Dane:
It’s strange how silence can scream louder than any argument.
For weeks, I’d drowned in noise — Alyssa’s voice everywhere. Sweet at first, until I heard the venom in it.
In the stillness after everything fell apart, the quiet presses in. Every echo of her laughter turns sharp.
I can still see her standing in front of me the night it started to unravel. Her eyes glistened as she said, “She’s lying to you, Dane. She always has been.” She’d reached for my hand then — trembling, vulnerable. Only it wasn’t real fear. It was a performance. I know that now because I remember how her gaze flicked to Dominic over my shoulder, calculating. I measured the effect her words had on me.
Every tear, every tremor… rehearsed.
When Cierra tried to defend herself later, Alyssa was already ahead of
