Elena POV
I woke up slowly, the unfamiliar weight of a new day pressing down on me. For a second, I couldn't quite place where I was. The soft, muted light filtering through old lace curtains, the unfamiliar wooden beams above me, the soft creak of the old bed, the faint smell of lavender and dust—it was all wrong. And then it hit me. I wasn’t in my room at home; I was at Grandma’s cottage. Banished. Exiled. Sent away by my own father. The hurt and betrayal washed over me anew, sharp and bitter.
A heavy feeling settled in my chest, making it hard to breathe. The hurt and betrayal from my father’s actions stung anew. I didn't want to get up. I wanted to stay in bed, hide from the world, and pretend this was all just a bad dream. But I knew I couldn’t. I had to face reality, no matter how
