Elena’s POV.
I sat curled into a ball in the middle of the guest bed, my knees pulled against my chest, yielding to the crushing heartbreak of the reality Evelyn had just dumped out on us.
Silent tears burned down my cheeks, soaking into the fabric of my jeans. I was furious—not just at Evelyn, not just at the High Council’s archaic laws, but at myself. I was a Chief of Medicine, a grown woman who had survived years of isolation and trauma, yet I had let a few hours of romantic bliss in a snowbound lodge dismantle my defenses. I had actually allowed myself to believe, even for a fleeting second, that Raymond and I could have a future.
What an absolute fool I had been.
Throughout the day, footsteps echoed down the hallway outside my door. Raymond knocked repeatedly, his deep voice ridde
