Felix’s face was unreadable. “And your family?”
“They covered it up,” she said. “My father said it was to protect the future of our name. That people wouldn’t understand. That accidents during early transformations weren’t uncommon. But I knew the truth. He buried it. He buried her. And I let him.”
Her hand trembled on the windowsill.
“I’ve carried her ghost every day since.”
Felix leaned back, processing.
“You were a child,” he said finally.
“So was she.”
“You didn’t kill her out of malice.”
“No,” Sophia agreed, her voice cold and distant. “But I still killed her.”
“She would’ve died either way, Soph.”
“I could’ve saved her.”
Felix stood now, pacing slowly. “You made a mistake. A tragic one. But that fact does not mean that you do not need to be redeemed. It does not wipe the c
