Elara POV
The car was silent.
Too silent.
The kind of silence that didn’t bring peace… only tension.
It pressed against my chest, heavy and suffocating, like something waiting to explode.
I stared out the window, my reflection faint against the glass. The city lights passed by in blurs, but I wasn’t really seeing them.
My mind was somewhere else.
Far away.
“Elara—”
Alexander’s voice cut through the silence.
I didn’t turn.
“I just want to be left alone,” I said flatly.
He went quiet after that.
Good.
Because I didn’t trust myself to speak without saying something I wouldn’t take back.
My fingers curled slightly on my lap.
Something was wrong.
No… not just wrong.
I was losing something.
Control.
The realization hit me slowly, dangerously.
I’m losing myself…
My chest tig
