The Wife You Buried Is Back from Hell novel Chapter 863

The only sound in the room was the soft, rhythmic beep of the heart monitor.

Beneath the sheets, Alexander’s fingers tightened, his knuckles turning white. He lowered his gaze, his long lashes casting a dark shadow on his cheeks. His voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. “The one you love most can never be just a friend.”

Danielle’s heart skipped a beat, as if struck by a sudden blow. She looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Alexander met her gaze directly. His eyes were filled with exhaustion, self-deprecation, and a sliver of weary acceptance. He gave a faint, humorless smile. “There’s no point in hiding it.”

Danielle opened her mouth, but no words came out. She had never imagined that this man, who always kept his emotions locked away, would ever say the word “love” so openly. In that one moment, all the years of coldness, distance, and arguments seemed to fall into place.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love her or couldn’t love her. He was afraid to.

“I know I don’t deserve you,” Alexander said, his voice dropping to a murmur. “I can’t give you the life you want. I can’t even take care of myself. But I can’t pretend to be your friend. That would be too cruel.”

Danielle looked at him, a sharp, aching pain spreading through her chest. She wanted to tell him that she had never expected him to be perfect, that all she had ever wanted was for him to let her in, to not carry everything alone. But she swallowed the words, afraid they would only add to his guilt.

Only then would he have the right to stand by her side, not as a burden, but as a partner.

In the hallway, Danielle leaned against the cold wall, her heart pounding. Alexander’s words—*The one you love most can never be just a friend*—reverberated through her, sending ripples across the still waters of her heart. She had thought that time and reality had worn away the edges of their love.

But she was wrong. In his heart, she had always been the one.