AVA
The room seemed to close in on me, the weight of loss and betrayal pressing down. Lucas had left, and with him, a piece of my heart. The world felt unfamiliar, a place where trust was a fleeting shadow.
A knock at the door jolted me from my thoughts. I opened it to find a young girl standing there, her eyes wide with innocence. "What do you want?" I asked, my voice softer than I intended.
The girl hesitated for a moment before speaking. "A man wants to see you, ma'am. He said to meet him at the town shop. He wants to talk about Lilya."
I studied her face, searching for any signs of deceit. She seemed genuine, a messenger caught in the midst of something larger than herself. "Who is he? Do you know him?"
She shook her head. "No, ma'am. He didn't say his name. Just that he needed to
