Elle's POV
I stared at my half-eaten plate of Chinese food, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to summon the courage to finally say what had been eating away at me for years. Mason’s eyes were gentle, his hand still holding mine across the table, grounding me in this moment. I could feel the warmth of his fingers, the steadiness that I so desperately needed right now.
This was it. I couldn’t keep running from my past anymore. Mason deserved to know, and maybe—just maybe—if I told him everything, the weight of it would start to lift. I took a deep breath, the words catching in my throat before finally spilling out.
“It started right after high school,” I began quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. “Both of my parents died in a car accident the week I graduated.”
I saw Mason’s
