"Why?"

I watched her carefully, letting the silence stretch for just a moment longer.

Then, I smirked.

"There could be a lot of reasons why you were watching," I admitted, tilting my head slightly. "But there's one I'dbeton."

Selene arched a delicate brow, waiting.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "Tell me," I said, my voice smooth, deliberate. "Have you ever heard the termsupply and demand?"

Her golden eyes flickered with something—interest, perhaps.

Then, she chuckled. "Of course I have."

I grinned. "I figured. But let's go over it anyway, just for fun."

Selene didn't interrupt. She simply watched, curious.

I gestured lazily with my hand. "When something is inlow supplybuthigh demand, what happens?"

She smirked. "It becomes valuable."

"Exactly," I said, snapping my fingers. "The rarer it is, the more people want it. Simple economics."

I let my smirk widen, locking eyes with her. "Now let's apply that toyoursituation."

Selene's expression didn't change, but I could tell she waslistening.

"The guy you left Righteous_One for—he must have been inhigh demand.A god of something peoplewanted.Power, beauty, charisma—something that made himdesirable."

Selene exhaled through her nose, amused. "Go on."

"But the problem," I continued, "is that when something istoodesirable—wheneveryonewants it—suddenly,yourability to claim itisn't so certain anymore."

I tilted my head, watching for a reaction.

"You thought it would be easy, didn't you?" I mused. "That you could have him the same way you had Righteous_One—effortlessly. But itwasn'tthat easy, was it?"

I clicked my tongue. "Considering that gods likeRighteous_Oneexist—gods with pathetic qualities, self-pitying tendencies,weakattributes—" I gestured vaguely. "I imagine thesupply and demand ratiofor someone actuallyworthsomething iscompletely fucked."

Selene's fingers, which had been idly drumming against the armrest, stilled for just a fraction of a second.

A pause.

Small. Almost unnoticeable.

But it wasthere.

I grinned.

Gotcha.

I leaned back, the grin never leaving my face.

"At the end of it all... you were discarded, weren't you?" I mused. "After everything, after leaving Righteous_One for somethingbetter, you found out thatyou weren't the only one who thought like that."

Selene's golden eyes darkened slightly, but she said nothing.

I chuckled. "Such a tragedy," I said mockingly. "And yet, it's sosimplewhen you break it down. A perfect equation. One's ownego—that refusal to change, that stubborn insistence on seeking the samequalitiesin a partner, never once considering thecompetitionfor them."

I tilted my head, my voice laced with amusement. "And in the end, when you realized that you were just anotheroptionrather thanthechoice... you came crawling back to your own roots."

The room turnedcold.

Selene's fingers stopped their idle movements, her golden eyes narrowing as the very airshifted.

The weight of her presence pressed down like an unseen force, an unmistakablewarning.

And then—

"Are you implying that I am some sort of whore who doesn't know her value?"

Her voice was no longer playful.

It was sharp. Icy.

A blade hidden beneath silk.

I met her gaze, unfazed.

If she thought intimidation would work on me, she wasdead wrong.

I let out a small chuckle, tilting my head as I met her cold, piercing gaze.

"I didn't say you were awhorewho didn't know her value," I said smoothly. "But you sure look like abitchwho didn't know one."

Selene's golden eyesnarrowed.

Then—

Pressure.

A weight unlike anything I had ever felt beforecrasheddown on me.

My lungsseized. My bonesscreamed. It was as if the entire world had decided tocrushme beneath its heel.

The pain—

It wasn't just pressure. It waspure agony. Like invisible hands weregrindingme into dust, twisting my very being into somethingunbearable.

I dropped to my knees, my arms trembling as I barely kept myself fromcollapsingoutright.

But even as the suffocating force pressed me down—

Igrinned.

Becauseso what?

I haddiedbefore.

That pain? That terror? It had been far worse than this.

I had spentyearsbedridden, my body a prison of weakness, my every moment overshadowed by an illness that gnawed at me piece by piece. And that sure as hell hadn't beenpainless, either.

So what if she was trying tobreakme?

Did she really think I'd bend over just because of a littlepain?

I clenched my jaw, forcing my body tomove, to resist, even as every inch of me screamed in protest.

Then, through gritted teeth—

Ilaughed.

"Hah... hah..." My voice was hoarse, breathless, but the amusement in it was undeniable.

I lifted my head, my smirk never fading despite the crushing force weighing me down.

"That... all you got?"

I let out a ragged breath, my body screaming from the pressure bearing down on me. But even through the pain, through the weight trying to grind me into the floor, Igrinned.

"You're angry," I rasped, my voice strained but steady. "And you know why?"

Selene didn't respond, but I couldfeelit—the way the air around her crackled with restrained emotion.

"It's because I hit the truth," I continued, my smirk widening despite the pain lacing my every word. "Or at least, somethingdamn closeto it."

I tilted my head slightly, ignoring the way my muscles protested. "I mean, think about it—why else would you care about the words of a meremortal?"

Silence.

But that silence told meeverything.

A soft chuckle left my lips. "By reacting like this, you're basicallyadmittingit. And that?" I exhaled sharply. "Thatis what makes this so fucking funny."

Selene remained still, golden eyes locked onto me, expression unreadable.

The crushing force lingered for another agonizing moment.

And then—

It vanished.

I sucked in a deep breath as the weight lifted, my body still aching but no longer trapped under that suffocating force.

Selene let out a quiet sigh, shaking her head. "I knew something like this was bound to happen the moment I looked through your life," she murmured. Then, with a soft chuckle, she added, "But you really are quite something."

She stood gracefully, the movement fluid, effortless.

And then—

She walked.

Her long legs swayed with every step, the slit in her dress parting just enough to reveal glimpses of flawless skin. Every motion, every gesture, radiated confidence. Control.

And as she moved, her voice carried through the air, smooth and deliberate.

"You werepartiallyright," she admitted.

I arched a brow. "Oh?"

She glanced at me over her shoulder, a small smirk on her lips.

"I did indeed leave him for something," she said, her voice carrying a knowing amusement.

Then, she stopped, turning slightly—golden eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

"But it wasn't for aman."

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