232

Damien

As Isabella and I sat together, her words hung heavy in the air, weighing down on my heart like a burden too heavy to bear. Her worry was palpable, etched into the furrows of her brow and the tremble of her voice, and it cut me to the core to see her in such distress.

"I'm scared, Damien," she confessed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm scared that you're losing yourself, bit by bit, every day."

Her words struck a chord within me, awakening a gnawing sense of dread that had long lingered in the recesses of my mind. I had felt it too—the creeping sense of unease, the gradual erosion of my identity in the face of the relentless pressures and demands of my role as CEO of Renaissance.

"I don't want to lose you," Isabella continued, her voice trembling with emotion. "But I'm afraid that if things continue like this, I won't recognize the man I fell in love with anymore."

"I'm trying, Isabella," I said, my voice hoarse with emotion. "I'm trying to be the man you need me t