I stayed close to Dimitri as the party went on, letting people greet me and bow like I was someone I was not. My face said Selene, my heart said Yena, and every time they praised me, I felt a piece of myself slip further away.
I hated it. I hated how easy it was for them to see me as someone else. I hated how easy it was for Dimitri to smile at them while I felt trapped. I wanted to scream, to run, to remember who I really was, but I could not. Not here. Not now.
When Dimitri finally took my hand and led me to the car, I felt relief and frustration all at once. Relief because I was leaving, frustration because I knew I was not leaving as myself. I let out a small breath and whispered under it, “I am Yena. I am not her.”
The car stopped at the gates of Dimitri’s mansion. It was huge, bla
