President's Daughter's Bodyguard-Chapter 125: What He Still Chose

Chapter 125: What He Still Chose

Theo woke slowly, not all at once, but in pieces.

Danielle’s fingers were wrapped around his hand, careful but strong enough, like she was afraid he might disappear again if she loosened her grip. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Her thumb moved in slow circles against his skin, the way she did when she was nervous but trying not to show it.

Theo opened his eyes.

The world steadied when he saw her face.

She looked exhausted. Not the kind of tired that sleep fixed, but the kind that came from surviving something that was never supposed to happen.

Her hair was pulled back messily, eyes shadowed, lips pressed together like she was holding herself upright by will alone.

But she was here.

Theo swallowed. Even that small movement hurt, but he welcomed it. Pain meant he was alive. Pain meant he had not failed.

"Bunny," he said again, softer this time.

Danielle nodded immediately, as if she had been waiting hours just to hear him say it. Her other hand came up to his cheek, careful of the bruises, her touch feather light.

"I am here," she said in a quite shaking voice, but she didn’t cry. "You scared me."

Theo breathed out slowly. "I know."

Silence settled between them, heavy but not empty. Machines filled the gaps where words could not go yet.

Danielle leaned closer, resting her forehead gently against his hand again. Her shoulders trembled, just once.

Theo felt it through the bed, through the connection between them.

"I thought I lost you," she whispered. "I was ready to tear the world apart if you didn’t wake up."

Theo’s fingers curled weakly around hers. It took effort, but he held on.

"You would have," he said. "You are terrifying when you want to be."

A sound escaped her that was almost a laugh, almost a sob. She pressed her lips together again, blinking fast.

"I told you," she said quietly. "I don’t care about his power anymore. I do not care about titles or protection that comes with chains. I want to end my father. I want to stop him before he hurts anyone else."

Theo listened...He always did.

Her anger was not wild. It was focused now. Sharpened by everything she had seen and endured. It scared him more than despair.

"I will help you," he said without hesitation.

Danielle lifted her head sharply. "Theo, you are barely standing. You almost died. This is not your war anymore."

Theo met her eyes, steady despite the pain. "It became my war the moment he tried to kill us. The moment Frank died. The moment he thought he could decide your life."

Her breath hitched at Frank’s name. Theo saw the grief that still had no place to land.

"I lost everyone," he continued. "My family, whatever that word ever meant. And I am still here because of you. So no, Bunny. This is not something I will sit out."

Danielle squeezed his hand. "I do not want to lose you too."

Theo lifted her hand with effort and pressed a kiss into her palm. The movement cost him, but he did not care.

"You cannot get rid of me that easily," he murmured. "Not when I already chose you."

Her eyes filled despite her fight to stay composed. "Theo..."

"I mean it," he said, voice firm now. "Nothing that happened changed what I said. Nothing your father did. Nothing that cult did. Nothing that will come next."

He drew a careful breath, each word weighed and deliberate.

"I still want to marry you."

The room seemed to still be there.

For a moment she couldn’t speak at all. Her mind raced, images and fear and love tangled together so tightly it hurt.

"You nearly died," she murmured. "We are standing on the edge of something terrible. My name alone is a target."

Theo smiled weakly. There was no recklessness in it. Only certainty.

"I was raised terribly," he said. "This is just louder."

Danielle shook her head, tears finally spilling. "You deserve peace. Normal. Safety...But I do want your help...so me and you could leave this horrible place."

Theo’s thumb brushed her knuckles. "Peace is waking up and seeing you. Normal is your voice telling me when I am being stupid. Safety is knowing you are not facing this alone."

Danielle let out a broken sound and leaned down, pressing her forehead to his chest carefully, mindful of the injuries. She cried there, quietly, finally letting herself fall apart just a little.

Theo rested his chin as best he could against her hair.

"I am not asking you to fix this overnight," he continued gently. "I am asking you to let me stand beside you...as your partner. As your husband, when the world stops burning long enough for us to breathe."

She pulled back just enough to look at him. "You are impossible."

"Yes," Theo agreed softly. "But I am yours."

Danielle wiped her face with the back of her hand, sniffing. "You still ask at the worst possible times."

"My timing has always been terrible," he admitted. "But my intentions are solid."

This bunny nodded slowly, letting his words settle in her bones.

"I love you," she confessed. "That is the one thing my father never managed to corrupt."

Theo exhaled, and relief loosened, something he had been gripping since the moment he woke.

"That is all I needed," he said. "The rest we can figure out."

They sat like that for a long time, hands entwined, the outside world held at bay by hospital walls and quiet breathing.

Danielle told him about the women again. About how some had spoken their names for the first time, about how others were still afraid of doors and open windows.

Theo listened, anger simmered under his calm, but he didn’t interrupt.

"They are healing," she finished. "Slowly. I will not abandon them."

"You should not...You gave them back their voices. That matters."

She smiled at that...a real smile, small but genuine.

Eventually, exhaustion weighed her down. Danielle rested her head beside his arm, reluctant to sleep but unable to stay awake any longer.

Theo watched her eyes close.

Whatever waited beyond these walls would demand blood, strategy, sacrifice.

But in this moment, he allowed himself one unguarded thought.

His bunny was alive. He was alive. And he would protect this future with everything he had left.

No matter whose throne burned to the ground to make it happen.