NARINE’S POV
I couldn’t bring myself to go inside.
The keys burned like fire in my palm, heavy and accusing, as if the weight of them alone could pin all my guilt to my skin. The mansion loomed in front of me, beautiful, serene, and alien. A place that screamed of comfort and care, but all I saw was a cage disguised in gold. A place I didn’t deserve and a kindness I didn’t earn.
I stood at the foot of the stairs for what felt like hours. The breeze was cold, but not as cold as the emptiness gnawing at my chest. I pressed my hands against my ribs, as if I could hold myself together with sheer will, as if I could stop this… this bleeding that slowly drowns you from the inside.
Leaving him was the right thing to do. It had to be.
I kept repeating that in my head like a chant. A broken ma
