The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the hospital air.
Lilith sat at the edge of the cot, voice trembling but urgent. “Caleb, I’m not asking to be your wife. But… can’t I be your manager? I just want to stay with you…”
Caleb’s jaw tightened. His eyes met hers—deep, conflicted.
Then, slowly, he shook his head.
“No, Lilith. She’s the only one I want as my manager.”
Lilith froze. Tears welled, clinging to her lashes.
“You mean… Sabrina?”
“She’s the one I chose,” he said firmly. “I promised her. That role doesn’t belong to anyone else.”
Lilith looked like she’d been slapped. She couldn’t understand. Even after everything, after he’d hurt me himself—he still wouldn’t let go of me.
Caleb dropped his gaze, rubbing at the rough calluses on his palm.
He thought back to the first time we met.
He’d been nobody. A no-name kid with a secondhand rifle and no one who believed in him—not his coach, not his family. They all thought it was a waste of time.
It was a blazing hot summer. He’d just bombed a national qualifier, missed three rings in a row. Defeated, he wandered off the range and sat on the back steps alone, ready to quit.
That’s when I found him.
“You giving up already?” I had asked, standing there in a white shirt, calm but steady.
He looked up, stunned.
“Your hand’s steady,” I’d said. “You just need someone to show you how to use it.”
Then I held out my hand. “Let me be your manager. Let’s build a champion together.”
And just like that, he believed.
From that day forward, there was only me.
Back in the present, his eyes sharpened. “Lilith, you don’t understand. Sabrina stood by me through hell. She’s the reason I made it this far.”
Lilith’s lips trembled. “But… during the Olympics, those nights—you and me—didn’t that mean anything?”
“That was a mistake!” Caleb’s voice cracked like thunder. “I was drunk. I thought you were her. Lilith, I’ve never seen you as anything but a little sister. Stop pushing this.”
Her body trembled.
Tears spilled. “A sister? Do you let your sister hold you like this? Whisper to them like this?”
He hesitated, clearly wanting to leave.
But then Lilith threw herself at him, arms wrapping tight around his waist.
“Please! I know I’m not her. I’m not asking for love or titles. Just let me stay by your side. Don’t push me away…”
Caleb froze—arms suspended in midair.
But he didn’t push her off.
