|| Penelope ||
My mind struggled to process every word Richard had just spoken. A soul mate cutting through your heart. The phrase echoed in my head, stirring something deep within me. It sounded familiar, painfully so. But I couldn’t claim to understand that kind of agony, not truly. Elijah had never been my soul mate. The bond he had forced upon us had been nothing but a cruel illusion, a lie woven in deception.
A sudden pang of sorrow bloomed in my chest, tightening like a vice around my ribs. Lucian always called me a pup, a teasing term meant to fluster me, but I had never stopped to think — never realized — that he had endured so much. How much pain had he carried in silence? How much had I missed?
Richard's voice broke through my reverie.
“That’s the reason we rejected the invit
