Angela’s POV
The door clicked shut behind me, and the silence of the empty hallway seemed to echo. I could still hear Kurtis’s words in my head, cutting deeper than I wanted to admit. “The sister Lyra loved would never have done this.” As much as I tried to shake it off, those words felt like an anchor around my chest, dragging me down, suffocating me with every step.
But something stopped me in my tracks. A knot in my stomach, a tension I couldn’t shake, like a hand tugging me back. My fingers itched against the door handle, and before I knew it, I was turning it, re-entering the room. Kurtis’s head jerked up, surprise flashing across his face. The look in his eyes held a challenge, daring me to do… what, I didn’t even know.
I took a step forward, my heels striking the concrete in shar
