Chapter 121

Maxi blushed. Hearing it spoken aloud like that, her actions felt incredibly petty. Biting her lip, she lowered her gaze in shame and said meekly, "Th-This… w-wasn't what I wanted."

When she felt his hands stop moving, Maxi glanced up, cautiously studying his face. "What I want… is for us to go back to the way we used to be."

A heavy silence enveloped them. Maxi watched the glow of the firelight gently ripple over the water. Slowly, she lifted her head. Riftan had his arm draped on the tub's rim as he stared out the window in silence. The calmness in his gaze made her heart sink.

He was still a stranger whose thoughts she could not penetrate. His face an icy mask, he stared into the distance, the fiery passion in his eyes cooled to an unreadable emptiness. Maxi's anger boiled up inside her. After all her attempts to learn his true feelings, he still held her at arm's length. He had stripped away all her defenses, yet he remained behind a wall.