(Lyra’s POV)
The paper in my hands felt heavier than it should.
It was just a marriage certificate. Black ink on white parchment, neat and official, stamped with the red seal that made it real. To anyone else, it would look like a simple document, another piece of paper to be filed away.
But to me, it was a mirror.
And yet, as I held it, my chest tightened in ways I couldn’t explain.
My name written there didn’t feel like mine anymore. It had been stitched together with his, bound to a man I barely knew, a man who unsettled me more than anyone ever had.
There it was. My name.
Lyra Calloway… Mrs. Cassian Veyra.
The words stared back at me, sharp and final.
I stared at the words until they blurred. The letters danced, slipping in and out of focus, as if my mind refused to accept the
