Serena’s POV
Kael’s ring still sat in the drawer beside my bed, untouched, as if even the sight of it would burn me. I had told him I wasn’t ready, and ever since then, those words replayed in my head like a curse I couldn’t undo. Each night I thought time might soften the sting, but instead it built a wall between us silent, heavy, unspoken. Kael hadn’t pressed me, hadn’t demanded, hadn’t even tried to sway me. He was gentle, waiting, almost too patient, and that patience frightened me more than his anger ever could, because Kael was not a man who waited forever.
That morning, I felt the weight of it before I even opened my eyes. The air in the house was tense, charged, as if it knew something I didn’t. When I made my way downstairs, the sound of voices stopped me. Too many voices. Low,
