SCARLETT
I could barely process the words Zayden had said, the sharpness of his tone lingering like a knife in my chest. Everything felt like it was falling apart, each second stretching into a lifetime of confusion and pain. The air in the room was thick with tension, the kind that made it hard to breathe, like the walls themselves were closing in on me.
Vincent's eyes were cold, void of the warmth I had once known. They flickered between anger and betrayal, and I could see it in the rigid set of his jaw. It was a look I didn’t recognize, one that made me question everything I had known about him. I had expected disappointment, maybe even sadness, but this? This was something else entirely.
Zayden stood beside him, his body taut with suppressed frustration, his eyes never leaving his
