Aurora's POV
The next morning, the house felt different. It was quieter and colder.
Zayne didn’t come down for breakfast.
Thought, not that I expected him to, not after what happened last night. The kiss. The whisper. Lila.
That name was still echoing in my head like a curse I couldn’t shake.
I tried to convince myself it didn’t matter, that it was just a drunken mistake. But deep down, I knew better. The way his lips had trembled against mine… the desperation in his touch. It wasn’t just whiskey or loneliness. It was grief, raw and festering.
And now, there was a wall between us.
Every time I passed him in the corridors that day, he looked straight through me, as if I were invisible. Not a glance, not a word. He had built his armor again, layer upon layer, until there was no trace
