**Gaia's POV**

"No."

The word comes out firm and final. I look at Lysander kneeling before me with that diamond ring, and I feel nothing but exhaustion.

"I can't marry you, Lysander. We're not possible anymore."

He doesn't stand. Instead, he leans forward, desperate. "But Astrein betrayed you. He doesn't deserve you. I would never—"

"This isn't about him." I cut him off. "This is about us. About what we can never be ...