The bruises faded.
But the scars stayed.
Not on my skin.
In my soul.
And I didn't want to hide them anymore.
After Zane, I stopped being afraid of pain.
Because pain taught me who I was.
Not a victim.
Not a puppet.
Not a girl running from a legacy of shadows.
I was the fire they all tried to burn.
And I survived it.
Kyler never asked me to forget.
He held me when I shook in the night.
Let me scream when the memories tried to claw out of my throat.
He never said "you're safe now."
He said:
"Whatever you need to destroy, I'll help you burn it."
That's when I knew.
He didn't just love me.
He believed in me.
More than I ever had.
I started training harder.
Learning more.
Taking meetings in Kyler's name.
And slowly… his people stopped calling me the girl.
They started calling me Queen.
Not out of fear.
Out of respect.
Because I earned it.
One night, we sat on the rooftop of his tallest building.
The stars above us.
The city below.
Kyler lit a cigar, offered me one.
I shook my head.
He smirked.
"You really want to be part of my world?"
"I already am," I said. "But I'm not just part of it. I'm going to change it."
He looked at me, quiet for a long time.
Then: "God help the men who stand in your way."
That night, he kissed me like it was the first time.
And I kissed him like it was the last time I'd ever feel afraid.
Because I wasn't afraid anymore.
I was rising.
Not because of Kyler.
But because of me.