem to have loose screws in their heads?"

"Are you talking about me?"

A weight landed on her shoulder. A head.

She flinched. "Oh God!" Her breath hitched, more relief than fear. "How did you know I was here?"

"Well... instinct?" Elias tilted his head, lowering himself to look her straight in the eye. "What happened?" His thumb brushed lightly across her lip. Wiping something away without thinking, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Before Daisy could say anything, George’s hand wrapped around her wrist again and tugged her back. The sudden pull made her wince.

Elias’s eyes snapped to her. He stepped in instantly, gaze cold as steel. "Remove your hand," he said, voice calm but dangerously low, "now."

George didn’t move. His grip only tightened.

Elias’s jaw clenched. He reached out, not to pull Daisy, but to clamp his hand around George’s wrist instead. His grip was firm, immovable.

"If I rip your hand off, I’ll end up hurting her too," Elias said, his words laced with barely contained fury. "So let go... before I stop caring about that."

His stare didn’t waver.

George’s confidence cracked.

Daisy felt the tension pulse between them like a live wire.

"You let go of her hand," George snapped, his glare sharp. "She’s my fiancée."

Elias scoffed, unfazed. His eyes flicked to Daisy, who stood slightly behind him, clutching her wrist.

"Sorry to break it to you," he said, cool and deliberate, "but she’s my wife."

For a moment, George just stared, as if the words hadn’t registered. Then his jaw tightened, nostrils flared.

"What did you just say?" George hissed.

Elias didn’t flinch. "You heard me."

"You’re lying." George’s voice cracked. "She wouldn’t... she couldn’t... marry someone like you!"

Elias grabbed George’s collar with quiet fury. "And what exactly is wrong with me?"

George met his glare, jaw tight. "You know damn well. Just the fact that you’re—" He stopped, but the word slipped out anyway. "Crazy... Theo."

A heavy silence followed.

Elias’s eyes darkened, his voice dropping to a low whisper, "Say that again."

George sneered, his temper boiling. "You... are..." He jabbed a finger toward Elias’s temple, mouth curling. "Cra—"

The word never landed. Elias’s fist did.

A sharp crack echoed through the air as George’s head snapped to the side, stumbling a step back. The silence that followed was stunned, almost reverent, like even the walls were too afraid to speak.

George groaned, hand pressed to his jaw, disbelief flashing in his eyes.

Elias stood there, chest heaving once, calm returning to his face like a curtain falling.

"Next time," he said coolly, "finish that word, and I’ll make sure you can’t speak at all."

Daisy stood frozen, her hands flying to her mouth, eyes wide and pupils trembling in fear. This was the first time she saw this side of him.

"Let’s go." Elias reached for her hand, his grip firm but not rough. He began to lead her toward the car, the tension in his body still crackling like a live wire.

But George wasn’t done. He lunged forward, grabbed Elias’s shoulder, turned him and swung a punch that cracked across his jaw.

"Theo!" Daisy gasped.

Elias staggered half a step, his head snapping to the side from the blow. A thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his lip.

Slowly, he turned back. His eyes burned, cold and steady. Without breaking eye contact, he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, "That," he said, voice low and eerily calm, "was a mistake."

George scoffed, stepping closer, unfazed. "Mistake?" He jabbed a finger toward Theo’s chest, then tapped his temple mockingly. "The whole thing about your existence is a mistake, Theo. Your mom even said it."

Elias didn’t flinch.

"You think they wanted you? No. They prayed for Julian. You were just the extra baggage that came with their first miracle. A bonus, right? Wrong. You were the beginning of the end. Julian’s gone, and you’re still here, haunting them."

Daisy’s breath hitched.

"Stop! Enough!" she shouted, pushing herself between them. She turned to Elias — to Theo, whose whole body had gone eerily still. His fists were clenched, jaw tight, but his eyes at that second, they weren’t angry anymore.

They were empty.

"You are not a mistake," she said, voice trembling. "You are loved. You are here. I don’t care what anyone else says. I see you, Theo."

Her hands reached up, trembling as she cupped the back of his neck and pulled him gently forward. "I see you..."

She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face to his chest.

"You don’t have to go back into hiding."

And for a second, she thought he might vanish altogether, like she was holding the ghost of a boy who had long buried himself. But his arms slowly lifted and curled around her back. The hug was not tight, not protected, more like tiredness and someone, who was finally holding on for the first time in years.