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AUTHOR’S POV
Darlene’s heart dropped.
She couldn’t breathe.
She stared at Vincein, searching his face for some sign that this was a mistake, that he was just saying things out of anger or stress. But there was nothing—no hesitation, no cracks in his cold demeanor.
Just a firm, unshaken decision.
She felt her chest tighten, her fingers trembling as they gripped his arm, desperately holding onto him as if her touch alone could change his mind.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “No.”
Vincein remained still.
Unmoved.
“Darlene,” he said, his voice firm yet eerily calm,
“let go.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to blink them away. “Why?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Why are you doing this?”
Vincein inhaled deeply, his jaw tightening.
“
