Kiera's P.O.V.
I stood there, arms crossed, willing my face to remain unreadable as I faced Rowan. The silence stretched between us, heavy and charged. The years of shared history, once a source of comfort, now felt like a chain binding us to something neither of us fully understood. I hated that seeing him again stirred old emotions—memories of what we had, and what I thought I could count on before it all crumbled.
“I heard you’re staying,” I said, keeping my voice steady, cool. No warmth. No room for hope.
“I am,” he answered, matching my tone with maddening calm.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to find the lie hidden beneath his words. He couldn’t possibly be serious. “Don’t think for a second that I’ve forgotten what you did.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to,” he said evenly. There wasn’t a
