Rose barely slept that night.
She had laid in bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, the words echoing in her head like a cruel lullaby.
“She’ll leave you, Christian. She doesn’t belong in your world.”
Amy’s voice was sharp, confident, and cold but it wasn’t the sound of her that haunted Rose.
It was the silence that followed.
Christian’s silence.
Not a single word in her defense. No denial, No rebuke.
He had just… let it sit.
And that, more than anything Amy could ever say, shattered something inside her.
By morning, the decision had carved itself into her heart.
She was leaving.
It wasn’t impulsive. It wasn’t emotional. It was clarity painful, but clear.
She didn’t belong here.
And Christian had just confirmed that.
********
Evelyn nearly dropped her coffee mug when Rose said th
