The moment I push through the emergency exit, the burst of cold air should’ve cleared my head.
It doesn’t.
My lungs won’t cooperate. My heart feels like it’s ripping apart in jagged pieces. And the lights—those stupid warm-white fairy lights lining the hallway—blur into streaks as tears keep spilling, refusing to stop no matter how much I claw at my cheeks.
I just need to get away.
Away from the velvet curtains.
Away from their lips pressed together.
Away from Marcus’s stuttered lies.
Away from Tyra’s smug, victorious smirk.
I stumble forward—heels slipping, knees wobbling—
—and the polished marble betrays me.
My ankle twists.
My vision tilts.
I gasp, bracing for the brutal crack of the floor coming up to meet me—
—but I never hit the ground.
Instead, I crash into something s
