Elizabeth’s POV
Friday came too quickly.
Every tick of the clock pushed me closer to midnight, closer to Ethan’s deadline, but this time, the weight on my chest wasn’t fear. It was resolved.
I wasn’t the girl trembling alone under the streetlight anymore. Not tonight.
Sebastian stood beside me, his shoulders squared, his jaw set like stone. Daniel was on my other side, hood up, hands shoved in his pockets, his eyes sharp and watchful. Together, we waited at the spot Ethan had chosen, the same cursed streetlight that had once felt like a prison.
Now it felt like an arena.
Headlights flashed down the road, then dimmed as a car pulled up. Ethan stepped out, his smirk already plastered across his face, confidence radiating off him like poison.
“Well, well,” he drawled, shoving his hands
