CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED

ELIZABETH:

My heart pounded in my chest, echoing in my ears as I waited for him to speak, to say the thing I’d been avoiding, the thing I wasn’t sure I was ready to hear.

He took a deep breath, and with it, I felt the air in the room shift. “Elizabeth,” he began, his voice low and quiet, but there was a raw edge to it, a vulnerability I rarely saw in him. “I love you.” He paused, his eyes never leaving mine. “I love you so much,"

His words hit me like a wave, crashing into me with a force I hadn’t anticipated. My breath caught in my throat, and for a moment, I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. I had known, of course. Deep down, I had always known how he felt, but hearing it out loud, in his voice, with such certainty and conviction—it was overwhelming.

“I—” I started, but the words caught in my throat. How could I respond to that? How could I explain everything I had been feeling, everything I had been afraid of, in just a few words? “Adam, I—” I tried again, but the look in his eyes sto