Unmarried Wife

It took nearly a hundred days for her to adjust to being called Xi’s aunt, a title that never felt right. Each time she witnessed him laughing with his new partner, an ache spread through her chest. Had he truly erased their past so completely? “I wasn’t, I’m not, and I’ll never be your aunt—I’m your—” Before she could utter another word, his lips silenced hers. “Labels don’t matter,” he murmured between kisses. “All I know is I can’t stay away from you.” The warmth of his touch blurred the lines between what was and what could be, leaving her torn between duty and desire. She wanted to protest, to remind him of the promises they’d once made, but the intensity of his embrace made words irrelevant. In that moment, nothing existed beyond the two of them, tangled in emotions too complicated to name. The past lingered like an unspoken secret, yet his actions spoke louder than any confession. Was this love, or merely habit? She closed her eyes, letting the question dissolve into the heat of his kiss.