Night fell with a suffocating silence. Evelyn sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes staring blankly toward the window, veiled by a thin curtain. The air in the room was cold, but it wasn’t the chill that made her shiver—it was the festering wound inside her, tearing at her sanity.
Her tears fell silently. Not from fear, but from bitter disappointment. The man she once thought was different turned out to be the same as the rest. William, with his gentle demeanor and calm eyes, had proven just as blind to the truth.
"Foolish me," she whispered. "To think someone like him would ever stand up for me."
Footsteps echoed from outside her door. Evelyn quickly wiped her tears. She couldn’t afford to look weak. Not anymore. She had been stepped on long enough.
A soft knock came at the door. Evely
