“It’s a shame,” she whispered, “a bitter shame… that I learned too late. That I didn’t dig deeper before trusting someone who said all the right things. I won’t run from that mistake. But you should also know whatever we had… it’s gone. We ended it the moment he walked away from me. The moment he chose to return to you.” Raellyn’s final words echoed with a fragile sincerity, like a truth offered with both hands open, vulnerable, unguarded. She didn’t expect forgiveness. She wasn’t asking for understanding. But she had finally spoken her truth.
But Sylvia didn’t take it well. Not in the slightest. The moment Raellyn’s last word fell into the silence between them, something shifted in Sylvia’s expression. Something sharp and volatile. Her lips curled, her jaw clenched, and her nostrils flar
