Emotions, and vulnerability.

Dahlia's POV

Day nine of bed rest

I closed the door behind me, locking myself inside my room. The silence wrapped around me like a thick blanket, providing an odd sense of comfort. My eyes landed on the bouquet of roses on my nightstand. The dark red petals appeared soft, their fragrance barely noticeable but still lingering. Ares had given them to me. Not too long ago, such a gift would have felt like a cruel reminder of how much he despised me.

But something had shifted. He had changed.

I gently touched one of the petals, feeling its softness—so different from the harshness of the man who had given them to me. Ares, who had once taken pleasure in my suffering with his cold, calculated ways, was now the same person offering these flowers. The same person who, somehow, had started to show signs of care.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. How could someone who had once been so determined to break me now be the one giving me roses? My heart ached with confusion as I got lost in my thoug