Caroline's POV
The air in the room was thick and suffocating, filled with unspoken words and that strange electric tension vibrating between Rowan and me. I stayed turned toward the window, my eyes tracing the distant mountain ridge lined with pine trees. The morning light had grown sharper by now, lighting up the frost patterns on the glass.
Long minutes passed in silence. I had already thought Rowan would leave without a word, leaving me alone with my bitterness, when he finally spoke. His voice was not the usual thunderous command. It was much quieter, almost careful.
"Is that really how you feel?" he asked behind me. "Do you truly feel that that world, the city, the university, was never yours? That you were only a stranger in your own life?"
I slowly turned around. Rowan was st
