The Answer I Already Owned

<RICH_SUMMARY_START> In a Masked Mirror Corridor of gilt frames and infinite reflections, a man who has spent a year armoring himself against Selene's knowing gaze is brought to stillness by her and her enigmatic partner Elara — forced to hold a brimming cup of wine while their hands and mouths systematically dismantle every wall he has built. The scent of Selene's perfume and the cool press of marble underfoot anchor a scene where dominance is wielded not through force but through the unbearable intimacy of being truly watched. His internal war — pride versus longing, performance versus surrender — cracks open the moment he admits aloud what he has hidden for a year, transforming a year's worth of rivalry and resentment into raw, trembling permission.